What to Know Before Starting A Filmmaking Career
It’s no secret that the world is in love with movies. This year, Disney+ announced a plethora of new movies on its streaming service to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime in a streaming war. Filmmaking has never been more prolific or high-tech at any other point in history, or as widely distributed.
Do you have a story to tell? Being a filmmaker and storyteller has always been a coveted role in society. That role can be yours.
Want to know how to become a filmmaker in the modern age? Keep reading to find out!
The Right Eye (and Ear) to Make Movies
While thinking that filmmaking requires a good eye for shots is definitely putting you on the right path, it might be having a good ear that is more important. The best shot on camera could have had serious sound issues requiring reshoots. Unfortunately, that special magic might not come back on screen once the sound problem is resolved.
Which do you choose? You keep both for post-production and cross your fingers that your audio tech can do some magic of their own. Learning how to use a boom-mic and manage sound on scenes (planned, unplanned, and ambient) will take you from being a good filmmaker to being great without changing anything about your shots visually.
Choosing the right location for your scenes can be tough, but if you consider sights and sounds, you’ll have a much better experience producing your film.
But it isn’t all about the location, either. Your actors need things to do while they talk, and do more than speak. This advice is taken from age-old wisdom to writers — show me, don’t tell me. The same is true of expositions from characters, no one wants to listen to a five-minute monologue of fluff.
Unless you’re into that kind of thing.
The Right Equipment for a Filmmaking Career
While a great tool does help an artist perform better, the tool doesn’t make the artist. Relying on equipment too much can stifle your filmmaking efforts. Arguably, a great filmmaker could probably rely on an iPhone or webcam and still make an interesting and brilliant story.
Actually, that’s already been done with the likes of “Blair Witch Project” and 2018’s “Searching.” While it wasn’t exactly told by a phone camera, it did appear that way, and filters were added for things like excessive ISO to simulate webcams and video calls.
Doing artistic things like that is great, but there’s a moment where you need high-quality videography gear that can get any job done well. While you don’t need the best and most expensive equipment right off the bat, you’ll need at least entry-level gear to get you started.
That includes computers capable of processing audio and video in increasing levels of resolution like 4k. Not to mention equipment that can film in those resolutions and store the massive amounts of data said equipment is collecting.
Now You Know: How to Get Into Filmmaking
Now you know, filmmaking isn’t just taking a camera and using it as a point-and-shoot from the 1990s. It takes discipline, knowledge, skill, talent, and a lot of equipment!
Still want to dive in, or maybe try your hand at making games instead? FizX has you covered with articles on games, movies, how to make them, and more.
Keep reading to find out what next is in store for you!