
Someone ought to set some rules for young and aspiring film makers… Here are some of my suggestions… ‘without authority’ of course…
STORY TELLING: First off, 99 percent of all independent and beginner films suffer from bad storytelling. If you don’t have a good story, don’t drag your friends and crew into wasting time on a project that will amount to nothing. Bad Story = Rotten Film… plain and simple. ADVICE: Get a cheap video camera, some legos, a computer, and sound equipment. If your lego story can’t inspire anyone to fund a real movie - don’t go begging and lobbying others to support you on your next project. Wait until you can sell them on a lego movie… then take the next step. Clay and Flash animation will suffice for those who don’t like the lego medium. Plus, you can learn a lot of the camera work by this approach; you can work your own hours, and you don’t have to feed a crew and cast. What? You don’t want to ruin your good story with a beginner film that will suffer from budget shortcomings? Remake it when you’ve got a bigger budget… That’s what Hitchcock did with “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
HISTORY: Most aspiring film makers have no clue about the history of film, let alone world events. They rush out to see all the latest movies, and write reviews about anything and everything under the sun that was just released into theaters (and direct-to-video sequels) to try to learn all they can about modern cinema. Sure, they’ve seen Citizen Kane, The Seven Samurai, and The Seventh Seal, etc… but there are a lot of films to learn from out there. When young film makers hear Scorsese talk about Powell and Pressburger, they generally don’t have a clue! You learn about quality cinema by watching the classics… by reading literature, philosophy, and religion… and keeping up with current and past world events.
FILM SCHOOL
CHARACTERS: You can mold a bad actor into something spectacular… but lackluster character writing is inexcusable. Offbeat characters tend to make more poignant impressions on the big screen, but there’s no reason to be unconventional just to attract a crowd. Having top notch actors helps, but don’t write your first scripts thinking Johnny Depp is going to save your day and your film. The great classic actors were well trained… never choose fame over talent when peddling the town on the recruiting bandwagon.
ART ABOVE ALL ELSE: Don’t think your art is going to save you from the economic pit you’ve dug for yourself by wasting your days of late. Be responsible, get a job, and aim at providing for yourself. Skill and expert craftsmanship are not made overnight. If your idea for a film is good, it will work out eventually. If you’re plan is to be a film maker, make sure you can pay the rent, and that your duped ‘producers’ aren’t the one footing your bill on your next trip to the cinema. Self-Reliance should be any aspiring film maker’s primary trait.
SALESMANSHIP: If you’re good at film, that doesn’t make you a good salesman. Work on the craft of making a better film, and leave the schmoozing to someone who does it well. If you’re a Renaissance man, its fine to try to sell your film yourself; otherwise, don’t embarrass yourself at Film Festivals trying to find someone to financially back your lifestyle. A good product sells itself… and when people like a film, they generally tell others about it. Get a real job to pay the bills (that is, until you make a worthy name for yourself) -- which should shed a good five years of young-film-maker-desperation from your face.



I agree with just about everything you've said here, David. I think that oftimes, independent film makers feel that simply creating film is enough. Obviously, this is not the case. Truly, practice makes perfect; but if one repeats the same mistakes over and over, habitual failure is the only perfection.
Posted by: Adam Donaghey | January 22, 2006 at 11:38 PM
Yeah, you caught me on that false assumption... I'm the forever optimist that patience and trial and error always pay off...
Posted by: The Dave | January 22, 2006 at 11:47 PM
Right. But if the practicer of such a system continually remains in err, the only pay off is he's busy making bad film and not doing something far more grim...
Posted by: Adam Donaghey | January 22, 2006 at 11:54 PM
"habitual failure is the only perfection" - that quote is too funny A.
Posted by: The Dave | January 22, 2006 at 11:55 PM