Am I actually any good?

L

lightcameraction

Heres the thing .

Ive always been inlove with the cinema and I always wanted to make my own films but I couldnt . I didn't know how to start or what to do .

About an year ago my dad got me my t2i and I started filming a lot and now , year later I must say that my films are still horrible ,there is hardly any story . I always want to make the sound great and the effects great and the colors and the lighting and the camera work and since im 1 man crew I just lost track of everything and in the end it turns to be shit .

Everytime I shoot I learn so so much and I become so much better than the last time I shot something but I've seen people that are shooting for couple of months now and they already have some awards and they are not working that hard , their camera work is crappy , the sound is shitty etc .

I'm 16 years old and I barely sleep to make those videos . I haven't slept for 4 days in a row , I skipped school for 1-2 days just to make a short film and at the end it turns to be nothing but a regular boring youtube video .

I'm so passionate about it and I keep on going but today I failed with another video and it didn't turned out the way I wanted so I started thinking that i'm actually pretty talentless and that I'll never do anything good .

I've always been pretty confident that as the time pass I will be able to find other people to work with and eventually do something great but here I am a year later with a lot more knowledge but still shitty clips that are absolute nonsense .

I always script very cool stories , they have twists and comedy and drama or suspense but after the production they just turn to be nothing because I missed moments or couldn't handle something so it becomes nonsense as always ..

How long did it took you guys to make good films ?I mean ,even average ..

I've been thinking over this for the last couple of months and I think im slowly falling into depression over here :lol:

Thanks for reading this .
 
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Thank you very much to all ! It means a lot to me especially from this community .

The problem for me is that , for instance 2 weeks ago it happend that i got FREE iPhone 4 .My current phone is so crappy that I can barely talk ,but I sold the iPhone on the other day and got a descent shotgun mic and made my own boom pole .

Or I might not go to parties and all that to stay home and edit videos . And don't get me wrong , it does not annoy me , it actually brings joy to my heart a lot , but this bringed me the question if it actually worth it and if im any good and if I will ever learn to do all the great stuff you guys do .

But you bringed me some confidence ,thanks! .

Today im shooting for the Ryan Connolly's monday challenge , im gonna do it and I'll upload it for the guy who wanted to critique it .
And I did not remove all the videos myself, actually there are about 3 people using this accaunt from time to time .

Thanks again !
 
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There is nothing wrong with skipping dumb parties to edit videos. Welcome to filmmaking.

Plan your Monday Challenge ahead as much as possible. Know what you'll need to shoot. Know what's gonna be difficult to achieve and think of solutions before going on set.

On set, remember every error you made in the past. Try to frame as CLOSE as possible to the action. Watch your focus. Don't just point and shoot, find the most interesting angles, in regards to how light falls on your scene and so on.

And where's that YouTube link ?
 
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If you'd like to see the journey, my website has ours from beginning to present. It's out there for the world to see.

Don't discount the power of your phone. That iPhone had quite a few good cinematography related apps for you. I use mine as an incident light meter (it nails it according to my Canon T3i's meter) and slate and scouting tool.

For a producer, a phone is also the equivalent of a cinematographer's camera.

That said, working on improving your audio is a big deal. The microphone purchase will make you happy. Finding a friend to really get into collecting GREAT dialog on set is going to be a HUGE improvement to everything you're doing as well.
 
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TheArtist said:
Well I still disagree and I would like you to give me an example of someone who didn't get better with a lot of practice.

Obviously, depending on where you're born and how you grew up, you might have an advantage in some form to start with. But that's it, it's just an advantage.
Click to expand...

Sports have plenty of examples of individuals who were simply more talented than others. One example is the great hockey player, Mario Lemieux. He never trained, never lift weights. He had some physical attributes that helped but he was also simply much more talented than other players.

You've never met a person growing up or in the workplace who is just more talented than the majority of folks? I've known a few people like this over the years.
 
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To the OP,

I agree with the comments here. Try to focus on something specific with each project. Work on making that aspect of the project great. Don't try to bite off too much.

You may need to figure out what role on the set you are most interested in. To do that, you need to try everything, which you are doing.

Maybe you will find that you are not a great DP, but maybe you have a very good handle on actors. Or maybe audio is your thing. There are many positions and each has a set of skills. You will find something that you can excel at. Just keep with it and don't get frustrated.

And don't forget that filmmaking is storytelling. The script/story is the most important part of any film. Find stories that inspire/excite you. Stories that you feel the world needs to know about. This can be an action adventure chase scene, or a documentary about your school or teens these days. Anything that moves you.
 
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