welcome back everyone it's Robert Macfarlane here and today we'll be
going through how to grow as a director in 2021
2020 was an incredibly difficult year for everybody and film had its fair
share of trials and tribulations so i think looking forward into 2021 i want to bring to
you some ideas and options and things that you can try and plan into your year to try and keep aiming
up to try and keep growing as a filmmaker as a director as a storyteller because that is what
we need to consistently do there will always be difficult times there will always be another thing
stopping us from doing what we truly love what we truly want to be doing with ourselves and that is
making films so i've compiled a list of various ideas that you can take into 2021 plan it into
your year make sure you do something that helps you grow these are things that i have done over
the past years through the last recession through 2020 as well and that has enabled me to grow as
a filmmaker and get that little bit closer to my own dream of telling stories in film and tv
universities most of you are probably thinking oh gosh i don't need a loan right now i could
barely find enough money to put food on the table well i agree i absolutely agree universities are
expensive however how many of you know that many universities and including the national film and
television school NFTS also have lots and lots of short courses these are brilliant courses not just
to help you gain extra experience knowledge and credits in certain areas but they also
give the opportunity to meet like-minded and like leveled other filmmakers in your area
producers writers directors cinematographers composers the whole gamut you're gonna find
these people on these courses because they're all in the same place as you they're all there
with the same mentality they are trying to up their game they're trying to reach that next step
this is a great place to find really passionate filmmakers who want to make great films books oh
my gosh okay so i myself used to be terrible with reading books and my producer would always tell me
just just read more read more books you've got to find some brilliant information
personally i found it far easier just to go online and youtube something and and find a video or go
and find a blog and and i realized that there is some great content out there on the internet
but some books have some utterly unique content that you just cannot find anywhere else and
there are three books that i think i'm going to recommend to you right now that i read during 2020
that i think are brilliant Master Shots Volume 2 shooting great dialogue scenes utterly brilliant
it's always great to see books that take time to analyze shots not just the lighting and the camera
and the lenses but also the way it dramatically tells the story it is just unmissable reading
one other book David Mamet on directing this book single-handedly changed my opinion on directing i
think the way in which his book describes how to go about telling a story in cinema
with cinematic language using frames using cutting is absolutely essential to any filmmaker
finally Sydney Lumet's making movies is another absolute game changer and a brilliant perspective
on how to make movies it is a very holistic perspective on the entire process that Sydney
Lumet uses when making movies from the very very beginning fledgling ideas and scripts all the way
to the end film as it goes out to the audience do it go out there get the books they're cheap
you get them on amazon get them on audible get find them on ebay they're everywhere they really
really are easily accessible and they really will help you with your filmmaking as i said books are
a brilliant source of information and so are websites and i have a few websites that i use
almost daily and i think they are a great source of information both
technical and theoretical first and foremost i think that Studio Binder and their youtube channel
is utterly brilliant they are constantly coming up with such high quality content where they describe
directors styles the use of certain frames cameras shots angles and the way in which you tell stories
yes these videos are all there to also help sell their fantastic piece of software actually i must
admit it's pretty good but i think you should go there initially to watch some of their breakdowns
which are utterly brilliant next on the list is No Film School No Film School is one of my favorite
blog sites they come out with some brilliant brilliant industry news as well as technical news
new camera equipment lenses new gear on the horizon that can change
the industry and i think it is literally is a weekly visit at least if not daily visit because
there is just so much content go back into the back catalogs into the old articles interviews
with directors and cinematographers and writers all over the place and they are just fantastic
there's also a lot of videos and podcasts stored on those blogs as well which are also well worth
a look finally for those of you who are telling narratives if you are on your way to making
your first feature film tv series or short film i thoroughly recommend the youtube channel Omeletto
Omeleto is basically a massive repository of brilliant short films so if you've got a little
break a little gap between a couple of tasks you're writing a script here you've got to go and
edit a movie over there in between go check out a couple of short films from Omeleto on youtube
it's well worth it there's some brilliant films on there and they just really help to reinvigorate
you show you how other filmmakers are doing it and also hopefully give you some new inspiration on
your next film i think that brilliantly segues into the next task for 2021 and that is make a
short film it doesn't matter where you are in your career the biggest directors in the world Steven
Spielberg Peter Jackson Darren Aronofsky they are all making short films between their big films
these films don't just help the directors work out how they're going to tell the next film but
they also keep them well practiced these short films don't have to be massive blockbusters
but what they do is they enable us to try out new things with storytelling so we understand
the do's and don'ts with our own personal style and vision short films aren't just about practice
they also give us the opportunity to show others what we can do and because a piece of paper a CV
doesn't really let anyone know how well you can make a film a short film really becomes your CV
so each and every year you should be making at least one short film and if you need some
extra incentive to make a short film go find one of the 48 Hour Film Competitions
out there there are literally hundreds of them and get yourself a small team
of people that are willing to jump in and spend a weekend having a blast making a film
at least you'll get a film made and you'll get that experience and credit and hopefully
some brilliant memories and connections too now most of you probably are watching netflix apple
hulu amazon or maybe you even watch tv who knows so you're taking in content but how
many of you are watching that content again how many of you are taking the time to analyze
that content i'm gonna put hand on heart here and say i used to be really really bad at this
but it is invaluable once you've watched a film to enjoy it give it a couple of weeks and go back
to that film make sure it's a film you enjoyed right and then take the time to pause and play
it and just write down what was the purpose of the scene and what did the scene do well and
maybe what did the scene not do so well and just write out the film like that use that as a way
of getting to know storytelling getting to understand scenes and their purpose and why we
choose to shoot things in the way we shoot them how directors choose to shoot scenes with their
own unique signature what's the difference between a Quentin Tarantino shootout and a Sergio Leone
shootout work it out find out analyze the scenes this will help inform how you want to
approach your own scenes and don't be afraid to stand on the shoulders of those giants
because they are standing on the shoulders of those who came before them we all have
to learn from the movies that we have seen the movies that have already been made to be able to
make the movie that we haven't seen yet and i'm going to address the big elephant in the room
a lot of you will think hey yeah i want to do that i want to go make a short film and hey yeah i'm
going to go write a script and then a lot of us get this kind of inclination where we just oh it's
not ready yet and oh i don't like the edit it's not quite there yet all the script's not ready
yet done is better than perfect put a limit on how much time you're gonna spend on your short film
on your script and make sure you stick to it if it's not ready that's fine instead make sure you
learn from that and then go write a new script go make another short film but make sure that you're
utilizing your time properly prioritize your time now this is going to be difficult because 2020 the
whole quarantining thing so we'll see how 2021 comes but network unless people know you exist
no one will know to watch your film or to call you up for that music video or for that corporate job
so you've got to get out there you've got to get your work seen
the way to do that you definitely have to have a website in today's age you also have to have
a youtube or vimeo channel and you have to start going to events even if they are online
Focus just had a brilliant event online where they had a fantastic focus on networking
throughout the entire event where you could set up meetings with various producers and distributors
all over the world at any time and you could have 20 minutes chat with each one of them
as long as they accepted the invitation finally for all of you filmmakers and directors out there
make the time to live we can be so swept up in learning and learning and growing and making
films and writing and spending every waking moment creating and we forget that we also
have to take the time to live to be able to tell those stories to be able to reflect on our lives
we need to have moments of contemplation and silence whether that's through reading a book
writing in diary meditation a long walk running working out could be any one of those or more
take the time for yourself to build who you are to become a better storyteller thank you so much for
joining me today i really hope you have a safe and enjoyable new years i really look forward
to seeing you in 2021 and seeing everything that you guys come up with in the new year