Advice Please?

[jmallen2982]

Hey guys, I wanted to introduce myself to the board. I am an American, so I guess that makes me a Yank.

Anyway, I am not even close to being a filmmaker, but I must say I am very interested in it. I have become very interested in films over the past few years (Im only 19), and I get the feeling that I can really appreciate good films. From this appreciation I get the feeling of wanting to create something that I would think is good. I have a desire to create and often from time to time I have the desire to make a movie. I do think of stories that I would like to tell.

Well anyway, I am a student in college right now, and I don't feel that I could stop my education to work on this, but I do have the feeling that I would at least like to make one film.

To me a good film is something that draws you in intellectually and emotionally. I think being emotionally impressed by a film is most important. One thing I have noticed about a film is how important the music is emotionally. It is to me at least. Music seems to be another channel for conveying what is going on. I was watching a movie one time and I realized that the music seems to be just as important as the picture in the presentation. This makes me curious as to why some directors don't even consider music when making movies. For example. I thought that the music for Vanilla Sky was very beneficial to the presentation, but when I saw the original Abre los Ojos, I was dissapointed because the music was a typical score made in post production. Does anyone here consider music as much as I do?

Anyone here see Swordfish? I have to admit I was really dissapointed by this movie, yet it was somewhat redeemed for me because of the music. I think the techno score added to the ambiance to the story. however I was really dissapointed to see that it was just a stupid formula film. For some reason I thought it may be original.

Another example, I recently saw Risky Business. I have to admit that the scenes where the Tangerine Dream score played were actually pretty good. I think the music added a lot to them.

Well, in conclusion, what would you guys suggest that I do? I was thinking about trying to write a script sometime. I feel that this will help me decide better what I should do. However, I know nothing about filmmaking, cameras, or whatever technical details are invloved in directing.

Well, I guess this is long enough,

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[Ralph Snart]

Amature or profesional it is a lot of work and study.

But if you like what you are doing it really isn't work.

If that is understandable.

To a certain extent it is like being a scientest doing research on a hopeless project.

And can become an obsession. Healthy or otherwise.

Dumb luck doesn't hurt either.

However in my opinion this is about the best time in history to be in filmmaking.

The industry is still brand new, the technology is finally in place and the audience is screaming for more.

And the "Professionals" are behind the amature film movement in a subtle but big way.

Not big bucks as such but big hopes for the future of creativity.

So good luck and as always

"THIS IS A CAMERA, THIS IS A COMPUTER. THEY ARE DANGEROUS!"

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[Vlad the Impaler]

I have to agree, being a musician and composer, that music plays a vital role in films, emphasising emotion and plays an important role in the tempo of the action the audience are seeing.

I don't agree your points on swordfish though, firstly, I thought it was a good film even if it is another formula film, secondly, the score didn't grab my attention unlike films such as LOTR and Harry Potter.

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Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie

[Davis]

I think we were all hoping Swordfish would be good, jmallen. I think we all were.

::sigh::

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"He who breaks a thing to discover what it is has left the path of wisdom."
-Gandalf

www.pmind.com

[thepreacher_naric]

A couple of words of wisdom.
To me Platoon was a great film. Main reason is that Oliver Stone is a Vietnam vet and he made his cast go through 2 weeks of advanced military training through the jungles of the Philipines so they would live their characters before shooting started. i.e. he told a story he lived already. The best stories are usually the ones we have already lived.
What I'm saying is it's good to live a little so we have an insite of the world, that way when you put pen to paper you are actually writing from the heart and the story starts to come alive.
To become a great director and have your movie come alive you need to have a great story (script) and also be technically proficient with your tools in order to paint your picture (create it on film). What your trying to do is re-create what you imagine the scene to be to film.
If I were you, I would start by making short films and when your comfortable move onto bigger films.
Try this for size, if you already haven't, watch "A Clockwork Orange" and tell what you think.

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The pay-off from struggle is the most sweetest revenge.