Hardest Class of My Life

Today I was told that I am now taking the hardest class of my college career. No, it's not a physics class, an engineering class, or even a math class! It's a FILM class.

Does this guy not look
 crazy to you?

Skeptic: "But that doesn't sound so hard!"

Me: "Umm...yeah...it will be. Shall I tell you why?"

To be a filmmaker, you have to be obsessed. 
(Maxim #1 of being a filmmaker)


Not just a little obsessed. Crazy obsessed.


And here's why. In the film profession, you have two routes. One, be an expert in ONE thing. If you are the go to guy for this particular niche, big points for you. But no one is in the business to do ONLY one thing. So you have route two.

Be competent in MANY things.

In the independent line of filmmaking, this is equal to being competent in EVERYTHING. You have to be. You have no money, so you can't hire an expert to handle only ONE thing. So you learn how to do it yourself, or con someone into doing it for free. Bottom line, it's better just to learn how to do it yourself.

So let's give a general rundown of what EVERYTHING is.
ART OF FILMMAKING
- You have to tell the story.
- Consequently, you have to know HOW to tell the story.
- This requires knowledge of storytelling techniques, story structure, scripting, previsualization, drawing (storyboards), et cetera.
- You have to know how to get the best out of your camera to tell the story. Major overlap with the next bullet point.

CRAFT OF FILMMAKING
- You have to tell the story.
- So you have to know WHAT to USE to tell the story.
- This includes TECHNOLOGY. Cameras, sound equipment, lighting equipment, editing equipment, special effects, visual effects, stunts, and et cetera. You may not have to know ABSOLUTELY everything about all these, but it certainly does help to have down the basics. And there is incredible diversity even in these items. I've used six different cameras across my filmmaking experiences. Yes there is common ground, but each camera is unique. Not to mention any of the other items.

BUSINESS OF FILMMAKING
- You have to distribute your story.
- This may or may not mean selling your story.
- But one way or another, you have to market your story.
That's just the back end.
The front end:
- Coordinating ALL your resources, including people, locations, equipment (you might not own it all), finances (if only), TIME, and again, et cetera.

So you see, you have to dabble in EVERYTHING in order to get your story told. Maxim number two of being a filmmaker: "Only you can tell your story. No one else will."

I capitalized it before, but I shall bold it, underline it, italicize it, and make it bigger:
TIME

Time is the most important resource. All of the things listed above require huge time commitments. You don't get off easy in this gig. No relaxing evenings or weekends. Not when there's filmmaking to be done!
Even if you're not shooting or editing or conceptualizing, there is still work to be done. If you think you're ready for everything, you should hear filmmaker maxim number three: "You are NEVER prepared for everything". (This includes knowledge as well as equipment)


And if right now your brain is screaming just by reading this, I have one thing to say:

"Welcome to my world."

~Tommy