What exactly do you want to do? Tell a story, capture nice images, be the 1000-armed octopus coordinating a set, or solve new problems everyday? There are so many things that need to be done on a real set and most people are not even aware of all the different positions. So what is it you want to do?
Since you got an Epic, it seems you like the camera operation part?
Then take your camera and start shooting. Shoot, shoot and shoot some more.
Offer your services to indies and no- to low budget productions, to youth-groups, students and anybody who might need it, because experience is what will get you the cool gigs later.
Go and grab the 100 best movies and start watching them and watch them again. Look at the techniques, the light, the positions, compositions etc.
Grab friends and family and start making movies. With or without script, with or without budget, it does not matter, as long as you shoot.
And get your movie makers glasses on.
I personally walk through life with several filters. When I look at people, sceneries and places (which we all do most of the day), I try to see stories, light, possible shots, etc. Not a moment goes by, when presented with a new image that my mind is not checking for possibilities on how, what, who and why something could, or could not end up in a movie.
Be bold! You need to be a little bit crazy to do this for a living and the unexpected is expected everyday.
Be eager to learn and to share what you have learned.
And don't forget: SHOOT!
The truth is that movies are just a mere hundred years old. It is such a young art-form that talking about rules seems weird. But it is one of the most prolific art-forms too. After all, it tell stories on so many levels that it can substitute for a book - even if people don't like to accept that. So there had been a great deal of trial and error in this field and if you look at professional grip equipment, it will become very clear that almost everything that is standard in the industry today, at one point was made up on the spot by movie makers.
I usually feel like the big problem solver, the great set magician (which is more true the less budget you have). And the reason is, because we are still learning, we are still developing. We do not stop at the end of a canvas, we do not see this art-form coming to a hold anytime soon. We are all little kids telling a story and learning how to, while we do it (which is why set-experience is so crucial).
The rest comes - at least for me - rather naturally. Yes, occasionally I think about the rule of thirds, the 180º, eye lines etc. But I find that I do it automatically even. Because it is how we look at the world through lenses and screens. It is how I see the world through my movie eyes anyhow.
BUT - and I feel I have to include this, because it is also a truth many don't want to realize - only a fraction of the people who try this art-form (or any other) really have a talent.
First off, most humans have NO sense for art whatsoever. Yes, they can enjoy the beauty of a pretty image, but let me tell you, that they would not know the artistic difference between a cheap scenery painting on the wall of a family restaurant and that of a Thomas Coleman, Paul Bril, Canaletto, Joseph M. W. Turner, or even Monet (BTW a good lesson to go out and check out the works great artists on how they composited, used colors and lights etc.). For most of those consuming art, it might seem to be about the same level of skill and talent. It doesn't mean they don't appreciate the great works, it just means they do not really understand the differences. For most people, there is no more obvious art involved in movies like The Third Man, Vertigo, or Blade Runner than in Transformers 3. This is why the mass market is not dominated by artistically great movies, even if some end up there nonetheless.
And to tell you the truth, I look for very different forms of appreciation with various audiences. The masses I want to entertain, colleagues and people who understand the craft in it, I want approval from; and to the suits, I want to seem commercially useful.
Then there is this group of people who believe they have talent and who think they can actually create, but they can't. They are often proud to show you the worst things you have ever seen and the reason they keep doing it is because nobody has either the knowledge or the heart to tell them the truth. In this forum, you will probably find a higher % of capable people then in many other places, but even here, probably only a handful is really talented to the point that they could make really great movies. And I don't try to be mean, just honest.
Should you be one of those people, who lack the real talent, don't worry, because it does not mean at all that you can't work in this business. Even if you lack the real golden talent, you can still be great in what you do, just by having a great set of skills. Just learn to see what art is, see what skill is and how they fit together and find your own place in this machinery - and be a patron to those with great visions, be their wingman.
Not everyone can be a director, even if it often seems like it (I hate it if people tell me it's what they want to do, as if they know what it really incorporates). There are only a few really great ones, a ton of mediocre ones and most of both these groups have a great team behind them. A director with a lousy DP will not make good cinema, a great DP with a lousy Director will make nice images nobody wants to see. and if the story is shit, it usually does not matter how good a director or DP is, the movie will not be good - which does not mean it won't sell though, as movies show us over and over again...
There are many spots on a film team and being great in any one of them can make you just as essential a part as DP, Director or any other.
...what a rant, sorry about that :)
So in short:
Find out what you are really good at and what you want to do and just go out and do it and NEVER let anybody tell you it can not be done!
Originally Posted by Peter Mosiman
