When you were 13-15 years old or around that age, I understand you were working on a film. What kind of film did you film? I'm interested because something like an action movie would take some money. But if it was a simple concept film, like "a film with a message" or a comedy or anything else that is not much of a budget. What was it? Did you use any filming equipment? (i.e. dolly track etc.)
Your movies need to tell a story, regardless of action or not. I had a camera, a tripod and a light mount. I used shopping carts and cars for dollies. I was working with Super 8 sound. One 50 foot roll lasted about 3½ minutes (at 18 frames per second, instead of 24). With developing, that roll cost around 15 bucks, so every minute was a big deal.
The first year, I played around with the camera and shot about 4 shorts, which were more like scenes than stories. Examples included me, as a scientist, operating on my dog, or as a soldier getting blown up in a foxhole. Another scene had me as a helmeted guy operating his flame thrower. I kid you not, my parents were trying to get me into camping and rocketry, so I turned a propane stove into a flame thrower and peeled D sized rocket engines to make powder or chunks for amazing smoke effects. That's what I was doing at 15 - I was a pyro beyond your wildest imagination!
After experimenting, my first two titled projects were 2 - 3 minute shorts, such as where my friend and I were trying to get a dragon out from our garage. I did a stupid, but comical
LIZARD FORCED PERSPECTIVE
I used my pyro abilities to make the flamethrower into things like the dragon's fiery breath and torching up dummies: (P.S. don't try this, I have better alternatives at the end of this post.)
I stuck model rocket engines on my back!
And my pieces on my
FACE!
And on
MY ACTOR FRIENDS!
Just like I was into the pyro stuff, makeup effects started to consume me. I loved shapeshifters (these stills are all from the 80s, when THE HOWLING and similar movies just came out). Here is sequence where I turn into a dog. At the end, I become a seeing eye dog for my blind friend. Obviously, comedy.
WEREDOG 1
WEREDOG 2
WEREDOG 3
WEREDOG 4
I started college and took the 6 minute WEREDOG idea a step further with an 18 minute short, called METAMORPHOSIS. I got to change into a 40's style werewolf:
Werewolf
Werewolf2
Werewolf3
After my first tranformation, I wake up and find my roommate killed. My buddy, Scott, got the guts from the supermarket butcher, to create this werewolf victim. I was 18, by this point, but what an effect! I was a freshman and scenes like this blew the film class away.
At the end of the movie, I used baggies (one front, one back) filled with fake blood (chocolate syrup, Karo syrup, Red food color and water) to simulate my werewolf getting shot:
Another high school movie was AGENT 1040A, which was a James Bond spoof. It even started with my cheap version of the
GUN SIGHT
Also featured was this amazing (and working)
PROPELLER POWERED CAR built by my friend's dad, an inventor. If I found something cool, it usually went into a movie.
TWO BROTHERS was a 10 minute horror flick about a dead brother coming back to kill his good brother, so that he can get eternal life from the devil. He has a midnight deadline and doesn't make it, so the dead brother literally starts melting. I think Rick Baker would be proud, because I used flour, water and food color to make something that looked a lot like his INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN.
Here's
MINE
I eventually improved the technique with latex - ripping off my face! (The beard is fake, too. I took Spirit Gum and glued my own hair on.)
FACE RIP
FACE RIP 2
Making shorts will eventually evolve into a feature. The earlier you start, the worse that feature will probably be! But, you will learn the most, on that. I'll leave it up to when you think you will be ready. The great thing is, you can learn very fast with video and an editing program. Money won't be a factor, as much as getting people to participate, Because of this, early projects usually have small casts and simpler ideas. The trap with the ease of video may be "not pushing yourself hard enough". The great thing about shooting expensive film was the urgency it lent towards doing something really spectacular and worth showing to people. No one wants to see a home video, so make something that draws people in.
Also, don't do all the dangerous stuff that I did. I've done some amazingly dangerous things, but software and footage libraries of explosions, fire, gunshots, etc. make the action easier and safer than ever! Read my posts in the
DO ACTION AND INDIE GO TOGETHER ANYMORE? THREAD to get some cool ideas and pics about action movies.
when they visited for the holidays. In fact, recently my brother (a filmmaker as well) put together a huge compilation of the 'Best of' and called it PAUSE & RECORD. 
