Learning by Doing - Here We Go...

Many people believe that the best way to learn how to make a movie is to just start making one. And to a degree, I am one of those people.

Since going to film school is neither feasible nor practical for me, as well as countless others, I am piecing together my knowledge of filmmaking through the internet, books, instructional video (when I can get my hands on it) and trial-n-error monkey business with camera and lights (none of which I am about to post here).

Of course, the hands-on with the equipment never quite matches up with the theory as easily as one would like it to. With that said, what you learn from this is way more valuable than sitting through a lecture or reading a book. It's much like learning to ride a bicycle... You can read ten books on how to mount the bike, peddle the bike, apply the breaks, use hand signals, repair a flat tire and so on... but the first time you get on the bike, you WILL fall over. Eventually you learn.

Now my time has come.

Time to hop on that proverbial bicycle and ride.

Partnered with another filmmaking enthusiast and with script in hand, I set off on my first real journey into narrative film... and when I say film I really mean DV since I'm no elitist film hotshot by any stretch of the imagination.

We have a dialog-heavy script that is fairly short (10 minutes or so) and a few cheap props which are mostly things that are laying around the house. Aside from the camera and lighting equipment, this will be a ZERO budget film... and we intend to make the most out of it.

Currently, we are casting for our film and making it very apparent that nobody will be paid money. Of course we are offering "copy and credit" and intend to promote the hell out of the film once completed.

As for casting resources for the zero-dollar filmmaker, we have found that Craig's List and Mandy.com are the best places to post for actors. We have a decent size list just from posting one casting call for a gig that doesn't pay.

This is all very exciting and I expect to learn a boatload about production just by doing it. So check back for updates... I will post the outcome.

A Slow Process

Yikes! I haven't posted to this blog in way too long.

The funny thing is that I was looking through the stats for websites that I manage and noticed a huge spike in visits for this one. It seemed counterintuitive that "not posting" to your blog would drive tons of traffic so I decided to investigate. Within one or two clicks I had discovered that someone was linking to one of my posts.

That someone was FreshDV. They stumbled across my $30 Dolly and gave me link. (Thanks for the mention Matthew)

Of course, I promote their site in my resource list... and remember, my list is a filtered list. "Filtered" meaning high content quality and low BS so go check 'em out.

Additionally, it is extremely likely that I will be posting more often since I have multiple film projects on the horizon. With that said, toss my RSS feed into your reader and check me out after a while.

Cinematography Book Review

Cinematography: Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers
by Blain Brown

Well, I've made it all the way through. Will I remember everything the book talked about? Probably not even half. Which is a good thing. That means it is packed with useful information... too much to digest with one read through.

The book offers a nice balance of theoretical and technical information that can be applied directly to your zero budget project... or... gives you a good overview of things you are likely to run into if you somehow end up on a set with a larger budget.

The parts of the book that I found particularly useful are on light and color theory. Blain gives a decent amount of detail without completely turning off the non-technical reader. Also, Blain's coverage of blocking and dealing with the "line" is fairly comprehensive and worth the price of the book.

There does seem to be a bit of filler in the lighting section but some may find lists and definitions fun to read.

Overall, I recommend this book for anyone NOT going to film school.

Why Make Films?

So I'll pick up in the middle...

Over the past few weeks I have been preparing (mostly mentally since I'm a real "last minute" type of guy) to shoot an archival documentary of an old war hero's annual journey to reunite with the men of his army regiment. Oddly enough Ken Burns beat me to it with The War on PBS.

The truth is that my documentary will most likely never be released to the public. Sure it would be nice to get some recognition and pats on the back from people that I don't know but that is not the point of this film. This is a personal piece. The hero is my grandfather. The story is for my family.

What's the point of blogging about this?... you ask.

Well, it made me think about why we make films and the vast number of reasons. But don't worry, this won't be one of those "Top 100 Reasons to be a Filmmaker" posts or anything like that.

Being a frequent consumer of online information and somewhat active on forums and other blogs, I come across many different styles of filmmaker and many more different personality types. The combination of the two is almost limitless.

So now, I am asking myself (again), "why do I make films?".

It is hard for me (and I'm sure many others as well) to completely wrap my mind around each and every reason but there are some obvious points that bubble up to the surface. Here are my initial thoughts:

• Purpose - A feeling of direction in life and the medium to conduct this direction seeking. What better way to convey your specific thoughts and messages than through an easily consumed media such as film or video. What do you find easier... reading a book or watching a movie?
• Escape - The realities of life can be a bit much at times and many people escape into movies or television on a daily basis. For the most part they are just watching and being entertained. When making films, one can escape into the process which can take you deeper and further away from reality than many other things.
• Recognition - This seems to be many peoples main reason though few will admit to it. I'll admit that I do enjoy the occasional praise and notice from other peeps. With that said, if recognition is your main reason then you are setting yourself up for a difficult journey into film making.
• Accomplishment - When a film (or miniDV in my case) is in the can there is no better feeling. No matter how small the project was, it would have been a significant amount of work and the feeling gained after completion can be quite euphoric at times. Personally, films are about the only thing I am good and completing ;) so this one is up there on the list.
• Fame and Fortune - Ummm... this shouldn't really be on any filmmakers list although we all fantasize about it. But if these are your main reasons for making films you will need to be a savant or film genius to succeed... and if you are and you do make the big-time, give me a call and hook me up.

Lately for me "Escape" tops my list of reasons but hopefully with this personal piece that I am doing, "Purpose" and "Accomplishment" with rise to the top of the list. In my opinion, filmmaking should be about personal fulfillment and nothing else (unless I get discovered then you can scratch all of that).

Just thought I'd share.

BTW... I'll try to post some of the b-roll if I get anything good.

Sound... the Other Half.

Everyone knows that poor sound quality can destroy a descent "looking" film. The reverse is also true yet less talked about... but we won't go there.

Not many film-sound websites or tutorial pages are available on the internet, probably because everyones' main concern is what you see on the screen. This makes it tough to self-med-educate on the subject of stage and location sound recording, Foley, voice-over, film scoring, etc.

Take a peek at the following links...

Whoa! Way more information than us indie-chumps need (and all on one scrolling page no less). Location Sound: The Basics and Beyond answers any and all stupid questions about location sound and and sound management. Make sure to check out the 15 Tips and Tricks section toward the bottom of the page.

Film Sound! Click your way on over to Flimsound.org and loose yourself for hours reading and clicking and clicking and browsing. This site seems to provide quite a bit of philosophy, history and other educational tidbits that may come in handy when designing your soundscapes.

Now of course, none of this matters if your prefered genre is "silent film".

Three Links to Lighting

Obviously learning to light is crucial for any filmmaker. The following links have some decent tutorials and tips... and yes, the information is free (though some try to up-sell you to their other products... which is fine if you're looking for the stuff).



Wow! What can I say... this guy really has some great tutorials and tips on lighting (and more). This site is especially useful for lighting interviews. His name is Nino, check out his page for some great info... EFPLighting.com (** recently changed from free to $50/year **).

The gentleman over at Blue Sky Media is hocking his tutorials on DVD or something but he also gives some good free info which is quite nice of him... Blue Sky Media lighting tutorials

Of course, every suburban-indie-filmmaker with a couple of bucks in his pocket knows of Lowel... but did you know that they have a few free tutorials on their site? Take a peek... Lowel lighting tutorials

Here is a nice long read for you theory-heads out there. The fine gentleman (Richard I believe his name to be) over at Itchy Animation lays it out for all to comprehend.

What's with everything?

Is it not said that, just before the fall of any great civilization, that civilization will be at its peak of artistic expression? Are we peaking?

Everywhere I look I see great art. I see lousy art. I see mediocre "canned" art. Nearly everyone is an artist in some way. It is artist overload!

It's much like having free reign at a candy store. You eat one sweet and sugary treat after another and another and another. Before you know it, you are sickened by the very thing you love most. And then you vomit. Several weeks later you feel ready to try candy again but something is wrong... you have an ulcerated stomach lining and can't seem to hold anything down. Now, no matter how delectable the treat, how fine the chocolate, how creamy the confectionery, every piece of it disgusts you.

I am an artist. You (most likely) are an artist. Combined, we know many other artists.

As I search for inspiration (mainly on the internet <-- lazy), I come across the same garbage copied and recopied. Wait! I know what you are thinking... "hey jerk-load, that's how great art is created, by copying the greats and using the ideas of others as a framework...." and so on. Yes. This is absolutely true but I have not been seeing a lot of framework add-ons lately... except of course, this (Drift by Carl Burton).

Could this be an effect of social media and the need to feel accepted by our cyber-peers? Maybe. Could this be the end of our civilization? Probably. Or, could it be that things have always been this way but since we are so interconnected through blogs and forums and chatrooms and instant messages and cell phones and email and the telegraph and television and radio and streaming downloads and streaming uploads and file transfers and data sharing and voicemail and the telephone and newspapers and magazines and cars and airplanes and buses and bicycles and motorboats and railways and paved roads and highways and byways and parkways and driveways and banners and flags and bags filled with rags that everyone's art is shoved into everyone else's face all of the time??? Hmmm... gives ya something to think about.

Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy shoved art. It just messes with my inspiration in that sometimes I am truly inspired by this glut of art and sometimes I am discouraged.

I'm probably just going nuts.

Regardless of all of the above, I've recently stumbled upon a good website. Check out Motionographer.com for some real inspiration (or discouragement).

DIY: the $30 Dolly!!!

Look out Hollywood! For thirty bucks you can set up dynamic camera moves to rival the pros. All you need are some skateboard wheels, angle brackets, plywood, screws, nuts, bolts washers and a couple of pieces of 1" PVC pipe.

This is so simple you don't need plans or schematics to create this engineering marvel. Just take a close look at the pictures, then head down to your local home improvement mega-center and grab all the necessary hardware (excluding the skateboard wheels and bearings).

As for obtaining the wheels and bearings... Ebay. I suggest purchasing these prior to your trip to the home improvement center. That way you can take a wheel and a couple of bearing with you to match up the hole sizes, etc.



Once I had all of the components gathered, the actual process of building this dolly took less than an evening.

A word of caution... this is a DIY project and the dolly is kinda flimsy so use extreme caution when loading it out with your costly camera equipment.

I hope this is useful info. Enjoy.

Production: Who does what?

As a self educating film student/filmmaker, one of the basic things many of us never really bother to remember or fully know is who does what on a movie set and what are their proper titles.

My guess... this basic information is probably rote in any film 101 class at every filmschool that you would pay big ca$h for. The thing is, the same information is easily gathered with a few internet searches. Since internet searches tend to suck up lots and lots of precious time and I have already started this process, I will share my consolidated findings.

The following list may be incomplete and may contain the occasional error so feel free to post any corrections or additions to the ever so under-utilized "comments" section of this blog.

In alphabetic(ish) order:

Actor - the person in front of the camera with the most talent

Art Director - designs the set

Best Boy - assists the Gaffer

Boom Operator - holds and maneuvers the boom mic

Camera Operator - hmmm... operates the camera

Compositor - 3D visual effects artist

Costume Designer - conceives of and designs the costumes

Craft Services - the people supplying and serving food/drink (beer) to the cast and crew

Crew - all technical and managerial positions besides director and producer (and exec. prod.)

Director - the person bossing around the cast and crew

Director of Photography - in charge of camera and lighting crew... (more to come on this one)

Dolly Grip - operates the dolly and crane

Double - person that stands in for main actor during lighting setup, etc.

Executive Producer - forks up the cash for the movie to get made

Extras - human props

Featured Role - the main actor or actors

Film Editor - assembles the various shots into a coherent film under the direction of the director and producer

Colorist - adjusts the color of the film either chemically or digitally

First Assistant Cameraman - (first AC) handles camera, pulls focus, takes orders from the camera operator and DP

First Assistant Director - (first AD) takes orders from the director, directs extras, etc.

Foley Artist - creates sound effects to replace the sounds captured (or not really) on set

Gaffer - chief lighting electrician... takes direction from DP

Grip - responsible for bounced and diffused light, camera and lighting rigging

Hairdresser - styles hair and wigs and polishes bald heads

Key Grip - boss of the grips... also helps DP and Gaffer set up lighting, etc.

Producer - the big boss responsible for everything from development to completion and release of the film

Production Assistant - (PA) assists the First Assistant Director, Production Office and everyone else with the little stuff

Production Designer - creates the overall "look and feel" of the film from set design to costumes, makeup, etc.

Production Manager - organizes and manages the shooting schedule, budget, etc. with very little creative input

Script Supervisor - keeps track of what has been filmed from script and makes note to track continuity

Set Decorator - gets bossed around by production designer, sets up props, etc.

Set Dresser - the Set Decorator's assistant... moves furniture, drapes, table clothes, etc.

Sound Designer - in charge of post-production sound

Sound Editor - edits sound and sound effects and I'm sure, answers to Sound Designer

Dialog Editor - edits the dialog and voice-overs

Music Director - supervises composer, mixers and editors... in charge of the music

Composer - writes the score (music)

Stunt Double - specialized pain absorber who stands in for an actor

Talent - the actors

Visual Effects Supervisor - oversees the visual effects department

Walk-on - a non-speaking roll (kinda talent)

Obviously a small zero-budget indie film (short or feature) does not need all of these positions filled. Logically, many of these responsibilities will be taken care of by the few crew members on hand filling multiple rolls.

Now we know. Big deal.

Got Your Ears On?

I just came across this podcast that focuses on producing. Oddly enough, it is called The Film Producer's Podcast... go figure.

Anyway, this is a refreshing break from all of the technical podcasts, blogs, user forums and other websites about shooting and editing. It's a decent look into the business end of the stick.

There are some great interviews.

Recommended.

By the way...

I have been meaning to post a link to this guy's podcast for quite some time. Overall, I'm not that fond of his films but what he has to say is great!

If nothing else, listen to his first three podcasts "Not for the Fain of Heart", "Knowledgeable Idiots" and "Forget Hollywood". He really puts things into perspective for beginners.

Check him out http://podbazaar.com/view/126100789566373898

Well worth the price of admission (free).
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HD is for Losers!

High Def is for losers. This may not be entirely true but...

Seems as though everyone is jumping on the HD bandwagon just for the sake of HD and writing off standard definition as "old-news". Don't get me wrong, I am thoroughly impressed with well shot HD, it is amazing but...

I feel that many beginning filmmakers (other than myself) and cinematographers use the high quality HD picture as a crutch. I've seen tons of footage and film shorts shot with HD that look like complete garbage. Additionally, I have seen standard-def footage where I had to ask myself, "was that high-def?"... and it wasn't.

"... but isn't the industry going HD?". Of course they are. What you should ask yourself is "Do I really need to spend more cash to shoot HD if all I am doing is compressing my footage for internet viewing?". My answer is "probably not".

If you are going to film-out and have a professional distribution deal HD is probably a good place to start... but if this is the case, you probably wouldn't be reading a beginner's blog anyway.

Just a note: Though there are now HD cameras that shoot 24p in the $1K to $3k price range, there are some things to consider. Number one is "professional features" such as manual zoom and focus, XLR inputs for mics, fast shutter adjustment, etc. Also, the lens quality and diameter are crucial to the quality of the picture (not just more pixles).

When it comes down to it... who the hell cares! Shoot good SD and you can tell everyone it's HD and 99% of people you tell will believe you.
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Links that Don't Stink

One of the most helpful and useful things when homeschooling yourself is a vast array of internet resources... or "links" as they are most commonly known. In Self-Film-School there are two main categories of useful "links". One category is Educational and the other is Tools.

In a previous post I had praised celtx screen writing software. Well... link added (see side bar).

An extremely useful capturing and editing freeware download that I highly recommend is VirtualDub. I won't go in to all of the great features but it is great... and free!

Go cheap with DIY DOF... one essential part in making your DV footage look like film is shallow depth of field. Check out the DOF Machine. (great DIY lesson)

As for DIY, check out the Home Built Stabilizer Group board for great education and ideas about cool film equipment you (and I) probably can't afford to buy.

Speaking of community forum boards, DVXuser.com is probably one of the most popular boards for the super-indie film making community. There are some pros there as well. Great place for many of your educational needs.

I will add links periodically but for now these are enough to keep us busy for a very long time.
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Just a Thought

Everyone is a filmmaker.

Not everyone is a good filmmaker.

Given a video camera, a computer and some editing software, anyone can make a film.

And they do.
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