stats: dvxuser 'filmmaking' forum

[Fahad]

i was bored.

from the 'filmmaking' section of the board, sorted by number of threads (except rocketindie):

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it seems that, although there's a wealth of technical know-how and inquiry, artistic discussion is lacking. business discussion isn't doing much better, either.

what does it mean?

 

[Doc Bernard]

Bunch of tech-heads here. But then again, the site is named after a.............. CAMERA. Kind of hard to not draw that conclusion.

LOL.

 

[Fahad]

Bunch of tech-heads here. But then again, the site is named after a.............. CAMERA. Kind of hard to not draw that conclusion.

LOL.

Touché!

 

[Doc Bernard]

Now, a real challenge for ya'. Draw up stats on the Mods. Funny, embarassing stuff. :evil:

 

[Gord.T]

Once again, it shows why the graphics departments are always at the end of the movie credits.

And that includes that CGI stuff that we all hate seeing, which don't even have a union by the way.

Tell you what. Enjoy your next movie without any CGI. Here at dvxuser we can ofcourse. But, let's try next year from Hollywood without any.
Yeah. Gotta love those love stories.

You guys poo pooing kill me.

 

[Fahad]

now, now... i wouldn't want to piss anyone off.

i did something like this a while ago, looking at each forum and reading the thread title and view count and posts. in the screenwriting forum i found that most topics were about format or softwares. in the cinematography forum was mostly about cameras, lenses, codecs, etc.

well, like you said, a bunch of tech-heads : )

 

[Gord.T]

Hey Fahad. I like you man. But I'm old. I'm drunk. And I'm mean.

All in fun though, even if I sound mean, I'm not. Just blowing off steam into the big wild wilderness of the internet.

All in fun man, with you my friends.:beer:

 

[Fahad]

Hey Fahad. I like you man. But I'm old. I'm drunk. And I'm mean.

All in fun though, even if I sound mean, I'm not. Just blowing off steam into the big wild wilderness of the internet.

All in fun man, with you my friends.:beer:

hehe, no worries man! :beer:

i guess what i meant to convey with the thread is that there's no lack of technical know-how, but the artistic is underdeveloped (writing, directing, art design etc.).

edit: and the artistic, it seems, is the thing that actually sells.

 

[J Davis]

i was bored.

hmm indeed !

what does it mean?

IMO i think it means that it is easier to get caught up in the tech than it is to focus on making films. I say this because I am self critical, self analytical and guilty as charged !

All too often I get caught up in tech stuff when really it doesn't matter. Story counts waaaay more. And dvxuser can be as much a distraction as it can be a help.

 

[David Jimerson]

Also keep in mind that a breakdown such as this doesn't exactly tell the story. You just did a raw tallying of posts in certain sections with no indication as to what those posts are about. Many people use the general camera and hardware sections to ask all manner of questions, including "artistic" ones.

And, of course, you had to lump quite a few sections into one in order to come up with that massive "hardware" number.

The scare quotes around "filmmaking," of course, makes it seem like you're trying to dispel a myth, that we're not a filmmaking forum after all. Not sure why you'd want to lob that grenade into our living room.

 

[PerroneFord]

Tell you what. Enjoy your next movie without any CGI. Here at dvxuser we can ofcourse. But, let's try next year from Hollywood without any.

I'd go to the movies twice as often if they'd dump CGI. I enjoy the occasional Batman/Ironman/Shoot em up once or twice a year, but for the rest of it, BLAH.
One reason I prefer period pieces.

 

[Nathyn]

I personally would love to see the user film forum blow up again. We don't talk about our projects like we used too. I don't know why this happened but there's several hot projects over there including "Striken", El Director's "Rise of the Beast", "Hollwood Bats", the "DEUCE OF SPADES" thread is doing good but has made it to the third page, it's normally on the first all the time. The User Film section is the best and I haven't seen another forum with one.

-Nate

 

[Fahad]

The scare quotes around "filmmaking," of course, makes it seem like you're trying to dispel a myth, that we're not a filmmaking forum after all. Not sure why you'd want to lob that grenade into our living room.

that wasn't my intention at all. i enjoy this forum very much. and you're right, these are just raw data.

edit: btw, the quotes around 'filmmaking' is for the section named 'filmmaking' not for filmmaking. i.e. if the section was called 'how to make movies', i would have put quotes around that, too.

 

[ugafan]

the data is obviously incomplete because you have omitted a section called "pookie and terry lasater".

 

[Fahad]

^^true.

 

[David W. Richardson]

The creative side definitely suffers here. I mean, there's plenty of talk of creative camera work, creative editing, creative FX, etc. But very little about story and characters. Some, but not enough. Without a great story, a great SCRIPT, the rest of it is pretty empty.

 

[Sad Max]

And that includes that CGI stuff that we all hate seeing, which don't even have a union by the way.

Funny, just a couple days ago I was chatting with a crew mate about the disgusting cluster#^@% that was the effort toward organization in LA back around 1992-1993. What an absolute and total botch job. It's primarily why digital artists for the most part are not covered by a local union.

 

[Fahad]

well, part of why i brought it up is: i have noticed that: in user-films discussions, the focus of discussion is more about tech/business stuff, and discussions in 'film discussion' usually revolve around story/feelings/thought etc.

maybe it's a moot point since most everyone seems protective of their story/idea, directing style, etc. which is what sells in the end. also, this is largely a technical forum, which is great of course.

and, honestly, there's no better indie filmmaking forum as far as resources and community goes that i've found other than this website (which is why i registered). also, every filmmaking forum out there, if you've noticed, is largely concentrated on the technical side.

google: art of filmmaking forum or film art forum, and you'll quickly find that there aren't any.

now, everyone complains that most indie flicks are bad/unsuccessful. if we assume that technical know-how is abundant, yet a lot are struggling to succeed, shouldn't we start more discussion about 'why did i feel/think a certain way when i saw a scene' instead of 'should i get a dslr or pro-video camera', or 'how do you do shallow DOF', etc.

i am by no means putting down the technical aspects, they're just important as the artistic, but i feel the focus is more 'i want to shoot with this equipment' rather than 'i want to tell this kind of story, with this kind of mood, with this kind of theme, with this kind of look'.

all i wanted to share, is my feeling that the weight given to the technical aspects is far greater than that given to artistic aspects. and this is not specific to dvxuser; as i mentioned, it's every indie-filmmaking forum i've come across.

of course, i do realize there are business issues that are hard to overcome without a large marketing budget and the like, but word-of-mouth is the greatest marketing. it reflects the work's validity beyond what any trailer claims what a work is. and i think the easiest way to get word-of-mount validity is not so much the technical aspect, but the artistic 'cinematic' aspect.

but, that's just how i feel.

 

[David Jimerson]

that wasn't my intention at all. i enjoy this forum very much. and you're right, these are just raw data.

edit: btw, the quotes around 'filmmaking' is for the section named 'filmmaking' not for filmmaking. i.e. if the section was called 'how to make movies', i would have put quotes around that, too.

Ah. Then I misunderstood you. My mistake.

 

[David Jimerson]

The creative side definitely suffers here. I mean, there's plenty of talk of creative camera work, creative editing, creative FX, etc. But very little about story and characters. Some, but not enough. Without a great story, a great SCRIPT, the rest of it is pretty empty.

We have tried, through various means (articles, stickies, links to resources, contests) to spur activity along those lines, but it's up to the membership to pick up what we're laying down.

What do you suggest we do to encourage it more?

My suggestion is, everyone write as much as they can and submit it for discussion. Without participation, not much is going to happen.