Amateur filmmaker quirks

moonshieldmedia

moonshieldmedia

I once read an interview from a film festival programmer who gave the advice "Whatever you do, don't start your film with a character hitting an alarm clock and then getting out of bed."

Apparently he gets an unbelievably comical amount of submissions starting that way, and ever since I read that article I've noticed dozens of student films with that familiar "close-up on alarm clock with hand reaching in frame to silence it" opening.

Besides production quality, what are some other quirks, or tell-tale signs of an amateur filmmaker?
 
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You'd think they'd spend a nickel to clone over that in post.
Cheap lazy bastards.




Oh! How about when someone
A. cites "no budget" for generally poor camera work (as if budget had anything to do with holding the camera still), or
B. dismisses all error by stating they were drunk while shooting & editing
 
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Then there's poor grading, or worse: no grading at all.

-No lighting, which is always really obvious
-Using copyrighted music
-Using really fake sounding SFX
-Dialogue that doesn't sync either because of a bad ADR job, or not using a slate
-Background audio that changes, or fluctuates in volume from shot to shot
-Soft Focus
-Ridiculously shallow DOF
-Awkward/jerky camera moves
-Blood, blood, blood
 
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Maybe they were prepared to quip: "The characters stopped to urinate on the opposite side of the road where a large statue of a film director and his camera is located! next question, please."
 
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Most of the people commenting in this thread are amateur filmmakers.

If you frequent indietalk.com... you might be an amateur filmmaker!

Then again, you might be a pro, but either way let's keep this thread constructive.
highfive.gif
 
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If you wish to record the sound of wind chimes, not taking into account that there will be wind distorting your mic.... you might be an amateur filmmaker.



(this is something I did YEARS ago. Lol... still a funny story)
 
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Kids with guns acting in serious drama.

Use 100% on camera mic.

It sounds like you're recording audio in a bare naked apartment.

The final edit includes that part where you accidentally kicked the tripod with the edge of your shoe.

Your talent breaks the fourth wall and thinks we can't see him/her doing it, and I guess you didn't either!
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Most of the people commenting in this thread are amateur filmmakers.

If you frequent indietalk.com... you might be an amateur filmmaker!

Then again, you might be a pro, but either way let's keep this thread constructive.
highfive.gif
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+1.

I'm one of them :)

How about an obvious CGI shot that a filmmaker saw on videocopilot? Demon face is a huge one. Energy swipe is another.

Oh, also light sabers. They were HUGE last year. F**ling hate YouTube videos and light sabers. Unless it has a cat.
 
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Movies that feature Iraq war veterans with PTSD.
Movies that have a meandering plot that goes no where and tries to end on a depressing note because depressing movies are really deep right?
 
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mussonman said:
Yep... Scarface is the most amateurish movie ever made then...
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Scarface was originally panned as being a bad motion picture. Even IN this case, the cursing still lends itself to the picture.

Excessive cursing without strong and believable character influence is one of the worst signs of amateur writing.



It's easier to say "poorly written dialogue."
Click to expand...

Nah, I said exactly what I mean. Wanna-be Tarantino writing. Someone already said it, though, in fact two people. "Royale with cheese" and "foot massage' conversations that are trying SO hard to be something else, failing miserably.
 
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I didn't mean to single anyone out. That's definitely my bad! My apologies. It just felt like the thread, in general, was taking on a mocking tone. I know that we're all here for the same greater good, I just got a tad sensitive. :blush:

Back on subject, D-lev mentioned copilot-tutorial VFX, and on a similar note, one of the things that bugs me is when the VFX far out-shine the rest of the production values. When a video has NO lighting, in-cam audio, piss-poor editing, and yet AWESOME VFX, it's lost on me. Because it doesn't fit in with the rest of the production, the thing that is most well done actually becomes a distraction.
 
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- "Fatty" editing. (Your edit should be a George Foreman Grill, people! Cut the fat!)
- Two entirely different sounding room tones in the same scene when cutting between shots. (No, "but the AC turned on" is not an excuse. Fix it!)
 
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most have already been said once or more times... but again, such a subject as this can't be repeated too often. (even though the subject is to not repeat stuff) :D

untrained actors. If your relatives/friends are in your movie, you might be an amateur filmmaker.
Sound, voices, background, the works. If it's bad, you might just be an amateur filmmaker.
If your soundtrack is pure MIDI sounds, you might just be an amateur filmmaker.
 
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