What do you get from being here?

[clive]

I've been doing some research this week for a UK Arts funding body and whilst talking to one of the contributors I happened to mention online filmmaker forums and why I believed they were important. He was sceptical and believed that it prevented people from filmmaking, by taking their focus away from actually creating?

So, I guess I was wondering what it is you feel you gain as a filmmaker by being here in this forum?

For me it a combination of things.

1) I find it useful to see what problems other indies are dealing with and I store up new information so I can avoid similar.

2) It's been a valuable source of information, there have been at least two times that members have know the answers questions I had, which would have taken me days to research to discover

and

3) I really believe that the expereince I've gained as a screenwriter and filmmaker is something that I should pass onto others, rather than hoarding it away. I want to see lots of knowledgable, creative indies out there doing good business. Plus it's good for me to realsie just how much stuff I've learnt over the years.

So, I'd be fascinated to understand whether you make more and better films for being here or whether you just spend more time on the net talking about it.

 

[SPaulovich]

My start in movie production coincided with my arrival at indietalk.com, so it's difficult to say I'm doing better/worse, more/less since joining.

I can say that the information I've found here has been invaluable in climbing the learning curve. The combination of newcomers, veterans, and professionals is refreshing and presents a broad spectrum of talent and experience to draw from (and hopefully some day I'll contribute to it.)

Probably the single biggest attraction of indietalk, for me at least, is the unpretentious nature of its members. Everyone's so down-to-earth and friendly, it's amazing. Sure, there have been a few exceptions to that general rule, but they don't last long.

 

[Shaw]

Probably the single biggest attraction of indietalk, for me at least, is the unpretentious nature of its members.

I couldn't agree more with this. I'm not sure how some sites pull this off and others don't but Indietalk pulled it off!

Like SPaulovich I find the range of members to be very useful. I can almost always bring my questions here and have them answered. The feedback from both watching others shorts and especially from the various discussions has really saved me from *many* potential problems.

My ability to create has most definitely improved since I became a member of Indietalk. I can't say that for all fora though. Indietalk is rather special in many ways.

It can be tempting to sit around a discuss things more than getting out and shooting but I find the discussions inspire me to get out and do something not sit around and debate the same things over and over again *cough*XL2vsDVX*cough*.

In the end I think it's a matter of moderation, like most things. Take it too far and it can be detrimental but I don't think fora should be ignored as they have the potential to make a huge difference in our work.

 

[rizien]

It can be tempting to sit around a discuss things more than getting out and shooting but I find the discussions inspire me to get out and do something not sit around and debate the same things over and over again *cough*XL2vsDVX*cough*.

Haha yea, those topics pop up everywhere. When i was a member of SomethingAwful the phrase "Lurk More" got used a million times. Basically before you start posting, check EVERYTHING out, use the search feature and make sure your post/thread hasnt been done before.

I started out when my friend and I saw a series of horrible hollywood movies, that we knew we could do better than. So we took the first thing on our minds, and wrote some ideas out, ZOMBIES, but i soon realized almost every zombie story is played out(well they're not..but lets not discuss zombies) I got really big into the independent scene, starting watching every short that was available, and through the mighty powers of GOOGLE i found this place

Since i've been here i've learned a lot, tips on editing(which is a love/hate relationship for me) filming, colorcorrection, mostly SCRIPT WRITING HELP, i sucked so bad at it when i started, and now i'm beginning to get the hang of it...

So thanks Indie

 

[BUS125]

i makes me wanna film all the time.and i get networking and help from others.

 

[Zensteve]

I've never understood those peeps that are derisive of messageboards... and there are a lot of them.

In many ways, it's just another form of networking. Not as good as meeting real people in your immediate vicinity who are active, but still useful.

You can post questions/problems at 3am in the morning, and by the time you get up the next day there's usually some handy replies. Try calling your closest real-life pal at 3am a few times a week, and see how well it goes over.

I don't think messageboards "make" people stop creating. No matter where you are, you'll always find filmmakers who are more about the talk, and less about the walk. If they are not BS'ing on a board, they'd be BS'ing at a cocktail party, or BS'ing at socials, or BS'ing at the office. Maybe these anti-board people believe that there were no "talkers" before the invention of the Internet. (by Al Gore)

______

I love messageboards. (This one in particular). Rar!

______

Never answered the original question...

What do you get from being here?

• Free opinions and advice... just by asking!
• An instant snapshot of what people are working on.
• Free shorts to watch and learn from.
• Thoughts from almost every skill-level of filmmaker.
• Links to articles and reviews, etc, that I would normally never find.
• Get to read about issues/problems that others run into... and so can be prepared.
• Too much other stuff to mention.

Rar!

 

[NicklausLouis]

This is an issue that I've been dealing with ever since I joined back in the site's infancy.

*************************************************************************************

On one hand ...

You see that large number of posts to the left? What if I had used all that time on writing a screenplay or two? What if I had used all that time doing preproduction on one project or another? What if I had used that time waiting tables and earning an extra income in order to shoot more projects?

What if?

*************************************************************************************
On the other hand ...

I have learned so much from people here. I have been kicked in the rump by the ITOC and gotten off said rump and shot a well recieved short, and I'm shooting another for Round 2.

If I had never joined this forum, would I have done anything in the last couple of years?

*************************************************************************************

I'll admit it, I am a forum junkie. I love this forum in particular. So many interesting people. So many interesting filmmakers.

BUT ...

Does talking to you guys and gals help me reach success?

I wanna say "yes" and "no".

Yes - Advice, friendship, and criticism I've received here will help me succeed.

No - I spend so much time here, I don't get enough done.

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Anyway, that's my honest opinion. Good or Bad.

Poke

 

[CommanderGoat]

So, I guess I was wondering what it is you feel you gain as a filmmaker by being here in this forum?

Well, I honestly can't say that I waste time here, because if I wasn't in this forum, I'd be finding real ways to waste time like TV or video games. Not to say I don't like them, but I'm not doing anything constructive with TV and games. This gives me, what I believe, a place to be constructive through learning and teaching. I'm building knowledge. By reading what others problems people have, I learn.

Also, it gives me a place to ask questions.

It also provides a place to get feedback on work(even though I don't have much at the moment), and a place to view other's work and either encourage them or give them constructive criticizm.

Poke has brought up a good point for us. If it wasn't for the competition, we probably would've not shot anything for a while. We've been trying to do a feature length for a long time, and we've just procrastinated and made excuses. Now we have a new found drive to complete some smaller tasks before tackling a larger one. So it hasn't kept me from work, it's actually inspired me to do more.

 

[NicklausLouis]

If it wasn't for the competition, we probably would've not shot anything for a while. We've been trying to do a feature length for a long time, and we've just procrastinated and made excuses. Now we have a new found drive to complete some smaller tasks before tackling a larger one.

Yeah, also following some of the progress of other's feature film endeavors has helped us start to envision how we will tackle ours.

Poke

 

[JasonJolliff]

I use the forums as a place to view others work as well as get feedback on mine. I like to be able to post comments on work that I see. Nothing to long. Some comments. Praise. Criticism. I don't like spending too much time writing huge explanatioins of why I feel the way I do about certain things. My time is too valuable.

It's a good way to get to know other filmmakers. In Indianapolis we have www.IndianapolisFilm.net. I was a regular on those boards (still am) when I got to know many of the people before I actually started meeting them in person. I already had an idea of how they thought and who they were. In other words, forums can be a great networking tool.

 

[alterEGOcinema]

By visiting forums I've definitely seen that there are a lot of talkers who probably haven't ever even made a short or ever acted in anything, but I've been to plenty of places and met those same people in person. If it weren't for forums, which I've only recently discovered, we wouldn't be getting all these positive (and negative, either way they're helpful) responses, and wouldn't be able to post all these links to our flicks, reviews, articles, websites, etc. If it weren't for forums, we wouldn't have found out about a lot of cool filmmakers and websites that actually show a lot of people that are really cool, who really love film, who work really hard at it.

Then on the other hand, it can be addicting, when you could be getting work done. But moderate yourself and these forums are a saviour.

www.alteregocinema.com
-tales from the underground-

 

[slacker]

well right now i am in an observing/learning phase. I watch others shorts... ask advice. and just chill back and enjoy the company. Then one day when i have the money to do so... make my own feature and hopefully work with the very talented people on this forum at one point.

Oh and i'm fairly new but i've learnt that Zensteve, Sonnyboo, Poke are extremely helpful and extremely generous. So i guess its the people here. So far this is the best filmmaking forum i've seen...

It'd just be great if i had some sydneysiders on here to collaborate with!

 

[Tine]

There is no appropriate response for me, but I will say that I've made some pretty cool friends and I don't feel so lost now that I have some people I can ask for advice from without feeling stupid (I want to be a film maker, but I'm waiting till I get my photography diploma... I have my reasons but they're too long to type at the moment)

 

[philco]

i have been using this forum but not posting for about 3 monthes. since then i have become a better filmmaker.

 

[learnfilmonline]

I started a show called VegasIndiesTV, and this forum helped me with getting films for my show(which I still need more films so please send more: www.vegas-indies.tv) Sorry I had to throw in a little plug. Also my friends and i have been trying to get this short done and we waited way too long, and ever since i jumped on here it motivated me to push everyone and finally get it done. So I think this forum thing is great. Plus we have lots of time, having no time is just an excuse. See you around.

 

[Zensteve]

Vegasindiestv... you do that UPN thing, right?

 

[directorlca]

Well I think this forum is just great! Where I used to live, the only people into flim was me. . . . and . . . . my friends when they were bored, so finding a forum where other people are into it as well, that's awesome. It's fun to share ideas and hear about what other people are doing with their passion. But also there's a pretty good range of people interested in the different aspects of filmmaking. I'm more into post production, but there's people into all the other areas too, so it's fun to see what other people do, and then you learn more about the entire process of filmmaking. It's just cool.

Oh yeah, the question. Well since being here I do feel a little bit more ambitous. It's been good to see what other people are doing, and what they do or dont' know. If you know something you might take it for granted and then you see people loooking for that kind of information, it helps me realize what I do know, and, well, that there's a lot of stuff I don't know. How would you say it, "enlightening?" Eh, yeah, that works. hehe