My first tip is finding your area of interest. In film-making, there are a ton of jobs/positions you can do. Director, sound mixer, and gaffer, just to name a few. What I recommend people who just start out is to try and find a position they want to work toward. If you like cameras, focus on becoming a camera operator. If you love creating shots, focus on being a director of photography. Having an idea of what you want to in the field will help you focus and take steps to reach that position, instead of doing things that waste your time.
My next tip is making friends with the same interests. If there is one thing everyone can agree on, it’s damn near impossible to make a movie by yourself. You need people to fill those positions in preproduction, production, and postproduction. You need all the help you can get, so it’s a good idea to make friends who have the same interests as you or want to help you make your movie, so the whole process will go a lot smoother, and you won’t be stressed out.
My third tip is to do stuff. Practice makes perfect. To become a better filmmaker, you must go out and work on projects. If you don’t have a professional camera, most iPhones shoot at 4k. Professional directors have shot full-length movies on the iPhone. So, use your iPhone or whatever camera you must make things and get experience. The more things you work on, the more experience you understand, which is very important when you try to work on bigger and better projects.
My fourth tip is aggressive. When I say be aggressive, I don’t mean treat people like dirt. Just like everything else in life, you can’t wait for things to happen to you because if you do, you are going to be waiting for a long time. Opportunities are not going to find you, you need to go out and look for them. Whether it’s making your own stuff or finding a production company close to you. Don’t get me wrong I understand that some of us are blessed easier access to opportunities. For me, when I took TV production in high school, my teacher was an actual independent film director, and he just happened to be working on a feature film. I asked if I could work on it, he told me to ask the producer. Next thing I knew, I was working on an independent feature film. While that opportunity was convenient, I still had to put in the effort to get it. So, be aggressive, look for opportunities, and don’t be discouraged if you can’t find any. You just got to keep looking.
My last tip is don’t be discouraged. The field of filmmaking is one of the most competitive fields out there. Millions of people are looking to do what you want to do. Whether it’s to be a director or an actor, or a producer. While there is a lot of competition, it shouldn’t be enough to stop you from trying. If you genuinely want to make it as a filmmaker, you need to embrace competition and use it to get better.
Just to recap, find your area of interest, make friends with a shared interest, be sure to get experience, be aggressive, and don’t get discouraged. If you have any tips of your own, be sure to leave them down in the comment section. Be sure to like this post and share it with your friends.
Thank you for encouraging me that I have to work and accept multiple projects in order to become better at filmmaking. My dream is to at least be known by a few in the entertainment industry as a writer and director who makes films reflecting the harsh realities of life, to further educate the public that a lot of people need more compassion and help. It might be a good idea to consult a lawyer before creating my breakthrough film in order to avoid copyright infringement.
https://www.inhouselawgroup.com/entertainment-law-entertainment-litigation