series What's your opinion on Online Filmmaker Tutorial Series (Film Riot, Indy Mogul)

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HardWorkinFilmSlave

What's your opinion on popular tutorial series like Indy Mogul and Film Riot?

Do they live up to the hype? Are they better than you thought? Do you find their guides useful? Did they ever inspire you to make a tutorial yourself? Would you love to work with them? What's the greatest thing you've learned from them? What are some other big popular filmmaking-tutorial series?
 
Never looked at them before. I'll take a peek tomorrow and see. From what I've seen on free access tuts, I haven't been impressed.
 
I've seen a few around.. nothin too special, they help a bit if anything. Something I like better and have gotten a lot from already is the frugal filmmaker on youtube. He doesn't really teach you how to make films but making things for your films on the cheap. Like light stands out of pvc and a little handheld camera rig out of pvc which are all great and he also does inevitably give tips about general film making and I personally have learned quite a bit just from watching his videos for a short time.
 
Film Riot seems ok. I sat through one episode about directing actors. It had its good points and annoying points, but if you're just starting out, it'll help prod you somewhat in the right direction.

Indy Mogul, I saw one of their things and it was 1 hour long. I have to admit, I couldn't sit through much of it, skipping most of the way through piece by piece. It seemed more like some conference call of 2 guys talking about news and happenings going on. From what I saw, not too much value here.

While he's been mentioned, the Frugal Filmmaker, while I like what he's trying to achieve, I think you'll waste too much time if you try out his ideas. While some of them are cute, and there is an occasional decent idea, the difference between a DIY and a cheap end item usually isn't enough to make it worth screwing around wasting a lot of time, unless you have a lot of tools already. One thing he does push home, you don't have to accept how things have always been done for the sake of doing them the same way. There's nothing wrong with coming up with your own methods that work.

All that being said, you do get what you pay for. Free is still free. I do prefer the paid for content, books and video courses way more than the free youtube content. You'll end up paying for the privilege of convenience, but I find the quality of your learning makes it well worth it in the long run. If you don't have access or the funds to get access to this, then the free stuff is the option that you're left with. Learn what you can and think of how you can do it better/smarter/quicker.
 
HardWorkinFilmSlave said:
What's your opinion on popular tutorial series like Indy Mogul and Film Riot?
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I like them.

;Do they live up to the hype?[/QUOTE said:
Well I never saw/heard hype, so then the answer is yes as I had no expectations.

[/QUOTE=; Are they better than you thought?
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See above.

[/QUOTE=; Do you find their guides useful?[/QUOTE]
Some yes, some no. Depends on the content of each episode.

[/QUOTE=; Did they ever inspire you to make a tutorial yourself?[/QUOTE]
Inspire, yes. Did I actually do it? No. But it would be a waste to show my particular outcome just for the sake of showing it. Maybe as I get more experienced will I be able to offer assistance.

[/QUOTE=; Would you love to work with them?[/QUOTE]
Why yes I would! If I wasn't restrained by 4 small beasts and a 50hr work week... I could probably squeeze in a 1/2 hour here or there though.

[/QUOTE=;What's the greatest thing you've learned from them? [/QUOTE]
To just go out and DO something. Try new stuff and practice stuff you already (think you) know. Make video's, webisodes, commercial's, docu/mocu-mentary's, whatever you can think of. Practice your craft to get familiar with the tools and flow.

[/QUOTE=;What are some other big popular filmmaking-tutorial series?[/QUOTE]
Don't know of any others, yet. I do appreciate the humor aspect of the two mentioned but wish for just a small amount of seriousness to be added. Maybe some advanced tutorials or how-to's from the same show, just with a "Plus" or "Pro" tag added, haha. A little deeper subject matter rather than the you-tube friendly video-maker stuff, not that there's anything wrong with that...
:lol:
 
I like filmriot a bit... they've only taught me a good way to color grade, that's it. Most of the other stuff I haven't found use for yet, but I've only looked at a few. As Icba said, there isn't any "hype" and hell yeah I'd love to work for something like that, assuming I got full-time pay.
 
hell, even part-time pay....


Did they ever inspire you to make a tutorial yourself?

Kinda, but only as a way to attract some more viewers. It's a good marketing strategy
 
Ric Viers videos on sound on the Rode website are okay of you're a newb. His Chop Shop stuff on YouTube is a lot of fun, but not very educational.

No matter what your learning medium - books, internet forums, DVDs/videos, seminars, formal classes - take it all with a grain of salt. The very raw basics will always hold true. You'll know that they are basic be cause you will hear them over and over again ad nauseam in every instructional medium until you are bored to tears.

After that you must learn by doing; many things are in flux as technology changes. Film and video, for example, have different characteristics. Analog vs. digital audio required a major change in the approach to gain-staging and recording levels. But the basics have remained the same for almost 100 years.

The best instruction is, after you have the basics firmly ingrained, watching and listening to professionals at work, and when they are kibitzing with each other. For instance, there are two forums for audio post professionals with lengthy IMDB credits, plus numerous Oscars, Emmys and other awards. I participate little but read avidly every day, making frequent bookmarks. They each have their unique approaches, and are highly opinionated like most of us, but their insights into their own work and the work of others is priceless. This is the internet version of sitting at the feet of the master. I incorporate what I can, and "file away" the rest for future reference.
 
I tend to watch online webinars provided by reputable industry organisations (ie Adobe, Avid etc.). Film Riot and the like I've never really been interested in.. I'm sure there are some basics that they teach okay, but realistically if they were any good at what they do they'd be out in the industry doing it, not making YouTube videos telling you 'this is how it's done in Hollywood'.

At least the reputable webinars, and places like Video Copilot are done by working professionals.
 
I watched/watch them religiously... indy mogul is fundamentally dead - the old episodes were good, the hosts moved on. Film riot makes me happy :) Giddy! Cannot wait for the christmas special this year. I especially liked the final episode of indy mogul... after the credits.
When the film riot guys pop in and claim to have won the internet!
 
i always watch videocopilot.net and film riot on youtube... they are awesome. Both are really good commentators, so they are never boring.

And one teaches you a ton of tricks for after effects, and the other teaches you how to improve your beginner style, to look larger than life.

besides, who can say no to the batman roommate sketch... :D
 
I do not watch them very much, FilmRiot more than IndyMougl which appears dead. But they are beginners shows. As much as I love videocopilot, I also hate it, because the internet is tainted by people just copying his tutorials. I have purchased product from Andrew, but people need to learn to evolve from his tutorials.

But you can't fault them for telling you how it should be done in Hollywood... YouTube is a platform of entertainment that is evolving. I mean look at people like FreddieW, CorridorDigital, and others, they started on YouTube and got into the industry.
 
I am subscribed to and follow Film Riot, Indy Mogul, the Frugal Film maker and VideoCopilot. That being said I don't watch many of their videos. Film riot I generally regularly watch because they are entertaining + Ryan provides a good insight into stuff, Indy Mogul I rarely watch and the only ones I've watched are Mogular Made, mainly for the point of finding other film makers, frugal film maker I only follow his DIY builds but I've only watched a few of them. Video copilot is amazing and I wish I had more time to actually watch his videos: Andrew is very talented. However as MichaelPoor said a lot of people just copy his ideas. They need to adapt or use his techniques to create something new.

They are designed for people who are more starting out
 
I used to watch them but since so many people take the same tips I decided to unsubscribe and go against everything they said, meaning I went on a journey of self discovery and embraced being unique. Lets be fair, it's hard enough to make it in the film industry to then go watch these video and do everything the same as thousands of other people. Indymogul had an "Awesome Directors" series, where a random directors vlogged themselves making a music video or something. But the directors were far from "awesome". In-fact on guy had his friend, a visual effects specialist who worked on The Avengers to do some basic effects and they turned out to be some of the worse I have Ever seen! I'm very supportive but lets just leave the 13 year old kid to watch these videos. I learn more watching a Kubrick film.
 
I don't subscribe to any of these (or anything, really), but if I need to look up how to do something I head straight for 'em. Sure beats digging out a book that may (or may not) have what I'm looking for inside.
 
Zensteve said:
I don't subscribe to any of these (or anything, really), but if I need to look up how to do something I head straight for 'em. Sure beats digging out a book that may (or may not) have what I'm looking for inside.
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Very true! I mean really, how else will I save time and money figuring out how to make my slider motorized by doing it DIY? Seriously though... lol Imagine trying to figure out the motor pulley system without digging through a 10000 page engineers book lol.
 
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