About six years ago, I started with filmmaking.
I've been to film school, I've worked in productions,
taking up roles from being an assistant all the way up to directing.
I'm still learning new things every day, but within those six years
I also made a ton of mistakes that I wish I knew earlier.
[Cinecom’s intro music]
Hey folks, Jordy here for cinecom.net and welcome to Creative Tuesday.
Let's jump straight into it! I've got 5 mistakes
that I've done during my film career so far,
that you can avoid if you watch this video!
First up, it has to do with your gear.
If you're saving up for a new camera and one day you're finally able to buy it,
that's great!
But you've just made a big mistake.
Yes, a camera is important, but not the most important part.
Although you might think that you won’t need lights, microphones or other lenses,
you'll find out pretty quickly that you do need those things.
And yes, I made that mistake.
After film school, when I started working, I was able to purchase some lights.
Guess what, I'm still using those lights,
but the camera I bought back then has been laying in my closet for several years.
It's obsolete.
So, it's better to spend your money in stuff that doesn't get obsolete so fast.
And I'm talking about lighting, lenses, microphones,
camera tools like sliders or gimbals.
The only thing that your camera does is capture what's in front of you,
even a smartphone can do that.
So, there's no reason that you should spend all of your money
into a single camera.
Mistake number 2, you should prepare your next film project,
but also don't over-prepare.
The first couple of short films that I shot, where prepared into the smallest details.
Every shot, every action was written down.
This is actually a good thing, you need to be prepared before you start on a project.
I even prepared myself when I shot my Iceland travel video.
Of course, I wouldn't write out every shot,
but I did think about the style that was going for,
specific shots that I might need, etc.
That way I wouldn't lose time filming something
that I wouldn't use in my edit or not having the shots that I need.
But you can also over-prepare yourself.
My first short films weren't that good, because I focussed too much on the script
and the storyboard rather than on the actual film that I was directing.
You need to calculate a certain amount of freedom in your productions.
If your gut feeling says to take an extra close up of your actor,
maybe record a hole different action, anything that is not scripted, then do that.
Even in high-end Hollywood films, directors make choices on the spot.
And that is also what makes a good director or cameraman,
depending on the job.
The next tip is something quite personal,
that I haven't talked about to many people yet.
Last year I was struggling a lot with being a Youtube creator.
And this comes down to anything that you create.
You don't have to be a Youtuber creator to relate.
Anyways, long story short, I was pretending to be someone else.
I was trying too hard to make content that everyone loves
and I was trying to be someone that everyone would like.
Those who've been following me for a longer time,
can tell that I've changed a lot in my behavior and the type of content I make.
We certainly do get a lot more negative comments these days,
but I also feel that the core people who are watching right now, that means you,
do really like who I am.
I mean, this is me, I’m genuine to my audience,
which I do think is appreciated more
than trying to be someone nice to everyone.
I used to go to the barber, thinking I should cut my hair
because everyone else wants me to.
I should make a video about this because it's what people want to see.
And if you do that, you'll never make a film that will have an impact
and that will give you a fulfillment.
So, the next time you start on a new film project,
tell a story that comes from you
and not what you believe other people want to see.
It’s really important.
Tip number 4: if you're serious about filmmaking, then try to learn from the best.
With that I mean, there's an amazing Youtube community out here.
There're so many filmmaking channels on Youtube,
where you can find great videos with tips and tricks,
lists with filmmaking hacks,
and it's definitely amazing to have such a resource.
There's a lot that can be learned,
but most of us don't really have high end experience.
There can be found lectures, classes, workshops
and more from people that work in the Hollywood industry.
Just to give you an example,
you can learn about the 3-point lighting here on Youtube.
And it's great way to start, but…
…did you know that, for example, Shane Hurlbut has a 2-hour class,
just about the key light, which is one lighting within that 3-point lighting setup.
It goes way beyond anything that you’d find here on Youtube.
My mistake was that I just dove too late into such classes.
I thought it was out of my reach, but actually,
you can learn so much more about true cinematography there.
And Shane isn't the only Hollywood cinematographer who shares his knowledge.
Last year we also did a collab with CineSummit
who works together with great names, such as Pierre Gilles,
from which I've learned so much.
So again, long story short, don’t spend all your time on Youtube,
but look out for resources coming from people that have years of experience
in the film industry.
I'll leave some links in the description below.
And that brings me to the final mistake that I made, which are the details.
Too often I would quickly film an extra insert shot that I forgot to take
and not pay attention to the details.
Details are things like, what's in the background or how is the lighting,
what camera movement am I doing.
Just because you forgot to take a shot and you quickly need to run back,
doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay attention to those details anymore.
Or if it's the end of the day and you still need to make 10 more shots.
Ask yourself the question is it possible for me to make those 10 shots tomorrow,
instead of rushing them now?
Or maybe you can change the storyboard or even change the script a little bit,
so that you need only to take 5 shots more that evening.
But never tear down in quality, always focus on details.
One bad shot could break your entire film.
And that was it again for today’s video!
For those who don’t know yet,
we recently came out with a brand new class on Skillshare,
it’s about an introduction to lighting.
And you can start your first two months completely for free
by following the first link in the description below.
Thank you so much for watching
and like always:
Stay Creative!
-Currently I’m editing the video for tomorrow which is Cine Battle,
but I got to say that Jordy and Yannick are getting worse.
♬Everybody, yeah!♬