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Watching Movies |
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In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. At this primordial phase of our own world’s existence, a quite unique phenomenon was present in the absolute sense. Everything was new under the sun. This has never been the case again in the history of mankind. A person holds a movie camera and desires something completely original, utterly his or her own creation. I have two things to tell this aspiring film-maker: First of all, don’t do that! Second, copy everyone you can, as much as you can, in as many different ways as possible! (I'm not talking about breaking the copyright law!) In order to learn to take good photographs, you don’t have to re-invent the camera. If you want to bite into a delicious apple, there is no need to genetically engineer one from the basic building blocks of life. If you are going to make movies, take advice from those who have both succeeded beyond their wildest dreams and failed even their lowest expectations (and all in between). As a periodic article we will be able to explore many different aspects of the filming process. From dialogue to composition of a scene; from lighting a subject to sound or soundtracks; from editing to creating mood, there are many examples of how to properly achieve all of these. |
Negative examples can sometimes be more helpful than positive ones, and we will look at at least one of each in coming articles. Making mistakes is vital in the search for one’s own masterpiece; however others’ mistakes and successes are also vital. I hope that there will be enough interest in this idea to elicit some reader input. Sharing your own difficulties or even some triumphs may help others to produce better work. Fresh perspectives on a subject are—in my experience—many times the salvation of a dying project. Another person’s take on your problem may be just what was needed. So if any reader desires to “speak” for any reason pertaining to videography or film-making, please let your voice be heard (send it to us!), and I will offer as much as I can in the same regard. Anyone interested in sharing your film-making experiences click click here. I look forward to continuing work on this column and diving into what Hollywood—as well as every interested reader—has to teach us about making movies. Craig is co-editor of Just Shoot Me, co-owner of CamerasRolling, and an independent moviemaker. |
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