Looking for comments and critiques! New to photography and trying to build a nice portfolio to apply for film schools this coming fall :)
Taken on a Cannon eos T6. Any comments are appreciated!
Stars Align
Looking for comments and critiques! New to photography and trying to build a nice portfolio to apply for film schools this coming fall :)
Taken on a Cannon eos T6. Any comments are appreciated!
It's hard to get a picture like this wrong, and you haven't. But it would really be a filler shot in a portfolio at best. It's technically easy and it doesn't mean anything or show an ability to capture a decisive moment or angle. The first two things a worthwhile portfolio needs are ambition and personality.
Warning: totally unasked for advice follows
About film school - do think very, very carefully. It's a huge investment and for most people all they get out of it is the debt - the film schools are producing ten times more graduates than can ever use their degree. I talked this through with some people in the industry on a cinematography forum once and that they concluded was the best idea was to take a degree in something that would give you business skills and an income to fall back on, watch all the good films you could, and shoot in your spare time - doing a business or accountancy degree at a location with a strong acting community was considered the smartest thing. A few books, some free software, an old GH2, a field recorder, and some used fresnel lights off ebay would cover the rest. Do that for a year, then get insurance and a better camera (almost everyone agreed on a Canon C-series) and start to shoot weddings and corporate video while finishing your degree.
...Film school made sense back in the 80s when the numbers of students wasn't insane, costs were much lower, and when you needed to go to school to get access to vital equipment. But now, why take on life-crippling debt? Especially as financial freedom is one of the biggest things you need as a young film maker. If you've learned to edit from Munch's book, learned your light and camera angles, and shot a couple of decent shorts, and have a track record of finishing even small commercial shoots on budget, no one in the film industry will care that your degree is in something else - and if you picked the right degree it will support you the long quiet times at the beginning.
Thanks! The input on a film degree helps a lot! I’ve been stressed lately about the costs, and while I think I’d have a lot of fun and learn some new things it’s definetly a big decision that the film community seems to have a lot of differing opinions on. I go to a tech Highschool right now for Interactive Media and constantly watch YouTube videos about film making and ask my parents for books about filmmaking lol. While I want to get out of my town I live in because there isn’t much of a film presence, I will probably end up getting at least my general education credits from a community college. I have also considered a business degree of some kind so it’s nice that other people think it’s a good route. This was a picture I took when I was first testing out my camera, well the schools camera haha, so the composition is really simple. I’m hoping to do some better compositions over the weekend.
Madeline - One of the things that people agreed on was that investors look for financial responsibility in film makers. And that going to film school now counts as evidence of the opposite. Otoh, if you have a business degree and a history of shooting weddings with a Canon C100 every other weekend and delivering to happy clients, then you're seen as ***very*** responsible. So if you and a film school grad have equally good ideas, guess who gets the money???
Watch films, especially the classics - Welles, French New Wave, John Ford Westerns, Kurosawa. Read Walter Munch's book, read the classic books on acting the drama schools give their students - if you get the chance, try to fit in an acting class. Look for material like this http://akirakurosawa.info/2015/03/24/watch-this-akira-kurosawa-composing... Buy a GH2 or other solid cheap camera that can be used for video. Read Shot To Shot and Mackendrick's On Film Making, then get a better camera - or rent one - and shoot weddings - but only when you are insured! Read about films that were made cheaply like El Mariachi and Bout De Souffle.
And check out the college where you do your business degree or whatever it is you do take - think very carefully before paying higher fees than a state college. Try to see
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rj...(2014_film)&usg=AOvVaw0l_uqXbMePFvVi9IWLPIRT
and the Teen Titans Go episode "Who's Laughing Now."
And look at the most interesting photography you can. Start with greats like Helmut Newton, Diane Arbus, Winogrand, Moriyama, Eric Klein. Read Shakespeare and watch productions of his plays, get to know interesting niches like anime and independent comics and who the good directors and writers are there, etc. None of this costs much money.
Thanks so much again! This advice was actually suppppppper helpful! So many differing opinions on what I should do from friends, family, and advisors. This option seems like the best one I’ve come across! I’ve also been trying to do more film competitions. Me and my partner one first place for a Digital Cinema contest at a regional competition we were really proud of! Are there any specific opprutunities or suggestions you know of that could help me get experience?
You might find this interesting:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/comments/4284bj/i_regret_going_to_fi...
But, basically, try to get to work on real film sets. Good ways of doing this (I'm now cribbing from I remember people who know far more said) are knowing how to rig lights and handle sound gear. Everybody wants to be a director or a dop, but far more people work on lighting than with the camera, and very few people think about sound. So look for blogs like this
http://setlighting.tumblr.com/
...and the books they recommend. A willing pair of hands and the ability to keep your mouth shut and do what you're told, work safely with 5 wire and monitor a recorder or use a boom mic, and the knowledge to bring along heat-insulated work gloves and rubber soled shoes (maybe with safety toe caps) is gold. If you get a chance to learn anything about electrical work, do it!
Study and experiement with lighting, even with just a toy set and penlights - know what flags and reflectors and scrims can do.
And know how to write a good CV - read something like What Colour Is Your Parachute and use it for writing approach letters to film makers.
For your own films, don't make the mistake of putting all your money into camera gear - lights and sound gear are at least as important. And lenses usually matter as much or more than camera bodies and stay with you longer. (Vintage manual focus Takumar and Rokkor lenses can be very good buys - try to stick with one brand to get a consistent look.)
Read blogs and books on how to be an actor - they're not just clothes horses, acting is a deep philosophical art. Don't waste your time reading "consumer level" books on topics like screenwriting (eg McKee's "Story".) Get the booklists that production companies give their interns like this one -
http://adelaidescreenwriter.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/the-pixar-list-of-rec...
...And read those. (Especially Egri - Egri's insights have powered works as diverse as Annie Hall and Gurren Lagann.)
Try asking for more and better advice here
http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showforum=35
...But remember that camera people are just one part of the story with their own bias. (Eg they think getting good rim lights is more important than getting good performances...) So try other types of forum as well - but only ones where you can talk to working professionals.
Also: remember all those damn regional film competitions in the USA are only an excuse to justify film school projects and winning one won't usually help your career.
Also - from me now rather than relayed by me -
- If you're interested in screen writing, pick one of the easier to write popular genres for kindle and write short novels. Work at getting better at every aspect of writing, but especially story and dialogue. If you can write a successful romance or zombie series for kindle, then you are pretty close to being able to write one for netflix. In fact, if you had a strong audience, you could pitch your kindle series to netflix or amazon tv.
- Samuel Delaney said in his book on writing that the reason most would be writers fail is that they lack the strength to do two things. Which are to look at their work as if someone else wrote it (google "ikea effect") and then carry on writing, making an attempt to fix the things that disappointed them about their work. I think this probably applies to most arts.