Reddit reviews On Directing Film

I'm not the best person to be giving advice, but I just dropped out of film school last year (I was only there for a year) and have begun making some progress on my own.

First of all, watch a lot of movies. Literally the only thing I miss about school was having access to so many classic films playing in the theater every weekend. Netflix can be just as good, however. But never stop going to the theater.

Secondly, read. Look up some textbooks that film classes use. I really enjoyed Shot By Shot and On Directing Film, since I want to be a director.

Thirdly, and most importantly. Make films. Try to work on projects all the time. Your projects, your friends projects, random web series that post on facebook asking for free crew members.... it doesn't matter. Stay surrounded by film, because that's another one of film school's biggest strengths. It can be difficult to stay motivated when you don't have a GPA looming over your head.

Again, I'm by no means a success so take my advice however you will. Good luck!

There are a lot of great books on film out there. Don't listen to other possible saying watch YouTube or wrote your own screenplay. Well, do those things too, but learn some wisdom from some of the masters while you're at it.

You are going to want to read the following:

Hitchcock by Truffaut (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0671604295). One of the greatest directors of all time, interviewed by another of the greatest.

In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1879505622/ref=aw_d_detail?pd=1), one of the greatest editors ever. A pretty great director too.

On Directing Film by David Mamet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0140127224). A great book on directing by one of the great writer/directors.

Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0452271878). He wrote this after El Mariachi, before he went on to big budgets. It's one of the most inspiring books you'll ever read-- you'll want to make a film tomorrow. Basically, how to make a movie wit nothing but enthusiasm.

If you want to see what it is to truly break down action into its smallest and most concise bits, you need to read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224

You need to decide what the impact of the action is. WHY does he need to shown deciding to head for bed? Once you have that answer, you'll have the action which best correlates to displaying that decision.

It is a tough industry in many ways, and built around some very specific cities. One decision you should make is what exactly you want to do in film. If you want to be an artist and create your own films, you don't necessarily need to go to film school or even work your way up in the industry. There is lots of cheap gear available. Chances are you have more than enough film making gear right now in your phone and PC, more than you could have dreamed of affording 20+ years ago- when film was film.

So if you want to work in the industry, it will mean 'paying your dues' and might mean never getting to make a film on your own - schools, training programs, etc... are a good idea. You might be poor for awhile, you might have a job so busy and high pressure that at the end of the day more film work (even on your own dream projects) might be the last thing you are interested in doing. Another approach is to come up with a solid day job outside of the industry so that you can pursue your own creative pursuits on the side until such time as they pay off. If you have to count on film making to pay the bills, you would be very fortunate to direct corporate videos and cooking shows and stuff you might not really feel. You will be so close to your dream, but so far away at the same time and that can be frustrating - depending on your goals. If you want to make films on your own terms, you can and should start right away. Don't feel bad if the first 5 or 10 of them are terrible. You are working the bugs out. Read Lumet, a bit of Mamet, and some Rodriguez. Watch a lot of Making of docs on Youtube.

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Robert Rodriguez wrote El Mariachi with a bit of a brilliant approach. He listed all the interesting ('expensive') things he had access to through his friends (a pit bull, a bus) and incorporated those in his script so it looked a little more big budget. If you write a helicopter landing on a bridge, you would have to pay for it. If your grandma has access to a tennis court and your uncle has a dirt bike - write that instead, and you could pull it off for free. Don't get caught up buying gear, use what you have. You don't need to use lacking gear as an excuse for not making something, and don't need to use buying gear as a replacement for being creative. I have seen that a lot in film, photography, and music. You could hypothetically make a great film for free as a flip book on a pad of paper, and if you do you could show that to people that would help pay for more gear if you need it. Anyway, ramble ramble - free advice is usually worth what you pay for it. Good luck!

Read as many books on directing as you can. As the editor, you imbue a second level of direction: you're picking the performances, fine tuning the timing, deciding what the audience sees - albeit all within the context of what the director did during filming and within the limits of their editorial control.

http://www.amazon.com/Film-Directing-Shot-Visualizing-Productions/dp/0941188108

http://www.amazon.com/Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368184441&sr=1-1&keywords=david+mamet+on+directing

are two that come to mind. I'd recommend more but I'm about to crash from an near all nighter.

Note: Obviously this list is incomplete, if anyone has suggestions please add to this. Also this list is not specifically for kevleemur, but for anyone looking to learn about movie stuffs

Online material is nice, but there are many great and more reliable resources that come in these old fashioned book things.

General

Shot by Shot

MasterShots

The Visual Story


Directing

On Screen Directing
(may be hard to find)

On Directing Film by David Manet

Cinematography/ Lighting/ Camera/ On Set Learning

The ASC Manual (some earlier editions come in one volume which is nice)

Creative Control by Michael Hofstein

The Set Lighting Technicians Handbook

Painting With Light (John Alton's book. A little outdated but still a good read).

Reflections

The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video by Tom Schroeppel (very simple, a good start)

The Grip Book

The Camera Assistant's Manual

Cinematography: Theory and Practice



Producing

Creative Producing From A to Z by Myrl A Schreibman

Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film by Paula Landry

Editing

In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch (Sound designer and editor from Apocalypse Now----EXCELLENT)



Screenwriting

Story

Screenplay the Foundations of Screenwriting






ONLINE RESOURCES:


http://www.rondexter.com/

http://cinematography.net/

http://www.rogerdeakins.com/

http://www.arri.com/

http://www.mole.com/

http://www.panavision.com/home

http://www.filmtools.com/

Aside from familiarizing yourself with knowledge and technique the best you can without being involved on set, one of the best things you can do is read up and become as knowledgeable as you can with gear that you will eventually encounter, which is why I listed the last four links. Even if you do plan on going into producing or directing, it is always helpful to understand lighting and camera and why the people working with you need the things they do.


GO LEARN THINGS!

I've never done shooting plans and storyboards before my latest short film and it simply would have been impossible to schedule anything without storyboards and shooting plans. It also helped a lot in post, because of the size of the project. So I'd definitely start using those tools. It doesn't have to be pretty or anything, just so you remember how you wanted it it to be and to show the crew/cast how you want them to act. Here is a teaser for my short film just to show how big it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ApmSNvhQA ..... BTW. It's also quite satisfying to look at your footage in post and it looks just like you imagined it in your storyboard. Also, I'd recommend you to read this book by Mamet. http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224 It's very good!

I don't know if this is in the direction you're looking, but I really enjoyed "On Directing Film" from David Mamet. It's a pretty quick read, too.

On Directing Film is a very short and easy read, and it will answer soooo many questions about 'show don't tell', 'exposition vs. drama' etc. I can't recommend it enough, especially if you often have difficulty understanding why these sage-like mantras are so often repeated.

Yes it's about directing, I guess, but it's really about story telling and it definitely helped my writing immensely.

Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet
(http://www.amazon.com/Making-Movies-Sidney-Lumet/dp/0679756604/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394078386&sr=1-1&keywords=making+movies+sidney+lumet)

On Directing Film, by David Mamet
(http://www.amazon.com/Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=la_B000APXE7Q_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394078307&sr=1-1)


Film Directing Shot by Shot, by Steven D. Katz
(http://www.amazon.com/Film-Directing-Shot-Visualizing-Productions/dp/0941188108/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394078422&sr=1-1&keywords=film+direction+shot+by+shot)

They're the highest regarded movie making books. They're extremely practical without losing a sense of wonder or passion about movie making.

I love this book. Link for the lazy:

http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406345072&sr=8-1&keywords=on+directing+film

That seems really... broad. But I'll give it a try.

This is a great little book, as much or more about storytelling in general as filmmaking in particular.

Bettelheim is a classic, of a kind.

There's this, read it a long time ago but I remember it being really good. I'm just throwing stuff out at random now, is this at all the kind of thing you're looking for? Or this? This, maybe?

edit to add: the essay 'Narrative Art and Magic' by Borges. It's in Selected Non-fictions

My top choice, always: "On Directing Film" by David Mamet

http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345657124&sr=8-4&keywords=david+mamet

What are you trying to do in film? If you are trying to get into camera or grip/electrics I would check out the local IATSE chapters. IATSE is the union that deals with many film and stage crew, they also have many good trainee programs for people starting out. Another union to check out would be the DGA (Director's Guild of America). If you want to Direct there is not much I can say but go out and do it. There are many books and things that can help with directing, [David Mamet's "On Directing Film"] (http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224) is pretty solid. Also, if you need an editor for any films you work on... wink wink nudge nudge

I am in Canada so I don't really have any contacts for you to call in NYC (sorry man) but I guess the number one thing would be: make sure to love film. This is a very difficult industry to make it in so be sure that it is what you want to do.

Good luck man, I am sure I will see you around mumble. If you have any more question feel free to PM me or chat me up on mumble.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that if you are not sure what you want to do, the try to get on a film as a PA then watch everyone do their jobs, then you can try to see what you like.