So in my last blog I talked a little bit about myself and how I got started in film making. I discussed my opinion on where a new film maker should be putting his or her energies and how motivation isn't always the key to success.
Film makers come in many different verities and styles, starting with your self taught film maker, which is the school which I come from. When one doesn't have the time, money or ability to attend a formal film program at an university or specialty school, one has to get the tools and information that makes them useful on set. I personally went to a four year college, but it was to study Computer Science and not film making and cinematography. When I first started making films, I did so by learning through books, DVDs, the web and experimentation. Here are some useful links to sites and books that I found useful:
Informative Sites:
Prolost - http://prolost.blogspot.com - ProLost is the blog of Stu Maschwitz, director, author of The DV Rebel's Guide, and founder of The Orphanage in San Francisco.
HD For Indies - http://www.hdforindies.com/ - A How To Guide for Digital Filmmakers
Pro Video Coalition - http://provideocoalition.com - Has a great number of informative blogs on film making, production, cameras and post production.
DVX User - http://www.dvxuser.com - Home to the original forum for information exchange for the Panasonic DVX/HVX and other indie film cameras and topics.
Red User - http://www.reduser.net - The ultimate forum for getting information on digital cinema and the technology to deliver it.
Red Rock Micro Forum - http://www.redrockmicro.com/forum - General discussion on Red Rock Micro products, production techniques for indies and networking.
Fresh DV - http://www.freshdv.com/ - Great source for digital video news and great podcasts/video.
FX Guide - http://fxguide.com/ - News, podcasts and discussion of todays production and post production workflows for digital cinema.
Studio Daily - http://www.studiodaily.com - The Resource for Film, HD, digital production and post news, tools, tutorials, reviews and case studies.
Digital Video Information Network - http://dvinfo.net/conf/ - Forum for discussing everything digital video.
Equipment Sites:
Red - http://www.red.com - Makers of the Red One 4K Digital Cinema camera and Scarlet the 3K camera for $3K.
Canon - http://usa.canon.com - Home of the HV20/HV30 cameras.
Red Rock Micro - http://www.redrockmicro.com - Makers of the M2 35mm adapter, Mirco mattebox and other great priced cinema gear.
Element Technica - http://www.elementtechnica.com - Support, mounting and production equipment for Red One.
B&H Photo Video - http://www.bhphotovideo.com - The best priced equipment on the internet with some of the best customer service and selection. If someone has it cheaper, its a scam.
Apple - http://www.apple.com - The only computer for me. Also the makers of Final Cut Pro, Shake, Color, and many other useful applications for the indie film maker.
Adobe - http://www.adobe.com - Software make for creative people. Photoshop, After Effects and the whole Creative Suite.
Hope that some of these links will help you learn a bit more about digital cinema. This list is by no means a complete list. If you have more useful links, add them in the comments. These are just the sites that I visit on a daily basis.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
I Want To Make Movies - Now What? PT. 1
With the ever increasing ability both through financial means and technological means for people these days to create their own movies, big or small. Many people who are passionate about this are left saying, "where do I start?" This blog is my attempt as an independent filmmaker to explore and consolidate information that might be useful to the new filmmaker.
First let me explain a little bit about myself. I am a self proclaimed hobby filmmaker, with a passion for photography and cinematography. My first production was done with a couple Sony Handycams with absolutely no idea what I was doing. I had a partner in my film making ventures at the time who shared in the same level or lack of film making knowledge as I had. We managed to write a script, cast the movie, gather some production crew, and carried some of the project into editorial. The problem was, we were trying to make a feature length film with absolutely no idea what we were doing. What we learned was, a good camera makes a world of difference, and we learned about the cinema frame rate of 24 frames per second. Luckily at this time, Panasonic released its revolutionary AG-DVX100, which I purchased.
After showing our rough edits and title sequences to friends, we managed to gather some interest in our production outfit. Our ability to sell ourselves was responsible for %90 of the attention we got. Another indie filmmaker, after reviewing some of our footage was so taken with what we'd done, he actually "hired" us to be the production crew for his next feature. We still didn't know much, but we had a nice camera and an approach that was unique. After battling with bad acting, long hours and compensating for our lack of proper film making knowledge, my partner and I realized that we needed to take a step back from feature film making and get into short films.
This was the birth of Bitterman Productions and our short film Liquid Country, which was a easy 13 minute film that was shown at the New York Independent International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Nothing is more exciting than being able to show your work to an audience in a theater. Prior to this film and during, I soon realized that I had little to no interest in directing, but I was in love with the photographic aspects of movie making. I loved my DVX and I loved editing in Final Cut Pro, but my problem was I was focused on too many things and not getting accomplished at just one. So I was the jack of all trades, master of none and I looked up to Robert Rodreguez and his rebel attitude towards film making. Of course I now see that focusing on one area is better than chasing all areas. I also learned that to make a good movie one needs a lot of skilled people around to help out.
So I burned out on film making with all the work and stress of attempting to produce, co-direct, DP, edit and market a film and a "production company". So from the motivation of being a feature film maker with a Sony Handycam, I went to being a burnt out short film maker with a DVX and a toy chest of indie movie making equipment.
So I took yet another step back and focused on cinematography and still photography, which is where I am now. I've worked on other shorts as a camera man, I've helped run audio for productions, and I've been an Assistant Cameraman on projects all in an effort to learn more about what it takes to be on set and be useful. I also a student of film making and cinema technology, trying to learn as much as possible through reading, discussion and experimentation.
So from my own experience, working on films is a huge thing that isn't as simple as pointing a camera and someone and calling it a movie. Here are a few things to remember for the beginner filmmaker:
1. Your passion will make you succeed!
2. Don't try and do it all, focus on one thing you love doing and surround yourself with people who are good at doing all those other things.
3. Your film won't look like a movie without some of the right equipment.
4. Your equipment won't make your director, writer or actors any better, so before you shoot, analyze your production cause its only as strong as your weakest link (and hopefully that will be you).
5. Start small and learn big. Take an opportunity to start with a short film and learn how to produce it with the same production value as a large budget feature film (of course doing so with little or no budget).
First let me explain a little bit about myself. I am a self proclaimed hobby filmmaker, with a passion for photography and cinematography. My first production was done with a couple Sony Handycams with absolutely no idea what I was doing. I had a partner in my film making ventures at the time who shared in the same level or lack of film making knowledge as I had. We managed to write a script, cast the movie, gather some production crew, and carried some of the project into editorial. The problem was, we were trying to make a feature length film with absolutely no idea what we were doing. What we learned was, a good camera makes a world of difference, and we learned about the cinema frame rate of 24 frames per second. Luckily at this time, Panasonic released its revolutionary AG-DVX100, which I purchased.
After showing our rough edits and title sequences to friends, we managed to gather some interest in our production outfit. Our ability to sell ourselves was responsible for %90 of the attention we got. Another indie filmmaker, after reviewing some of our footage was so taken with what we'd done, he actually "hired" us to be the production crew for his next feature. We still didn't know much, but we had a nice camera and an approach that was unique. After battling with bad acting, long hours and compensating for our lack of proper film making knowledge, my partner and I realized that we needed to take a step back from feature film making and get into short films.
This was the birth of Bitterman Productions and our short film Liquid Country, which was a easy 13 minute film that was shown at the New York Independent International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Nothing is more exciting than being able to show your work to an audience in a theater. Prior to this film and during, I soon realized that I had little to no interest in directing, but I was in love with the photographic aspects of movie making. I loved my DVX and I loved editing in Final Cut Pro, but my problem was I was focused on too many things and not getting accomplished at just one. So I was the jack of all trades, master of none and I looked up to Robert Rodreguez and his rebel attitude towards film making. Of course I now see that focusing on one area is better than chasing all areas. I also learned that to make a good movie one needs a lot of skilled people around to help out.
So I burned out on film making with all the work and stress of attempting to produce, co-direct, DP, edit and market a film and a "production company". So from the motivation of being a feature film maker with a Sony Handycam, I went to being a burnt out short film maker with a DVX and a toy chest of indie movie making equipment.
So I took yet another step back and focused on cinematography and still photography, which is where I am now. I've worked on other shorts as a camera man, I've helped run audio for productions, and I've been an Assistant Cameraman on projects all in an effort to learn more about what it takes to be on set and be useful. I also a student of film making and cinema technology, trying to learn as much as possible through reading, discussion and experimentation.
So from my own experience, working on films is a huge thing that isn't as simple as pointing a camera and someone and calling it a movie. Here are a few things to remember for the beginner filmmaker:
1. Your passion will make you succeed!
2. Don't try and do it all, focus on one thing you love doing and surround yourself with people who are good at doing all those other things.
3. Your film won't look like a movie without some of the right equipment.
4. Your equipment won't make your director, writer or actors any better, so before you shoot, analyze your production cause its only as strong as your weakest link (and hopefully that will be you).
5. Start small and learn big. Take an opportunity to start with a short film and learn how to produce it with the same production value as a large budget feature film (of course doing so with little or no budget).
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