A bunch of equipment & nowhere to go...

L

lachefilms

Well-known member
I bought about 8,000 dollars worth of film equipment, I started a film company on my own, I got myself a 'partner' and we shot this 5 minute film in no time. Things turned out so badly during that shoot that I've decided that I wasn't going to shoot anything else until I knew what I was doing completely. I however, feel kind of alone on this...I can't find reliable people to keep going with. I guess I'm writing this note out of frustation, if anybody has been in this situation...i would welcome advise. I live in Massachusetts, in a town where filmmaking is note exactly part of our lives..
 
"I've decided that I wasn't going to shoot anything else until I knew what I was doing completely."


I dont think that is the best strategy. You cant learn without shooting. No one starts out knowing everything. Its all practice and experience. Take your camera out and start shooting everything that you see. Mess around with the settings and controls on the camera. Learn how to use your audio equipment to get good sound. Just get out and learn the equipment before jumping back into movie making. Or make practice movies, thats how you learn, by making mistakes.
 
Sorry to hear it didn't go so well for you. Filmmaking is really difficult. In fact, some of the best material requires going through some severe adversity along the way. That being said, it can be a lot of fun. Maybe your business-like approach overshadowed the enjoyable aspects of it?

You do need to forge ahead. You won't get any better at it by not practicing the art. Perhaps you just need lower stakes. There is no shame in starting with friends and family. Small town or big, everyone wants to be involved in filmmaking, it's nearyl universal.

Where in Mass. are you? I grew up in Natick and my family is all in Franklin now. We did some interesting projects in those small towns. We shot a music video in a laundromat in Natick, and we shot a longer film around downtown Franklin and a shot in a Franklin laundromat.

Hang in there! Actually, I'm coming out to the Boston area in September and hope to make a short film while I'm there. Perhaps we can collaborate?
 
Josh,

I live in Worcester, MA. Let me know when you're shooting...Thanks for your words. The biggest issue is finding proactive people, Right now, i'm the only person financing everything, the money has run out.


Hector,

That's what I meant, I wanted to really learn the stuff before trying to shoot anything big again...thanks for your words.
 
Making "practice films" just for the fun of it is a great way to get experience, get past anxieties about whether you're good enough, and all that.

When I first got Final Cut Pro I didn't know what to do- I had learned on Avid and I just wasn't getting Final Cut and felt that I had made a mistake. But I was also taking myself far too seriously.

So, when a friend had a pumpkin carving party before Halloween, I took my little cheapie camera that I had bought for capturing (I think there was something significant about not using the DVX on this project), and shot interviews and cover footage and just played around. And then after procrastinating for a couple of weeks, I finally sat down one Saturday afternoon and started putting my little pumpkin carving movie together.

By Sunday evening I had a 6 minute piece that was really fun and that all of my friends enjoyed (it still gets played, on a loop, at subsequent carving parties) and by then I had a pretty good idea of how to work Final Cut (though that continues to be an ongoing, and sometimes frustrating, process). The point is, I came away from that with experience, confidence in my ability to create something that other people valued and I had a lot of fun.

So, yeah - go out and practice, and try putting that practice into something real, but something that's fun with low stakes that you can do entirely on your own if need be - you'll probably do better work at this point doing that than setting yourself up with an all or nothing situation that makes you think that you have to produce beyond your current abilities.

Good luck and have fun.
 
lachefilms,

PM me your email address and I'll be sure to loop you in when we come out.

Worcester to me could provide you a lot of possibilities. It's gritty, and there are some great areas of town with various ethnic groups. I ate a restaurant there once, Nigerian food, I think. You have lakes nearby. I think there are a lot of possibilties there to do some very interesting films.

No doubt, there is probably a higher concentration of creatives closer to Boston, but I think you'd be surprised who you find nearby. I'm not sure what organizations are around out there, but here in Phoenix we have all kinds of film societies, film challenges, lots of support for independent film. I'm sure there are similar organizations within reach out there.

What kind of films are you interested in making? I dare say most of the best short films I have ever seen have required little to no budget whatsoever. We've produced seventeen short films, most for under $100.

What exactly do you see as your strengths in filmmaking? There are lots of people involved in the filmmaking process, and for good reason. It takes a lot of different skills, and no one has them all. In particular, it all starts with writing. You either need to become a great writer, or you need to team up with a great writer. I myself and not a even a good writer, but I work with a prolific writer/director. That allows me to focus on DP and editing work, which is somewhat technical and more to my strengths. With a great script and lots of planning (storyboards, overheads, shot lists, great locations, nice actors) you can do wonders.

Anyway, all this is to say... look on the bright side.
 
the only way you're going to learn is through much practice. without practice, you could go to the best film school for 4 years, learn everything there is to know, and then still do horrible on your first day of shooting.

i would reccomend not to aim so high at first. don't rush it, just take your time and do little semi-improv films. aspiring filmmakers don't need to worrying about writing "the best" script, or having great actors. the most important thing to do is learn how to use the camera and how to conduct your crew. learn the basics and gradually gain reliable people. and most importantly, have fun with it.
 
I'm thinking about a documentary...I've been thinking. I really want to make films ala Traffic, I like political films. I'm also a scriptwriter.
 
Yo lache, I am going through an extremely similar process right now. Last summer, my older brother purchased around $30K worth of equipment, this includes an HVX, Kessler Crane, Dolly and tracks, Arri lighting Kit, HMIs, Redrock M2, two computer superstations, a laptop and a bunch of various other stuff. During the summer he shot a feature film, which I flew down from CT for and helped out on. The ideas in the film were hilarious, but it was everyone's first time working on a film (anything serious for that matter) and there were about 20-25 people in all working on it. The movie came out ok, but had some major issues.

On a leap of faith I decided to move down here from CT very recently (I have lived there 15 years and still have 2 semesters of college). I am placing a lot of faith in this and am putting my time to good use (about 10-12 hours a day). I have been here for almost two months. We decided that rather than go ahead and just film and make a bunch of mistakes that we will inevitably miss (and thus not be able to learn anything from), we have been informing ourselves reading every book imaginable, studying online resources and behind-the-scenes featurettes. I have been reading mostly books about cinematography, but various other books, and have been learning to use Adobe After Effects. I have also been setting up the equipment and doing small test shoots so I can become familiar with the equipment.

Basically our plan is to learn as much as possible so that in the very near future, when we begin shooting detailed projects, we will make mistakes, BUT we will recognize them; realize why they ae mistakes and how to fix them. Then we can further expand upon them. Once we are much more confident, we will venture into feature films again. We don't want to do it yet so we can learn all of the tools and all it will boil down to is piecing it all together, instead of spending hours on set trying to figure out working the crane, or if we have crossed the "line" (film direction), and what not.

Sorry for the ramble, but I know what you mean when you say you want to wait to make films. Another thing I relate with is that everyone that worked on the feature had potential, but almost everyone was lacking and didn't feel like learning the craft. Since then, we are trying to find highly motivated people, which is very very hard, but the way I figure it is that once we start making some very quality footage, people will start to hop the bandwagon.

In any event, I want to hear tips and suggestions too. Best of luck to you lache.

Also, practice is essential, but there is no point making a mistake if you either A.) Don't know you made a mistake or B.) Aren't willing recognize it and learn from it.
 
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there are tons of things you can do for practice. You could shoot a spec tourism video where you go around to all the cool places in MASS where tourist might like to see and make a little 3-5 minute video of beauty shots or something. Another idea is to find some sort of subject matter and shoot a short 3-5 minute feature...it could be a person that makes stuff with wood or whatever. I agree you have to shoot, shoot, shoot!!! Constantly working on your craft and coming up with ideas for camera angles. Your shooting will help you become a better editor and vice versa because you'll know your going to edit a certain sequence when your on the shoot.

Another thing, don't waste tape! Set your shots up, check your focus and then hit record and hold the shot for 10 or more seconds depending on whatever it is your shooting. I hate it when people leave the camera on record while they are walking around or setting up their shots.
 
Sorry for the ramble, but I know what you mean when you say you want to wait to make films. Another thing I relate with is that everyone that worked on the feature had potential, but almost everyone was lacking and didn't feel like learning the craft. Since then, we are trying to find highly motivated people, which is very very hard, but the way I figure it is that once we start making some very quality footage, people will start to hop the bandwagon.
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I'm basically alone on this, my partner is not very proactive, he's also young. It seems like people are sleeping around Massachusetts. I've put so much money on this, it seems like I may have to put more to find people who know what they're doing.
 
Lache, I don't know if this will be helpful to you, but I had something of an epiphany watching Disjecta's short film, snow. It really redefined for me what one person can do, all by himself. You don't need actors, or dialog. I could see that same kind of film being made about a laundromat, or a park, or anywhere. You'll learn a lot by actually going out and shooting, then editing it all together. And since it's just you, you can be spontaneous, you can try crazy things, and not feel like you are wasting anyone's time.

Don't let being solo slow you down.
 
Hi Lache. If you really want something you can do it, even alone. Find an interesting character where you live and follow him around for a day. Let him tell a story about himself, his life, whatever. Practice your composition, lighting if you can, sound, editing. Go shoot buildings, trees, rivers in your town, it does help when you come to actually doing lead in shots etc. Practice pans, tilts, think about how one shot will edit into the next. Everything helps. Sitting and reading a book will help you understand the best processes, the dos and donts and give you useful insights based on anothers experience, but it doesnt help develop your style, your art. Only practice can do that.

Opportunites may come from time to time to work on something with someone else, but dont wait for it.

Jump in. The waters great!
 
"thats how you learn, by making mistakes."
______________________________________________

Worth repeating...

Jeff
 
Whew. The mistakes I've made and will make in the future.

If you don't have anyone proactive, try practicing with animals. Is there a nearby park or lake where birds or ducks reside? Everyone loves ducks. At least I do.

A 2-3 minute video of different birds should provide a challenge and experience.
 
Man i hear you on the solo thing. Its tough. Everyone is not meant to work alone and if your one of them thats the only way you`ll know the feeling. I`ve been a loner for a long time with all of this, no help, no knowledgeable people to even look and say 'hey you could do that like this, its better'. Just years of looking at forums etc. It wears a creative mind and soul thin. I myself and in Rhode Island. Just recently met a couple of guys who I write very well with, we are planning something big this summer, but have no equipment! So i`m in the opposite extreme of the problem from you now hah. We are slowly learning what we can, and how to make something worthwhile with goal to shoot in June, granted we find funding or someone with equipment that wouldn`t ccall out sick even if they were dying. And thats also next to impossible to find, which is why I wish i had money for my own equipment. Dedication in others is the hardest thing to find. Working alone beats up the mind, but working with others can be just as full of pit falls. Not sure My story helps you any, but I feel your pain.
 
The only true mistake is the one from which you learn nothing.

I once had a project going out the next day to a client and someone found a typo (that was mine) in the video...I stayed up all night but learned to always spell check any text that’s going into a video, even if you think you typed it correctly. Another time my hard drive crashed a few days before a project was going out and I hadn’t backed up my project for a few days. That one really hurt, but I just chalked it up and moved on. Don’t let your setbacks and mistakes get to you. Keep moving ahead. My dad used to say “forget it and move on…”

Also, the best way to learn new software, I think, is to dig in with a project.

Best of luck to you.
 
I live in Mass too, and I can tell you that there are plenty of people here who are just like you. Browse Craigslist and get out there and work on projects and meet people. That's the best thing to do right now in your situation.
 
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