Every couple of weeks there is another article or blog post or vlog that tells you how to be an indie filmmaker.
What I've noticed about all of them, is that everyone, EVERYONE is doing it wrong.
My opinion of that is...bollocks (as the English say)!
My conclusion is...there is no right way or wrong way to go about being an indie filmmaker. No. Wrong. Way.
Everyone has their own path. Just as everyone learns differently; some are visual learners, some are readers, some learn by doing, some by following examples.
Again, there is no wrong way.
But there are a lot of right ways, and the right way is the way that gets you where you want to go.
For me, learning to be an indie filmmaker, has been a long process. I am change averse, so I have to take knowledge in slowly, process it, digest it, understand it and then apply it. I also learn by doing and by reading.
I learned how to write screenplays by reading and writing stage plays, then buying books on screenplay writing, reading them and then trying things. I have read several professional screenplays, have read many amateur screenplays, taken an online course that I loved and helped me clarify style and the process in developing a story.
I have learned filmmaking the same way; watching movies as both an audience member and then with a critical eye towards camera angles, lighting, colour, camera shots, visual style, pacing, and everything else that goes into making a film.
I won't lie, it was intimidating at first. But, I bought myself a camera and made 4 short films.
They were terrible. I was my own camera operator, special effects, writer, lighting, director, everything. And I was proud of what I had accomplished, even though I knew it was far from great. What I didn't expect was how harsh the criticism was going to be.
See, that's the hard part of any creative enterprise, the criticism from people who don't love you, like or sometimes even know you past a brief meeting.
I look back at those films now and can say, yes, there is a crudeness to them, a lack of finesse. I know what my strengths are and what I need to work on.
And it terrifies me at times. I have no mentor, which is common among filmmakers. I'm not some kid right out of high school, which makes me fearful of trying again, though I am still determined. I have a lack of funds, a lack of human resources to do this work with, but I can't stop striving.
I won't stop striving!
What keeps me going is the movies that play in my head almost constantly. I am a visual person, a visual artist, my medium is page to screen.
I am missing a lot of elements I need, but what I do have, is a digital video camera, a desire to continue to grow and a bullshit detector that goes off every time I'm in a creative filmmaking community.
There are always critics. And they come in many forms.
THE EXPERT -- the expert is an expert on what other filmmakers they admire have done. I admire many indie filmmakers, Ava Duvernay, and the Duplass brothers just to name a couple. I see what they did and how successful they are now. But, I am not them. And the Experts don't care about that. They look at one persons success and think you can apply that to everyone and if you don't , you will fail and are a loser.
THE SEMI-PRO -- the semi-pro has had some small success, either a short film in a small film festival, a couple of scripts optioned or sold, a few professional writing assignments, placing well in a screenwriting contest. They think to impart their wisdom and how they became successful, and that makes them qualified to tell you what you are doing wrong, which is everything.
THE GENIUS -- the genius might just be my favourite. They are usually very young, have a "great" idea, they want to break into the industry because they can, and don't care if it doesn't work the way they want, they assume because they are so so so talented and they want it so much that they will succeed where everyone else has failed. Nobody is as good as them and you better know it.
THE NEWBIE -- the newbie asks for advice, but only as a means to getting attention and sympathy and praise. They are closely related to THE GENIUS, and sometimes are one in the same. If you don't tell them what they want to hear, they get angry and vicious and usually rude and insulting follow.
THE GURU -- the guru is a failed expert. They want to sell you their sure fire way to break into the movie business, they can teach you how in just 10 or 5 or 25 easy lessons all for a low low price of $$$. Sometimes they want to sell you financial services too.
It's exhausting. Seriously, it makes me tired.
So, what's the answer?
I don't know. What's your answer? What's your endgame? What do you have to work with? Are you willing to keep trying until you make it?
The answer is, yes, always yes. Unless someone asks you to give sexual favours to get what you want. Then the answer is no.
Here's to YES, I am a filmmaker.
Now, what do you want to do today?
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