Trying to set a goal.

H

harmonica44

It was only this year I decided I wanted to be a movie maker. I am 27 years old so I'm starting out kind of late on learning everything since I just started a few months ago. But I don't want to be one of those late starters, who doesn't get around to making anything serious until they are 40 and older. Nothing wrong with that, but I feel like I want to get a career path going at a younger age, instead of working the odd seven eleven type jobs, most of my life, until I finally try to break in, with something real.

I would like to make my first feature in the next few years, cause I would like to attempt a career in film by the time I'm 30. I feel that is a fair age without aiming too fast, since most other people have already started out in what profession they want to be in by the time they are 30, and most even before that.

So I've decided to keep on learning and practicing now, and aim to make my first feature in 2014 at the latest. That way it won't be too late, and I don't have to wait till I'm near middle age before I do it. Is this too soon of a goal to set for myself cause I feel it's a fair amount of ample time, especially since time goes by so fast, in the film learning world, and you gotta work fast to get it done, if you become a filmmaker while still young. I don't want to wait till I'm like 35 or 40 before I make a film, while my future wife, has already had maybe 10 years working in her career, by that time for example. The people I met so far in the business are my age and have already had more filmmaking jobs already, and have built more of a career, so I feel aiming for 2014 is not asking too much.

What do you think, fair goal?
 
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It's not realistic if you're going to spend most of your time planning rather than doing. I know you hate reading this but you need to actually be doing. By doing, I mean shooting something every weekend, editing it after work during the week. Any free moment you have you should be DOING, not sitting around TALKING about doing. You've been posting here for months and still haven't posted a single frame of footage. You're never going to get anywhere at that rate.
 
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You're right. It would help if it wasn't mostly just me and my friends were more interested in helping out. Then I'd have someone to shoot, rather than just shooting things that are outside of my control, like passing cars, or whatever. Anyway I will get out there and shoot something this Saturday for sure then. I can make it a goal to shoot something every weekend or as many as I can then. I will download a couple of free trials to see what software is possibly the right kind for me, then edit some footage and post it.
 
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That's cause the software I almost got for it, turned out I needed a license of the previous owner to use it. So I had to cancel that order, and look for some new software. I didn't think of using the free trial before, but I will give it a shot next week. I took a look around so far, and so far for Adobe they only have the 5.5. free trial download. My computer cannot support 5.5, so I will look for some older free trials of Adobe or other programs this weekend. I will post a test shot or two of the short in the next few days as well.
 
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harmonica44 said:
That's cause the software I almost got for it, turned out I needed a license of the previous owner to use it. So I had to cancel that order, and look for some new software. I didn't think of using the free trial before, but I will give it a shot next week. I took a look around so far, and so far for Adobe they only have the 5.5. free trial download. My computer cannot support 5.5, so I will look for some older free trials of Adobe or other programs this weekend. I will post a test shot or two of the short in the next few days as well.
Click to expand...

I bet your teachers dreaded asking why you hadn't done your homework.
 
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Harmonica, in reading your many posts I completely understand the sentiment you're getting from a lot of people to basically shut up and shoot. And now that apparently you have a lot of footage I guess you seem to be agonizing over what software to edit it on. Frankly it doesn't matter. As much as I know you won't hear this, it doesn't matter what you edit it in. This is your first project. Sounds like this is the first time you've ever shot even test footage. It's most likely not going to be any good. I'm not saying that to be negative by any means. It's just that the quality and professionalism I can tell you really want, comes from practice. A lot of it. Not waiting until you think you understand everything before you start anything. Reading about riding a bike won't stop you from falling the first time you climb on. Everyone has to go through that. It's nothing personal. You're just doing yourself a disservice right now agonizing over everything and finding reasons to not just run and shoot and cut and do it again.

You have a short you're building up to shooting very soon but it sounds like you haven't logged nearly enough time behind the camera to match what I expect are personally high expectations you have for it. I'd just hate to see you get disappointed too much on your first project. Expect to fall and get bruised. Just make sure you get back up and do it again. You won't learn everything you need to know before your first time. Or even from your first time. Just keep doing stuff.

As for the limitations of shooting test stuff with you as your main actor, I don't want to hear that. I just shot a short in July over a week my wife was out of town with only me and some pets to screw around with a new camera. You can do a lot with a tripod and one human if you're clever. Limitations stretch your imagination.

On your first project or even your first several, two things will kill you. One will give you ulcers and plague you with procrastination until you wither and die. That's, not doing anything until you think you know everything. The second will give you heartache and eat you alive starting with your most precious dreams. That's expecting perfection, natural professionalism or unadulterated genius at something that you've never done before. Stop worrying about your future career or fantasizing about being perceived as a young rising star. This is your first project. Expect it to suck. It's no different than going to the movies. The lower your expectations are the more likely you are to be surprised and enjoy the result.

As for your actors, whether they are hired, volunteers or friends, be kind, courteous, respectful and honest. Let them know you've never done this before and thank them for joining you on this project. Regardless of the final product they will leave having a positive image of you as an individual.

Just don't burden them with your doubts and second guesses. That's not their job.
 
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I'm the same age, and in basically the same position. I write full time for a living, though, which means by the weekend, a lot of my creativity is completely zapped. But I'm making my feature next November. I've shot a ton of test footage, did one really incredibly horrible short (no, I will not post it for everyone to laugh at) and will be making another short as soon as my microphone and recorder are here. Then I'm moving on to a web series for the winter and spring, and then I'll be in pr-production full-swing until next November.

This is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid, but I just never really took myself seriously. I still had it running through my head all the things people said to me as a teenager, like "that's nice but you better have a fall back just in case." But said in a way that implied they were sure I was smoking crack.

I agree that it's loads harder to get started when you're in your late 20smorning compared to when you're a teenager. Your friends all have their own lives and don't have time (or interest) to come shoot a movie with you every weekend. I have a grand total of one friend who has even the remotest interest in filmmaking, but luckily my husband is also interested (and can act). Guess who's going to star in my next short?

The point is you have to work with what you have. Just keep working at it. Make some new friends. See if there's a filmmaking meetup somewhere near you or start one. Set ambitious goals and then do everything in your power to reach them. But seriously, go download some trial software and edit something and post it so everyone will get off your back. :)
 
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harmonica: You remind me one of my friends, who got me into filmmaking. He always talked about how he wanted to make a movie, and filmmaking was his passion,but he didn't have "right camera to shoot his first feature". I offered to help him out by writing a screenplay.

I had NO idea what screenplay actually was, didn't know anything about cameras, lights or sounds. But I was curious enough to pick up a pen, and start writing some screenplay for him.
Gave him the "First Draft", it was really ... really.. really bad since i had no idea how do screenplay reads or even look like.
So he kept saying he will look over it, and edit it, meanwhile he was discussing different "cameras and angles for my first movie". He discussed it with me for about a month.

Slowly I was getting more and more interested in screenplays, technicalities of cameras, sound, lighting.. I borrowed my gf's camera, spent 2 days writing 3 page script, grabbed two of my friends, and drove to the desert to shoot my first short, "Desert Dreams". After I edited it, and showed it to my friend he said "It looks like garbage, but I'm actually surprised to see that you actually shot a movie". And it was an addiction after that haha

I kept asking him to shoot ANYTHING, even a simple "get up in the morning" sequence, just to know whats an actual editing is. For the last year his excuses went from "I don't have right gear", "I have no good actors", and "I have no time"..

After a year (i've got into filmmaking last september), I have really a dozen of crappy shorts, and 48 hour film project experience, where we won two awards, and showed my short on two festivals.. What does he have?? A great plan to make his first movie. That's it.

Anyways, good luck with your goals and plans, and try not to spent too much time on figuring out why you can't make a short video.

Missing editing software?? DO INCAMERA EDIT! Missing actors? I hope you're not waiting for Robert DeNiro to be in your short movie.

All in all, judging from your previous posts, you don't really want to do filmmaking. I'm sure you think you do, but as soon as you have to actually DO it, you grab on to an excuse and stop at your first trouble. But unfortunately there is more than just one trouble you have to go through to make even 3 minute short.

On my second short movie, during an actual shoot, I've had friend, who played lead part, bailing on me, then I found out I couldn't access our "set" (another friend left the town and forgot to leave out the key). Then after quickly finding another spot to shoot, I forgot to bring extension chords for the lights etc. My friends were wondering if we should just reschedule everything. I said "F**K no!" and we still shot the same day, as we planned. Even if my camera got broke that day I knew i WANTED to shoot a video, and would have used my cellphone to record the video.
Movie turned out to be crap, but that OK, because I knew that even if I had perfect location, all lights, and top actors - its still will be a steaming pile of crap, because I had (and still have) little to no idea what I'm doing!


Ayways, my rant went for too long, but it really important for you to think why are you looking for a reason not to make your first video.

Now i'm late to work.

I'm out!
 
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Here: download Premiere Elements to edit this first short. It'll do everything you need as a beginner, and the interface isn't terribly different from Premiere Pro (just more limited), so you won't need to relearn a bunch of stuff when your software gets here: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/ Just click on the "Try" link and you'll be able to get a 30-day trial.

Seriously, use Windows Movie Maker or iMovie if nothing else is available to you. Get a rough cut done to show everyone, at the very least.
 
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You need to move.

Pull a Beverly Hillbillies, throw granny in her rocker on top of the Ford Escort and head for a city with a population >250k.
Better jobs, better resources, paved roads, multi-roomed public schools, running water, electricity, lawn to mow and everything.

In lieu of that, consider practicing on documentaries rather than narrative fiction.
Document your local trash collection system, critters in your yard, postal carriers reading someone's porn mag on their route, etc. Anything. Something.
 
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If you're lacking stuff to shoot, volunteer. Work with schools, organizations, churches. They all need free video and you need free people to stand in front of a camera, win win.

Local high school doing a play? Offer to shoot it. 5K for charity coming up? Shoot it and behind the scenes stuff. I can tell you that EVERY youth group in existence would love a video guy to shoot their drama videos.

They're not the videos you want to be making right now, I mean none of those places will probably feature someone being raped or tortured, but you learn regardless.

One more thing... If you're dead set on making movies, I mean a rabid bear couldn't chase you off track (which is how set you need to be) but no one in the middle of nowhere town you're in wants to and there's zero opportunity like your other posts have said... Move. Doesn't need to be LA or anything, but man somewhere bigger. Shoot, you're Canadian, go to Torronto. Everything is filmed there. If the situation is honestly holding you back, change the situation.
 
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Everyone's already said it, but if you want to be a filmmaker, you must film. Age has nothing to do with it. If you're talking about a business plan (for a filmmaking company), then of course, you need to be highly proficient in technique as well as poetically versed (a succinct aesthetic)...which, unless you're some sort of prodigy, will take time....either way you consider it, you must film.
 
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Shoot something, shoot anything. If it turns into a pile of crap and "Stinks Out Loud", laugh about it and learn from it. The next pile of crap will be that much better. This has been my experience.
 
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I think I've lost count how many times I've read people giving this same advice over and over again. For the love of everything holy, just go shoot something. Anything! Every PC/Mac in recent years has video editing software built into it (Windows Movie Maker or iMovie). Seriously, if you don't have the creativity, drive, and ability to come up with a simple short to shoot, then perhaps filmmaking isn't for you.

If you can't convince your friends to help, do what I did: make a party out of it. I shot video at the party and cut 3 music videos out of it using an ancient PC with the worst software ever made (ULead Studio or something, which didn't even have real-time playback!). My friends absolutely loved them, and now, they ask to be on the crew for every film I shoot.

C'mon, think for yourself and think creatively. Filmmaking demands these abilities. If all you can do is post endless questions about every tiny detail of filmmaking, then I'd say 2040 is a more realistic goal for getting your first short shot.
 
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harmonica44 said:
It was only this year I decided I wanted to be a movie maker. I am 27 years old so I'm starting out kind of late on learning everything since I just started a few months ago. But I don't want to be one of those late starters, who doesn't get around to making anything serious until they are 40 and older. Nothing wrong with that, but I feel like I want to get a career path going at a younger age, instead of working the odd seven eleven type jobs, most of my life, until I finally try to break in, with something real.

I would like to make my first feature in the next few years, cause I would like to attempt a career in film by the time I'm 30. I feel that is a fair age without aiming too fast, since most other people have already started out in what profession they want to be in by the time they are 30, and most even before that.

So I've decided to keep on learning and practicing now, and aim to make my first feature in 2014 at the latest. That way it won't be too late, and I don't have to wait till I'm near middle age before I do it. Is this too soon of a goal to set for myself cause I feel it's a fair amount of ample time, especially since time goes by so fast, in the film learning world, and you gotta work fast to get it done, if you become a filmmaker while still young. I don't want to wait till I'm like 35 or 40 before I make a film, while my future wife, has already had maybe 10 years working in her career, by that time for example. The people I met so far in the business are my age and have already had more filmmaking jobs already, and have built more of a career, so I feel aiming for 2014 is not asking too much.

What do you think, fair goal?
Click to expand...

I know this doesn't answer your question but it's more inspirational referencing. Larry David, creator of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, didn't start his own show until he was like 42 or something. He's since then created around 200 sitcom episodes.
 
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