What would you like to see in a blog/educational forum

[jax_rox]

So it seems to me that there are so many YouTube tutorials, and blogs, and forums and everything else about 'film'. But the majority of them seem to be classified into either gear reviews, or the 'nuts and bolts'. For example, if I want to make a teapot explode in After Effects, I'll find 1,000 results on YouTube. If I want to see how the 80D compares to the GH4, or the Defy G5 to the Movi M15, or how good the autofocus is on a Sony, there's a million and one places online to find information.

What there seems to be, to me, is a lack of information and teaching about the creative side of filmmaking. Shane Hurlbut's blog kinda goes there, but I've been thinking lately about what sets film school apart from say, learning on YouTube.

And I think it's that you can find almost anything on YouTube. But what film school gives you (apart from contacts and all that) is an idea of 'this is what you need to know if you want to make this a career'.

You see a lot online that says 'light your scenes!' In fact, I say it constantly. But I also remember when I was learning, I had really no idea what that meant. Light your scenes sounds good in theory, but it takes a bit to really understand that 'light your scene' is not necessarily the same statement as 'put some lights into your location'.

So I'm wondering what you guys would be interested in seeing, reading. My thought is to break down lighting that I've set, films that I've shot and explain the thinking behind it. The thinking behind the camera moves, the framing etc. How to approach a film cinematographically (is that a word?), how to breakdown a script and draft a shot list, working with a Director, and all that sort of info that doesn't really seem to be easily accessible (I could be wrong).

The idea would be to appeal to a range of budgets, as I work with a range of budgets, and show what a low budget option might be to light a scene or a shot. How to augment natural lighting to get a specific result.

I could even break down, to an extent, submitted screen grabs to give an idea as to how something might be lit.

I could review new cameras, but it would not be 'what features does this camera have' per se, and more about 'how will i work with this on set' and 'how will I get the best out of this camera when I'm working with it' or even 'when shoudl I consider using this camera'.

So my question is: Is it something you'd be interested in? Would read? Should I include other things (I could have guest posts from friends about other aspects of production like 1st ADing, Production Designing, editing etc.)? Are there things I've mentioned that you don't really want to read about? Or do you think this sort of thing is serviced enough?

Love any and all thoughts.

 

[Cracker Funk]

Dude, sounds like you and I are having similar thoughts. You're right -- there are a million of tutorials for technical stuff. I don't know of any for creative stuff.

I'm confident that though we both apparently plan to do kinda the same thing, we won't be doing it the same. In my youtube tutorial, I will be linking to other turorials, cuz the more the merrier. Please keep us updated on your tutorial, and I will for sure reference it in mine.

 

[jax_rox]

Ha! I was thinking more blog format, so you could follow at whatever pace you like. Hopefully structure it a little so it makes sense...

My only concern is finding the time to write consistently enough... One of my favourite blogs, The Black and Blue, seems to have fallen prey to the whole time fiasco

 

[Sweetie]

The one big thing I don't see covered is the chicken and the egg conundrum. The experience - opportunity dilemma that plagues almost all wide-eyed bushy tailed filmmakers that stumble upon Indietalk. Ranging from getting on set as a PA, to working as a professional, all the way to what's required to finance a filmmakers first film to ensure it has best potential to succeed.

At various levels, and various levels of cost, pretty much everything else you've mentioned has been covered, though I don't think I've seen a lot of material on production design.

The more you move towards professional level subject, the less quality material is available. Perhaps there isn't as much of a demand for it? For instance, there's lots of beginner editing material out there, less intermediate and even less advanced/professional material.

I like to see more of the high end material.

 

[Cracker Funk]

Ah. Yes, it is a time-consuming affair. Well regardless of your medium, I'd be glad to link to your thing if you put some solid instructionals out there. Which I know you're super-qualified to do.

 

[WalterB]

I think your observation is correct Jax.
A lot of tech stuff out there probably for a few reasons:
- it is easier to review or explain a 'trick'
- it might be more popular, since people seem to like 'quick fixes' more than deeper understanding
- it might attract more traffic, because the question types in google/yahoo/whatever is pretty concrete with solid boundaries: 'x vs y', 'how to ....'
- it is easier to surf the hype of a new piece of gear, because people want reviews before they buy

I see the same happening when it comes to blogs about video and marketing:
many statistics (while most are unimportant as a motivation to use video to promote your business, some are even BS like "1 minute of video is worth 1.8 million words"), many low brow articles on how to shoot your own vlog, but very few deeper views on the medium.
Most presentations from corporate video producers are about selling themselves by glorifying the medium, but hardly anyone tells the audience why it can really work for their business.
You know: the language of film, the philosophy and motivation behind images, the synergy of image and sound (when done right).

How things are done is very interesting.
Why choices are made can lead to a deeper level of understanding of filmmaking.
So yeah: a breakdown with motivations is interesting

I sometimes blog (in Dutch) and it can take quite some time to write in depth without only recycling what is already out there.

 

[WhiteOpus]

The one big thing I don't see covered is the chicken and the egg conundrum. The experience - opportunity dilemma that plagues almost all wide-eyed bushy tailed filmmakers that stumble upon Indietalk. Ranging from getting on set as a PA, to working as a professional, all the way to what's required to finance a filmmakers first film to ensure it has best potential to succeed.

At various levels, and various levels of cost, pretty much everything else you've mentioned has been covered, though I don't think I've seen a lot of material on production design.

The more you move towards professional level subject, the less quality material is available. Perhaps there isn't as much of a demand for it? For instance, there's lots of beginner editing material out there, less intermediate and even less advanced/professional material.

I like to see more of the high end material.

I second this, especially about finding & nabbing opportunities

 

[Utopia]

I want a tutorial made that teaches us how to make Indietalk great again.

Joking aside:

Make a tutorial on SOUND.

I also don't see any tutorials about Marketing or how you get the word out on your film... maybe I haven't looked hard enough.

 

[FilmmakerJ]

Hey Jax, glad you brought this up.
Because I want to offer something in this light as well on my youtube channel.

I'm currently posting tutorials for After Effects once in a great while, involving solutions to problems that I've never seen anyone else come up with. So hopefully I will be providing some amount of unique material when it comes to technical tutorials with post-production: since that's my current forte. But I also want to branch out in the coming month into doing one-on-one discussions with some fellow SCAD graduates (and other young filmmakers) about filmmaking methodology, what makes a great shot, what makes a bad one, what constitutes as good or bad pacing, what makes great sound design, the thought process behind character development and casting an actor to fit your character best, etc. As well as asking each of my guests why they decided to pursue film, and who or what inspires their particular style.

After all of these tech-based and "talk-shop" videos on youtube, it's about time more philosophical and artistic explorations of film are presented in video form, as well as practical explanations of how one can go about designing an effective shot or scene themselves, especially by those in the younger age range who do have something to say, I'm sure, but maybe haven't thought that it would make compelling content for Youtube.

Channels like Renegade Cut, Every Frame is a Painting, KyleKallgrenBHH (or Brows Held High), and Cinefix get down to the more interesting points about film theory, film history, and great moments in film, but we still need information that lands in the middle. We need to know what a good scene in a movie looks like, AND how to create such a scene from scratch.

 

[Stich]

I want a tutorial made that teaches us how to make Indietalk great again.

Joking aside:

Make a tutorial on SOUND.

I would love to see that as well. I'm more than likely going to get a digital sound recorder to do sound along side the video. That way the sound is separated and can be processed easily in another program along with music and sound effects added.