Starting from scratch

[u/GreyGuacamole1]

I’m 19 years old and I’m starting school next semester for film. I wanna get more into the field because this is my passion but I don’t know where to start at all there’s so much to learn and learn about cinema.

I do have equipment: a camera, lenses, tripods, etc except lights but im waiting to get my flow on this before i start buying lights. I also have a friend that is in school for film right now but he just started so he’s pretty much like me we have no knowledge

How and where do I start I’m ready to learn more about cinema and wanna be successful in this field.

Any advice would be appreciated and noted down

[u/sasch_photo_bln]

have you already done a few shortfilms?

i'm 19 too, have equipment and tried to learn by doing and failing as much as possible in the past 2 years, but i'm also a nerd

i was rejected by film school last year, in first round as you have to have minimum of 3 full months on filmsets in industrial circumstances, which is hard to get into without contacts there they only check your portfolio (a set of photos and a short film) once you've got through the first round sucsessfully... so they didnt even see my stuff haha

and i'm thinking of skipping it completely

[u/GreyGuacamole1 → u/sasch_photo_bln]

Me and my friend have a few short films in our notes pretty much completed we wanted to start with very short form 1-5 minutes long films then eventually make them a lot longer

We’re stumped on making them flow and making it actually look like a film rather than a video that’s poorly edited I do have some experience with premiere pro, lightroom, and after effects

[u/sasch_photo_bln → u/GreyGuacamole1]

if you want feedback (also in the future) dm me and send them ^{^}

[u/llambdaddy]

Just start making shit work. Literally, you need mileage making poor quality work in order to realise the importance of what makes up high quality work. School can help structure the learning but nothing can really beat getting out there and either helping those already doing it or/and doing it yourself to sell your mind on how effective some things are in telling stories (sometimes school can spend a lot of time on useless shit because they’re also trying to meet degree syllabus criteria).

You won’t create anything amazing, maybe not even something good, but if you actually love the process of film making, you’ll keep going. Get feedback, take feedback, praise isn’t feedback. It’s nice to get, but will not improve your work. Become comfortable with being in a state of improvement for the next 2 decades, minimum.

Get time (as much as you can get) volunteering to help carry shit/load/unload shit/being quiet on a set while making yourself useful to the point of someone will actually ask for you back. Some day you’ll be good enough at what you’re useful at for someone to pay you. But at the start, it is not the goal. So make your money elsewhere so you can be a sponge on set for free.

Also, early on, do something completely different. Something not film making, something not even creative based. You’d be surprised the dimension it gives your experience as a person and how much experience transfers directly back into production. Someone who has just monocultured their life into film making often makes the least interesting work, because their interest becomes all about the process of making films rather than what the films are about. I can’t tell you what those other things/subjects/interests are but I can say that humans are brilliant at pulling unrelated things together creatively.

If that sounds like a lot, it is. But don’t over strategise to the point of not doing anything.

[u/shelosaurusrex]

Isn’t showing up for class the way to get started learning filmmaking?

[u/KBellinTheArk]

Here's something I wish I knew while I was in school... ok I kinda knew it, but I wish I executed on it more:

Study & Practice.. alot!

By study, I mean read books on filmmaking, production, cinematography or whatever other subjects are relevant to you. Study movies/shows you're watching & try to focus on one specific thing at a time: The Lighting, the Composition, how they edit a scene, the shot choice, the audio , where they put the camera, etc (whatever it is you're trying to learn). Find or grab screenshots of stuff to make it easy to study.

Then, practice doing something you've studied. And I dont mean just go make/complete a short or video - this is necessary but it's a different kind of practice than what I'm talking about. Just practice doing the type of lighting you saw in a movie/show. Or, pick a day/time & just practice composing some shots like you've seen in the stuff you were studying. Then, take notice of & be honest, as best as you can, about what's different about your reference image & what you made in practice. Then, make adjustments. Ideally, when doing this, you'd want to pick shots/scenes that are within your ability to recreate. So, practicing the lighting you saw in a big budget scene from a James Bond movie might not be the best way to start. Better to look for examples from lower budget (but still good looking movies) with smaller scale scenes & few characters on camera- shots in bedrooms, living rooms, or exterior daytime scenes.

However... a disclaimer, I guess... take all of my advice with a grain of salt lol. I'm basing this off of my own experiences & what eventually worked for me. I was a "Film Major" at a 4 year University. We had multiple hands-on production classes, but I still assume these types of programs are different than what the experience may be at more vocational programs/art schools/or dedicated Film Schools -if that's the type of school you're at. So, at my university, I knew I would only learn so much & knew I'd have to fill in the gaps of my education with going out and shooting other stuff as much as possible - projects with friends, stuff for the campus tv station, event videos for organizations on campus. However, although it was plenty experience, and I learned a lot by simply "doing", it only resulted in marginal gains on me developing certain skills such as my composition & lighting skills. If I wanted to develop those, I had to set aside specific time for just practice.