I have been a photographer for a number of years and have always been interest in video. So I decided to start learning more about film making. I have been reading a number of books, watching videos and subscribing to websites. I just sign up for some crash courses on film making and making a video. They are only five weeks long meeting on Saturdays but they will help me understand in general the film making process so I can decide which areas I want to pursue. I enjoy being behind the camera but also like to write so exploring screen writing. I hope in the near future to start on a short video project to get my feet wet.
Introduce Yourself : Just getting started by Scott Green
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Welcome Scott! First thing, I'd stop mixing the words video and filmmaking. Sure, today both are digital. But video sounds like videography, and filmmaking sounds like, well, cinema. Big difference, philosophically speaking. So much to say, coming from a photography background. Expensive photographic support equipment is below the cost of entry level filmmaking support equipment. The main reason being the importance of control and smoothness between the beginning camera position and ending camera position in filmmaking. Try not to go cheap here. Yes, the stuff is overpriced, but you can't scrimp too much. Learning all the technicals is one thing. But you're only just getting started after you've done that. I can't stress enough the importance of learning film grammar inside out, and then pushing way beyond that by engaging in a lifelong study of cinema, as in great films, and how different unique film grammars exist, primarily outside the domain of Hollywood. There is a subtlety and beauty in these unique grammars, a product of their subject matter, and their rhythm and timing. I look to arthouse cinema, old and new, to gain insights, and pleasure. This is where your real learning of the art form begins, after you've absorbed the way Hollywood does it. Two of my favorite auteurs of unique film grammars are Yasujiro Ozu and Wong Kar-Wai, but there are many more. For interesting dissections and analysis of some of these styles, I'd like to recommend David Bordwell's blog Observations on Film Art. Let me leave you with this wonderful four minute video to give you food for thought. Vimeo member Kogonada (a play on Yasujiro Ozu's screenplay co-writer Kogo Noda) made the video to provide just one illuminating example of how foreign arthouse cinema deviates significantly from Hollywood. Remember, it's only one example: https://vimeo.com/68514760