Do my friends have TOO much confidence in their project?

Hey h44, not trying to be an as*hole.. BUT....

You should stop crapping all over their FILMMAKING parade. As far as I'm concerned - they're doing it right way - picking up a camera and shooting. Yes, ISO might be 6400 but I don't see them running to indietalk.com and bombarding forum with 2600+ messages asking "Is it me or does 3400 ISO look good?" or "How do I change the color of sunlight?".

While you waste time critiquing/doubting their success - they'll have twice as many shorts done before you'll squeeze one of yours ;)

Just Sayin'
 
dlevanchuk said:
Hey h44, not trying to be an as*hole.. BUT....

You should stop crapping all over their FILMMAKING parade. As far as I'm concerned - they're doing it right way - picking up a camera and shooting. Yes, ISO might be 6400 but I don't see them running to indietalk.com and bombarding forum with 2600+ messages asking "Is it me or does 3400 ISO look good?" or "How do I change the color of sunlight?".

While you waste time critiquing/doubting their success - they'll have twice as many shorts done before you'll squeeze one of yours ;)

Just Sayin'
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whoa, bud, don't be mean to the poor lad. He's concerned for his friends... I've got a few friends that are terrible writers who want me to use their scripts, so I know where he's coming from.

and remember: quality over quantity
 
He does have a point in his words, however.
Nothing beats real world experience, and buying a camera and going out and shooting is going to teach you all the things you need to know and more 10x quicker than asking 4 questions/day on an internet forum
 
mussonman said:
and remember: quality over quantity
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The old musicians joke....

"How do you get to Carnagie Hall?"

"Practice! Practice! Practice!"

Practicing is quantity; you do it over and over and over again until you get it right. It's the learning process, the refining of techniques, that produces quality.
 
Yes I am glad for them but I am also concerned. What was going to be a 30 page short, has now turned into a feature apparently, and they want to write (and do I assume), the rest. I am glad to help out, though, and hope it works out.
 
and remember: quality over quantity
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That is a terrible strategy for a learning stage.. Or are you saying that a person should spend 5 years working on an 10 minute short film to make everything perfect instead of making 50 short film over the same period of time and learn from mistakes thereof increase shorts quality??

A constant practice of making short films will increase their quality wether you like it or not.

If you re still convinced that for a beginner - quality is more important than quantity, then in your case Franklin should have spent all his time working on a single light bulb and not 10,000 prototypes...


But
 
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Have they ever made a film before? Because from what you are saying, squeezing a production with fighting sequences, costumes and whole lot of galore is not easy to properly make.

What your friends are doing is jumping into the cold water. They will learn a lot from this experience, but I doubt they will be able to reach their creative vision if this is their first time filming.

Sounds like they have the drive to do it though. So be part of the team, you will all gain from it, even if the movie will turn out a horrible mess.
 
dlevanchuk said:
That is a terrible strategy for a learning stage.. Or are you saying that a person should spend 5 years working on an 10 minute short film to make everything perfect instead of making 50 short film over the same period of time and learn from mistakes thereof increase shorts quality??

A constant practice of making short films will increase their quality wether you like it or not.

If you re still convinced that for a beginner - quality is more important than quantity, then in your case Franklin should have spent all his time working on a single light bulb and not 10,000 prototypes...


But
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Well, I'm not suggesting that anyone take THAT long.
 
They never made a film before. One of them helped out on location with mine, so she has some idea of how to shoot things like fight scenes, from learning from the way I chose to do it, if that's a good idea. They wanna shoot a lot of it outdoors at night, with a 1.4 lens to make it bright. But shooting fight scenes with that much shallow DOF, I don't know if they can focus on one person more at a time. The friend who's operating the camera says he will have to rack focus during probably, depending on what the director wants.
 
harmonica44 said:
They never made a film before. One of them helped out on location with mine, so she has some idea of how to shoot things like fight scenes, from learning from the way I chose to do it, if that's a good idea. They wanna shoot a lot of it outdoors at night, with a 1.4 lens to make it bright. But shooting fight scenes with that much shallow DOF, I don't know if they can focus on one person more at a time. The friend who's operating the camera says he will have to rack focus during probably, depending on what the director wants.
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I would suggest telling them not to do it as a feature, and do some shorts as practice until they have enough confidence to make a full film, then come back and re-use the story as a feature
 
H44, I think you should let your friends find out for themselves, and help where you can along the way. It's a great learning experience, and hopefully they will help you with your future projects in return. My first wildlife film was too long, badly put together, and I am embarrassed to watch it now. But I learned more by going in at the deep end from that than anything else. I enjoy reading your postings and questions but agree with other posters that you seem to rely a little too much on forum advice and don't put so much reliance on practical experience for learning. Your friends are giving themselves and you another learning opportunity. I look forward to seeing some of your work sometime in the future!
 
Harmonica, you seem to be a nice guy/gal that has a genuine concern. And as some things go, you can't do anything about it. As the old proverb goes, "give the man a fish, and he'll eat for a day; teach the man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime."

^Ultra-paraphrased version.
 
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