Professional style vs. you

Gohanto

Gohanto

Veteran
Maybe I'm the only one to think this way, but does anyone else ever have trouble seeing their film as having "professional style"? I've made numerous films and many have complimented on my visual styles (newspaper quote: "the entry had by far the most professional use of lighting and cinematography of all the entries"), but whenever I watch them later I still see them as home movies. This doesn't limit me from making movies the best that I can, but it's just something that sometimes bothers me when I watch movies done by others with less skill and I see a professionalism that I don't see in my films.

Or am I just more crazy than the average filmmaker here?
 
Horrible, aint't it?

I think everybody who makes one looks on it so many darned times that it never seems the same as other people's films.

Most of the stuff I've worked on has been in the theaters or on TV and every time I see one the illusion is totally gone for me. My job is precisely to take a collection of dailies and mutate them into movies, and I can articulate precisely how that's done, and I know when I've done it, and when not, by looking at my audience's reaction, or by reading the Nielsons the next day -- but not by looking at the darned things myself!

However, I have to add that if I see an actor I know in a movie, then that movie's also down the toilet for me as far as suspension of disbelief goes.

Put another way, I enjoyed magic a lot more easily before I started studying and practicing it myself...
 
It's hard to take off the critical hat when you're finished with a project. I tend to always watch it in a technical fashion still wondering if I should have done this or that instead of being able to just watch and enjoy the story like I can watching someone else's work.
 
YES i thought i was the only weirdo but no. I too have this same thing i dont appreciate any films that i work on myself. I guess its maybe becuase we actually saw what the scene or film looked like before you started chopping it up. My grandma useto say you wouldnt appreciate eating a chicken if you hand picked it out the barn.
 
Professional films look professional, because they were made by professionals using professional equipment. It's very hard for amateurs/semi-pros to compete. Just keeping working at it, and your working should keep on improving.

Some people can deceive themselves into thinking their work is better than it actually is. I am not one of those people, and it doesn't sound like you are one of those people. I tend to think that that is a good thing. Just don't drive yourself crazy thinking about it. Keeping working. Keeping improving your work.
 
Here's a metaphorically similar situation... I just spent a year gutting and remodeling my kitchen, completely by myself. Re-plumbed and wired, replaced a foundation beam, poured a concrete floor, and then made it cool-as-all-hell... concrete countertops with bits of meteorite, stainless stuff, a steamed and bent asian-influenced integral curved maple cutting board that drops into a prep sink. But every time someone says "holy sh*t this is freaking amazing" I start pointing out the trim I haven't done yet or a spot I didn't sand the drywall enough. And yeah, 80% of the time, I'm looking at that stuff thinking "I could do this better... wish I knew what I know now... etc"

Some people have trouble pleasing themselves. It's a curse/blessing if it drives you to keep learning and doing. (And yeah, the other 20% of the time, I walk in there and think "badass kitchen, dude!") And the kicthen's a once-in-a-lifetime deal... you can keep making more movies and getting better at it.

And, like amateur kitchen gutting, making your own movies is something that's considered kind of crazy / magical by your friends, who will often be simply amazed you pulled it off. I think keeping the faults and areas of improvement in mind helps balance that "wow, you're a creative god" stuff that I imagine many of us get from our friends who spend their spare time in front of a TV instead of behind a camera. Just my .02--MC
 
I forget who said this and I am not sure what the actual saying was but I heard a guy once say Any artist will look back on the stuff he did 3, 4, or 5 years ago and think its crap. It just means he or she has grown.
 
I think a big part of this is that you were on set and know how the film is shot. Some of my shorts have been praised for their professional look and high production value but I look at them and know I only spent a few hundred bucks on the film and I don't feel that's any production value at all.
 
I watch my stuff over and over and over until I can see exactly what I want to see.

I can imagine the changes: The cuts sooner...or later. The sound a little louder here and lower there.

In the end I see the story I wanted to present and the flaws...but I may miss what the target audience sees. It's hard to step back and be objective sometimes.

When I can make my stuff have the desired impact on the audience, then I'll be one of the elite.

When what I personally see matches what the audience sees, then I'll really wonder what went wrong.
 
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