How should I talk to filmmakers on social media

Zachadoodle

Zachadoodle

Well-known member
My beliefs on filmmaking are similar to DSLRguide, and I have a hard time communicating them to people on the web. If I were to communicate my different ideas, what is the best way to go about it?
 
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Tell someone you think they are right before you tell them you disagree or think differently.

As far as everything else, really depends on the context of the discussion.

Not sure what is being said - and it doesn't really matter now - but if you perhaps are telling people you could have done the same kind of work with your T2i that they did with their Alexas and a lighting crew then that's usually not going to sit well with most.

Also, there are technical aspects. For instance, if someone pulled off a 360° rotating dolly shot with an ALEXA with perfect pulling, it's more of an achievement than if it was done with a T2i.
 
And to answer the new question...

DSLRguide is a business.

The guy might have started off with modest views, but he is now an entrepreneur approaching 1 millions subscribers and his "beliefs" are more important for the business model than anything else.

Communication on the web will never be easy with every person you come across, so just try your best and continue to learn how to communicate and adapt to different minds.
 
I don't have any money and I am very content with the camera I currently own. I don't make 100,000 a year to be doing this sort of thing! I'm a kid stuck in college living in a middle class family and we can barely afford finances right now. I like my camera a lot and I am horrified that some people compare my films to damn cheese pizza for this sort of thing! Admittedly you should replace your broken cheap car eventually, but that doesn't mean you immediately go on a car lot to buy a 40,000 dollar car just because the neighbor next door thought you looked like a child rapist for your car! How would you like it if I went in your house and just looked all around it and was like, and you were settled with your house as it was good, but I was like hmmm this house looks pretty awful why don't you buy a new home that is a mansion. Tell me you wouldn't be offended if mobs of people treated you like that?! I got other things to spend my money on. Right now I'm focusing on it on paying for medical help if I get the money.
 
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Anyone who's truly very upset about it - and not just wasting time on the Internet like all of us do - may need a psychological evaluation, but I think people at most only get annoyed with someone being pro cheap camera.

It's one thing if someone can't afford anything better - which I think everyone understands - but it's another thing if someone is being very vocal about using cheap cameras - especially extremely dated and irrelevant-for-video cameras like the T2i (which was one of my faves 10 years ago) - when so many other better options exist for a few hundred dollars more.

Again though...I don't know what you said. Maybe share a link if you'd like.
 
The snag is your communication skills are er, still under development. You missed the entire point about the T2i vs Alexa. Communication is a two way process. Unless your method of communication is received 100% as intended by you, it fails, and the response, if any, will be guarded, and possibly confrontational.

I've read your two posts. I don't know you or have access to your history. All I have are your words. The actual choice of words and the method you construct sentences. My guess is you are a keen budding film maker with limited, modest equipment and you are under 24. I suspect you have some amateur experience, possibly while at college/uni and want to work with more seasoned professional film makers.

That is what I get from your words. You could be a 60 year old retired ex-stills photographer, but I think not.

On a forum, where you want to blend in, and become a person people will interact with, you need to ask considered questions. Nobody expects people to know everything, but sometimes on forums, a few people in one category will be discussing things and they're all talking in a common language, then a newcomer attempts to join in but uses the wrong language, the wrong terminology and commonly misunderstands what people said - as you did with the T2i v Alexa.

Somebody working with a piece of kit at a certain level knows exactly why it is different to a different tool. Lights, sound, video, staging, power, RF and other departments frequently have their work commented on by people less aware, or new and a bit confused. They might be nice, but I remember on one forum a young film maker who was told so many times why his camera and lens could not do the shots he wanted them to do, just persisted - over and over again going around in circles. He was a total pain and simply never ever listened. He got help for a while, then people got pi**ed off and his help faded away. Not because he was young and inexperienced but because he new better, and would not listen.

On a forum - you really just cannot say "can you explain in more great detail" - when you don't get basic concepts. If you cannot understand communication success - it won't work.

You say you had a hard time communicating as the premise for the topic, and when people answer you miss the point. It could be simple things - maybe English isn't your first language, or maybe you are on the scale to a degree, or just struggle with communications? We don't know you so don't know, but people on this forum are usually helpful, but blunt. Other forums you really have to have a close fit with - everyone is part of a clic, and if you're not in, you are out.

If you have new ideas, present them as new, not better than what others are doing. I once asked a well known British comedian to hold his mic closer to his mouth and I was reminder that he'd done it this way for over 40 years, and he didn't need to try a new technique now - it was my job to help his 'flawed' technique be good enough and he was sure I could do it.
 
paulears said:
The snag is your communication skills are er, still under development. You missed the entire point about the T2i vs Alexa. Communication is a two way process. Unless your method of communication is received 100% as intended by you, it fails, and the response, if any, will be guarded, and possibly confrontational.

I've read your two posts. I don't know you or have access to your history. All I have are your words. The actual choice of words and the method you construct sentences. My guess is you are a keen budding film maker with limited, modest equipment and you are under 24. I suspect you have some amateur experience, possibly while at college/uni and want to work with more seasoned professional film makers.

That is what I get from your words. You could be a 60 year old retired ex-stills photographer, but I think not.

On a forum, where you want to blend in, and become a person people will interact with, you need to ask considered questions. Nobody expects people to know everything, but sometimes on forums, a few people in one category will be discussing things and they're all talking in a common language, then a newcomer attempts to join in but uses the wrong language, the wrong terminology and commonly misunderstands what people said - as you did with the T2i v Alexa.

Somebody working with a piece of kit at a certain level knows exactly why it is different to a different tool. Lights, sound, video, staging, power, RF and other departments frequently have their work commented on by people less aware, or new and a bit confused. They might be nice, but I remember on one forum a young film maker who was told so many times why his camera and lens could not do the shots he wanted them to do, just persisted - over and over again going around in circles. He was a total pain and simply never ever listened. He got help for a while, then people got pi**ed off and his help faded away. Not because he was young and inexperienced but because he new better, and would not listen.

On a forum - you really just cannot say "can you explain in more great detail" - when you don't get basic concepts. If you cannot understand communication success - it won't work.

You say you had a hard time communicating as the premise for the topic, and when people answer you miss the point. It could be simple things - maybe English isn't your first language, or maybe you are on the scale to a degree, or just struggle with communications? We don't know you so don't know, but people on this forum are usually helpful, but blunt. Other forums you really have to have a close fit with - everyone is part of a clic, and if you're not in, you are out.

If you have new ideas, present them as new, not better than what others are doing. I once asked a well known British comedian to hold his mic closer to his mouth and I was reminder that he'd done it this way for over 40 years, and he didn't need to try a new technique now - it was my job to help his 'flawed' technique be good enough and he was sure I could do it.
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In my encounters I did not want what I say to not be taken 100% seriously to heart.
 
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Zachadoodle said:
The purpose of what I wrote was to say "I'm learning" not "vinyl is better than mp3".
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Without any context, since I have no idea where this exchange took place and what all was said there, it’s really hard to give you advice on this matter. But based on what you’ve posted in this thread, here are some thoughts:

There is some truth, albeit limited, to the idea that it’s the painter and not the brush. Yes, you can do some pretty cool stuff with an outdated camera body and some vintage lenses. And the T2i was a great tool in its hayday. You should still be able to craft good images with it.

I think you need to steer away from conversations where you would appear to be defending your camera against newer, more expensive gear. It’s not worth getting into the conversation that you’re “pro-cheap-camera” or “anti-cheap-camera”, or even that you could be “anti-expensive-camera”. Instead, focus on how to improve your techniques without even delving into this-camera-vs-that-camera chatter.

I’ve seen your YT channel. As NorBro said, you’re obviously passionate about what you’re doing, and you’re enjoying doing it. That matters. You also have a lot to learn, and I’d approach posts with “how can I improve my technique” questions. Independent of camera body and lens are things like framing, lighting, focus, exposure, and use of a tripod. Editing is another thing that is not dependent on the specific camera used. And getting good sound is its own, very large conversation.

Once you’ve learned to improve your technique with the camera you have, you’ll start to find its limitations. That’s when you start considering an upgrade, but only if spending that money makes sense for you. Again, simply avoid altogether the apologetics for your T2i and focus on your techniques instead.
 
Anyone who says something that clearly goes against popular opinion and conventional wisdom, such as Camera A is better than Camera B, has an obligation to prove their point by posting some footage. Prove it with evidence for everyone to see and evaluate, and then opinions don't matter so much. Otherwise why should anyone listen to you or care about your opinion? You know the old saying, put up or shut up.
 
Zachadoodle said:
My beliefs on filmmaking are similar to DSLRguide
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I don't know what DSLRGuide's beliefs are, do you have a link that explains those beliefs?

DSLR's and particularly the old ones, are not as good as a cinema camera, but with the proper skill, technique, and lighting, they can produce surprisingly good results; this is very well illustrated in the Zacuto Great camera Shootouts. Remember that about 70% of Act of Valor was shot on the 5D MK II, so you don't have to have the newest greatest camera, you just have to use your current camera to it's full potential.

Here's a post that quotes Ebrahim Saadawi's recommendations for getting the most out of DSLR video (I couldn't find Ebrahim's original post).

Perhaps criticisms of your camera are non-filmmaker's misdirected criticism of mistakes and poor technique. I don't mean that to sound like a slam, as we are all ignorant and make mistakes when we first start out, and the solution is to practice, study, and improve.

Don't let haters get you down, people are cruel, and emboldened by internet anonymity, but not everyone is like that.

From reading your other threads, I get the impression that you enjoy making videos as a hobby, but don't have a desire to learn, try new techniques, and improve things on a technical standpoint, yet you expect validation of your videos as art, irrespective of any technical standard.

In art, I think that there's a distinction between intermediate skill level of a hobbyist, and master skill level of a seasoned artist, but postmodernism has destroyed that distinction.
 
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Doug Jensen said:
Anyone who says something that clearly goes against popular opinion and conventional wisdom, such as Camera A is better than Camera B, has an obligation to prove their point by posting some footage. Prove it with evidence for everyone to see and evaluate, and then opinions don't matter so much. Otherwise why should anyone listen to you or care about your opinion? You know the old saying, put up or shut up.
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I was a minor league talking like a major league when really I should be talking like a minor league. I think what I need most of all is to be corrected by a film director in a film set. I'd love to work as a PA or an extra to experience it.
 
Zachadoodle said:
Here is an example of DSLRguide:

Why I Won't Buy a New Camera - YouTube
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Two things:

First, DSLRguide is a YouTube “filmmaker” who, in 2016 when this video was published, was still learning a whole lot. And, as many newb YouTubers do, he often made “tutorials” to justify his own decisions, not because what he was teaching was correct. He’s certainly come a long way, but this is just another of the myriad YT filmmaking channels that aren’t always the most reliable for accurate how-to information.

Second, and quite notable, he has since purchased new cameras.

Again, though, you need to focus on learning technique using what you have. When you perfect your abilities but reach the limits of what you can do with what you have, then you get a sense of direction for where your gear upgrades and additions should go.
 
Zachadoodle said:
I think what I need most of all is to be corrected by a film director in a film set. I'd love to work as a PA or an extra to experience it.
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If a director is correcting a PA on set, that is likely the last day of employment for the PA. A film set is not a film school. You should do your job as best you can, keep your mouth shut, watch everything that is going on, and learn everything you can by osmosis, but don't expect anyone to take the time to stop and teach you anything -- especially the director. I suppose it happens, but is rare on a professional production.

I suggest you take a fresh look at your own video (below) and critique like it was someone else's work. What is wrong with it? What is right with it? You shouldn't need an outsider or professional to highlight the flaws because they are so numerous and so egregious (focus, exposure, camera leveling, composition, etc.) that any layperson could point them out. You need to work on those basics before you spend on a dime on a new camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG91WVMWNqY
 
Doug Jensen said:
If a director is correcting a PA on set, that is likely the last day of employment for the PA. A film set is not a film school. You should do your job as best you can, keep your mouth shut, watch everything that is going on, and learn everything you can by osmosis, but don't expect anyone to take the time to stop and teach you anything -- especially the director. I suppose it happens, but is rare on a professional production.

I suggest you take a fresh look at your own video (below) and critique like it was someone else's work. What is wrong with it? What is right with it? You shouldn't need an outsider or professional to highlight the flaws because they are so numerous and so egregious (focus, exposure, camera leveling, composition, etc.) that any layperson could point them out. You need to work on those basics before you spend on a dime on a new camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG91WVMWNqY
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Overexposure, flat acting, improper editing, unfunny skit, crappy script, disturbing camera placement, and stiltedness. If I had this as a David Lynch horror film it would fit right in instead of an actually comedic skit. I have made 47 projects so far on my own and this is one of them. I haven't shown much on my channel because of how humiliatingly awful all of them are. At its best I think where I am at is that filmmaker who made Cool Cat Saves the Kids.

Cool Cat Saves the Kids - Director's Cut - Trailer - YouTube

I got another skit on the way, but I want to make sure I am properly medicated before I act again. I don't want to give a disturbing performance due to my psychosis.
 
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A couple other thoughts on getting the most out of your T2i.

The old Canon DSLRs used BT.601 rather than BT.709 for some inexplicable reason, so you might want to do a colorspace transform to BT.709 in Resolve.

Take a JPEG picture in the Standard profile and grade the video to match, this trick is very handy when correcting footage shot in a Flat picture profile that doesn't have a corresponding correction LUT.

If you do a project for a client and get all the fundamentals right, you might consider uprezing it to UHD (I can't remember whether the free version of Fusion supports upscaling). Here's a Nuke tutorial, but the principles apply to other software.

Are you still using the kit lens?
There's nothing wrong with using what you have, but that lens can be rather limiting with an f/3.5 maximum aperture at 18mm, not to mention it's very difficult to manually focus. I'd recommend a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AFD with an EF adapter, as the Canon nifty-fifty has an extremely narrow focus ring.

P.S. Video gear is inherently expensive, but it's a faction of what it used to cost, so the barrier to entry is very low.
 
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