filmmaking

[Peter McCully]

Wow, Bruce that entry should be a mandatory read under the topic "Get a Life". Well said sense!

[DontStopMe]

Godvarun, I'm going to repeat the last PM I sent you...

Go to Hollywood if you want, but be aware of what you're up against.

Also, it's even harder since you're a foreigner. You can't follow the traditional Hollywood path into directing because you get kicked out of the country a year after you get your degree if you don't have a work visa.

I went to Hollywood because I got into a good film school and because the film industry in South Africa is kinda small. Even so, I have more friends in South Africa than in Hollywood who have directed films.

If I had grown up in India, I would try to make good films there first, since you have a good industry there. All the raw materials are there for you to make a fantastic film - possibly easier than in Hollywood.

But MOST IMPORTANT is you develop your sensitivities as AN ARTIST. Find stories that you want to tell and the skills to tell them, etc. Figure out how to lead a creative group of people.

Basically, you will be competing against:
1. very, very talented, motivated and well trained people
...as well as:
2. not so talented people who have more money and connections than you
...wherever you go. So you've got to be really good and also be nice to people.

So, how good are you at:
1. creative writing / storytelling
2. drawing / photography / sculpture / painting
3. working with actors
4. leading creative teams
5. negotiating for stuff for free (vital producer skill ;)
6. computer programs - editing, sound, and graphics.

Work on these skills. Help out at theatres, take courses, create stuff in your free time.

Anyway, I recommend a combination of:
- running around with DV cameras trying to make films with your friends
- taking formal training
- watching DVD commentaries, making-ofs, etc
- reading internet magazines, blogs and forums at all levels (provideocoalition.com & freshdv.com, hdforindies.com, dv.com, David Mullen's posts on reduser, dvxuser.com, the cinematography mailing list, etc, yes even cinematography.com)
- reading digital photography sites (dpreview.com, luminous-landscape.com, etc)
- and hitting the local library, augmented by Amazon.com if need be...

Here are some book recommendations (just ones I've read, apologies if there are misspellings, etc as they aren't all in front of me):

THEORY:
- writing: Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger
- writing: any good script structure book. I read Joseph Campbell's Hero of a Thousand Faces directly, but Story by McKee, etc are also okay. Aristotle's Poetics is excellent, as is E.M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel, although you need to translate to film...
- Sound for Film and Television by Tomlinson Holman
- Cinematography by Blain Brown
- directing actors is best learned as part of a class or by being an assistant in theatre etc - but I have read and enjoyed large chunks of the following: The Actor Prepares by Stanislavsky, The Empty Space by Peter Brook, Towards a Poor Theatre by Grotowski, Directing Actors by Judith Weston, Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen, Impro by Keith Johnstone, Sanford Meisner on Acting, etc
- understanding of Hollywood: The Movie Business Book by Jason Squire
- editing: In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch

PRACTICAL FILMMAKING
The above theory books are pretty dry. So also get a stack of books that help you get up and running with "real filmmaking". Choose whatever looks fun to you...

Things like:
- The DV Rebel's Handbook by Stu Maschwitz
- Producing Great Sound for Film and Video by Jay Rose
- whatever editing books look most fun to you (I recommend you learn Avid, Final Cut Pro or Premiere)
- whatever indie filmmaker books look most fun to read (there are lots of them - Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez, The Power Filmmaking Kit by Jason J Tomaric, Film Directing: Killer Style and Cutting-Edge Technique by Renee Harmon, etc...)

Also, read the scripts of movies you enjoy. Very important.

SURVIVING IN HOLLYWOOD
The movie The Player by Robert Altman (of course!)
As many Hollywood autobiographies, making-ofs, etc as you want. Personally I liked David Niven's autobiographies very much but they are a bit old-school... there are a ton of fun books in this category. Easy Riders Raging Bulls, Richard E Grant's autobiography, David Mamet's stuff, bios of Hitchcock, Eisenstein, Lucas, Coppola (The Apocalypse Now Book) all seemed enjoyable at the time...

ART WORLD
- you need good photography, painting reference, etc of course.

Does this help? I had personally read about 10 of the above books when I was back in South Africa. It helped - a lot. I wish I had had time to read more. I'm catching up now...

You don't need to know how to do anything in a movie, but it certainly helps.

As a director the one thing you HAVE to know is how to work with actors. And how to get a creative team of people all moving in the right direction.

Okay, all done now. Good luck!

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

This is probably one of the best post I've ever read on a forum. Thank you!

[Jamie Havill]

This is probably one of the best post I've ever read on a forum. Thank you!

Agreed, but don't, whatever you do, get too caught up in the theory.

Go out there and do it.

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

Agreed, but don't, whatever you do, get too caught up in the theory.

Go out there and do it.

Thread digger.

[Peter Strietmann]

How many industries are you going to get such a sincere, concise and informed response as the one Mr Allen posted? Renews my faith in humankind.

[Thomas Malinowski]

Here's everything you need to know in 5 mins ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGge_7JI-pA

Some of the highlights from the Rodrigues Five Minute Film School:

" Don't shoot on film - that's not creative. Go and borrow a friends video camera ... don't got any friends? then go to the store and buy a video camera and return it when you're done shooting. Now that's creative".

"You should never pay anybody to do a job you can do yourself. I got your Gaffer right here!!!! put your own name in the credits"

[Jamie Havill]

Thread digger.

Hahaha, my bad, was searching for a different thread and didn't realise quite how far back I'd gone. Sorry.

[Bill Anderson]

Watch movies. Then WATCH movies.
A couple of years ago a friend of mine - a really
great guy, and very smart- announced that he
was going to get into film; had ideas- the whole
schtick, but I knew his habits, and one of them was
not watching movies. So, like the aspiring writer
that doesn't read, he's still talking about it.
I'm sure this is nothing new, and having a
passion for film doesn't guarantee anything, but if
your movie watching boils down to taking up the dead
space in your schedule, then you're in for a tough ride.

There was a moving article in one of the Projections series
of books a couple of years ago, I don't have the copy to
refer to, and my memory might not be exact; it was
about this young filmmaker (Artur Aristakisyan) who had
taken time out from film school to make a movie about
street people, the poorest of the poor, in (Russian?) society.
This kid was also so poor that he literally begged for money
to help fund his film. The homeless even helped him out.
He completed the 16mm black and white film ( "Palms" )
with film ends and a crew of about one.
He was awarded a "special prize" at Cannes, for "new vision",
or something to that effect. He made it to the award ceremony
and, when he left that evening, with his trophy in his hands,
he was homeless.

Maybe Mr Mullen or someone has the issue and can fill in any blanks.