not exactly a technical question...

[wrkrant]

I've found that all the videos I've made over the past 3 or 4 years are ... well ... no good. There's a couple minutes in there that I like but for the most part watching my videos is thoroughly discouraging. I'm just wondering how any of you folks deal with this kind of feeling. Do you just try not to think about it, or is it a learn from your mistakes kind of thing?

[Matty2phatty]

It's a little hard to help you out when i don't know anything, but you gotta accept the fact that when you're working with no budget and relying on favours from friends you really can't achieve a whole lot.

The best you can do is work on the technical stuff like getting your framing right and learning the right lighting techniques.

Once you've got the stuff like that down i think you'll find that if you can throw some money at it (for decent cameras and actors and stuff) then your films will look a whole lot better.

When i look at my old stuff i find it embarressingly bad, but i can definitely see how far i've come over the years. Don't take it to heart that it looks bad, Filmmaking is a constant learning experience.

[miker]

I look at television programming over the last 3 or 4 years and it's .... well ... no good.

It's all subjective. And how do you know you're not being hypercritical of your own work? Perhaps you could post an example and we could offer constructive criticism. If it really is that bad ... then you can only improve :-)

[eddie123456789]

definatley learn from your mistakes.
Remember there is no such thing as 'just grabbing a shot' everything you do has to be considered carefully - the weakest scene in your film will let it down.
no budget doesnt mean no good, with no money you have to be stripped to the essentials, and the essential thing is a good script/story. Thats all any one will remember afterwards anyway. Take another look at your old videos. Ask yourself some honest questions, Could you improve on them? Can you see why a certain thing didnt come out as you hoped? Why did that go wrong?
If your only answer is because you didnt have any money then I would rethink this pastime, perhaps take up something else.
If you can see what went wrong, be careful not to do it again. Ive found than whenever I get sloppy then things fall apart. Be disciplined.

[assyrix]

It's all part of the learning process. My first attempts are so bad it's not even funny. I got better but have still way to go. At least I can gleam the destination and how to get there now.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 05, 2005 06:35 AM: Message edited by: assyrix ]</font>

[MatJimMood]

I think it's a lot more productive to be highly critical of your own work.

Disappointment forces you to push yourself harder and keep on trying to improve. Let other people praise the good stuff and stay focused on what is wrong with a piece.

If you've produced a piece of work that you are completely satisfied with you might as well stop IMO.

(Give yourself credit for the good bits though)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 05, 2005 06:48 AM: Message edited by: MatJimMood ]</font>

[wrkrant]

Thanks for the encouragement. I guess I have a tendency to focus on the simple fact that i don't like something and overlook the how and why I don't like it. I just need to put some serious work in and make some more stuff that i'm comfortable showing to other people. Then I can get some outside input.