How Not to Be Another YouTube Idiot
What’s Your Goal?
Have you ever picked up an instrument and assumed you knew how to play without any instruction or practice? Have you ever thought to yourself, “Well, I don’t have any real experience, but I could probably be in an opera.” I certainly hope the answer is no. Why, then, do so many people think that they can just pick up a digital video camera and make a movie that’s worth watching?
Filmmaking is like any other art or craft. It requires study, practice, and a dedication to excellence. “Yeah, but I know someone who’s a really good guitarist, and he never took any lessons,” I often hear. “I believe you,” I say. “But do you really think he picked up that guitar and recorded an album that first day?” Of course not. Whether an accomplished artist has studied formally or not, he or she has most likely spent months—probably years—squirreled away in a bedroom, studio, or home office. Successful artists push themselves to perfect their crafts and to expand their skill sets.
The point is, if you’re happy being just another YouTuber who uploads videos of friends getting hit in the crotch, then please feel free to disregard this article. If, on the other hand, you’d like to find out more about filmmaking, with the hope that someday you can shoot something worth watching, you’ll need to get to work.
“You mean go to film school?” you may ask.
Well, no. I have nothing at all against film school, but I’m not writing this article for those of you who have already decided you want to be filmmakers. Instead, I’d like to address those of you who want to learn more about the filmmaking process and figure out whether it’s something you could love.
Expand Your Knowledge
There are a lot of ways to learn about filmmaking—and to increase your skill set—without going directly to film school.
- Books: well, of course there are books about filmmaking, but which books should you buy? Simply going to Amazon.com and browsing their catalog can be a little daunting. You probably won’t recognize many of the authors’ names, so unless there are a lot of customer reviews, you won’t know what makes one of these books better than another. My suggestion? Go to college bookstores. Most college bookstores will group their books according to class, so you can see which books professors think are appropriate for introductory courses in film production, film history, and film theory. If you’d like a couple of books to start you off, I have two recommendations: Shot by Shot: A Practical Guide to Filmmaking (Cantine) and The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video (Schroeppel). If you’re interested in exploring film history—and learning about American and foreign films and filmmakers you’ve probably never heard of—I also recommend The Material Ghost: Films and Their Medium (Perez).
- DVD Commentaries & Special Features: you can learn a lot from DVD special features. Director commentaries, in particular, are filled with insight about filmmakers’ decision-making processes—why they choose certain locations; why they shoot a scene in shadow; how they work with actors on the set; why they chose close-ups or long shots; when they use moving shots as opposed to static shots.
- Interviews with Directors: in addition to the information you can get from director commentaries, interviews often include more personal information about filmmakers. In interviews, they will often talk about how they got started in film and which directors have inspired them. If your favorite director mentions other directors you’ve never heard of, go out and watch their films.
- Film Festivals: one of the great things about film festivals is the access you get to filmmakers. Most festivals host seminars and Q&A sessions with filmmakers. Here you can learn a lot about the practical side of filmmaking—how to raise money; how to work on a low budget; how to secure music rights; how to hire crewmembers; how to distribute your film; how to solve problems on the set; how to make sacrifices without destroying your vision as a filmmaker.
- Adult Education Classes: here you can get an idea of what film school is like before dedicating four years of your life to it. Moreover, the professors are often filmmakers, themselves, and the classroom provides you a place to begin networking in the film community.
- Volunteer as a Production Assistant or Background Actor: if you volunteer as a background actor, you’ll probably spend most of the day standing around waiting for your five seconds of non-fame. If you volunteer as a production assistant, you’ll probably spend the day getting coffee, picking up lunch, running errands, cleaning up trash, and occasionally doing something that seems film-related. In either case, though, you’ll be in an excellent position to watch how a film set works. You’ll get a feel for people’s roles on the set, how long it takes to light a scene, and how much time you need to get a usable take. This information is invaluable, and you can’t get it without hands-on experience.
- Give Yourself Homework Assignments: in other words, watch films and take notes. What does the camera do during an action scene? How is this different from what it does during a conversation? When does the director use close-ups? When does he or she use high-key, bright lighting, as opposed to low-key, shadowy lighting? When does the director use smooth moving shots as opposed to shakier, hand-held shots? What’s the difference between lighting and composition in a drama and a comedy? Never stop asking questions, and never stop looking for answers. In addition to studying films, give yourself shooting assignments. Try shooting a scene without any dialogue so the action has to tell the story. Try shooting a scene from multiple angles and then editing the scene together in different ways. Try shooting a scene from higher and lower angles, and ask yourself how this changes the feeling of the scene.
Decision Time
Filmmaking is a complex process. If you want to get better at it, you’ll need to work hard, the way any other artist would. Of course, if you don’t feel like putting in the time, you can always fall back on YouTube. After all, as long as the Internet exists, there will be millions of people to appreciate your video of a teenager falling off a roof while his friends point and laugh.
