watching movies

[ickle_jim]

do you think you need to watch lots of movies to make good movies? i guess it ammounts to the same as do you need to read lots to be a good writer...

for me personaly ive always wanted to tell stories but i have no talent with which to write, so to be film seems like the obvious medium. Why waste time describing someone when you can show them instead? Because of the reason why ive gotten into it i havent really seen that many movies, not in a movie buff sorta way, just casually watching stuff. **** i dont even go to the cinema, or rent movies, rely solely on whats on TV that week. Yesterday night John Carpenters Vampires was on the TV so thats what i watched, tonight its that Rob Roy with Liam Neesam, anyways i digress

do you think you need to watch lots of movies to make good movies?

[Yammeryammeryammer]

"When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them 'No, I went to films'."
-Quentin Tarantino

Watching movies helps you. I think you can be a good film maker without watching movies, or having some sort of instruction. But you may be better if you see what others have done, and that helps you by seeing new ways of doing things, and applying them to your projects. So personally, I enjoy renting, and going to films frequently, and it is like I am constantly getting information and ways of doing things. And they cultivate my own ideas.

[deanl]

Hey there.

I personaly watch a massive amount of movies. I watch pretty much every new release and have a big dvd/vhs collection of much older movies. But that means chuff all. Lots of movies geeks are out there making a LOT of terrible movies.

How many movies do you think a 26 year old Orson Welles had seen when he made Citizen Cane? There was no blockbuster video in the 1940's

He just had a vision and did everything he could to get it up on screen.

Despin out.

[Yammeryammeryammer]

Not that it matters much, but isn't it Citizen Kane, not cane as in the stick?

[steven_craig]

a lecturer told me once "if you read lots of books you get used to the style of writing and can become a good writer yourself"

i say F?CK THAT

if you like movies great, but you dont write films about watching movies... go get a life, write about that... cause im sure it would be a whole lot more interesting

technique, if you really need to have it, you can learn from teachers, lecturers, books and even better mistakes

[emjen]

watching and analyizing movies is never a bad thing, but I dont really think its a requirement for writing movies yourself.

The more you've watched, the more likely you will copy thing's you've seen. (subconscious)

I've read on scriptsecrets.net that you can compare your own script to another which has the same kind of idea.

If you haven't seen no movies at all, you can either create the most original things in your script, or you can create the most cliche things because you dont know they're already done.

[Curtin-Parloe]

Most ideas are ripped off anyway [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Phaethon]

I believe that in order to make a movie you have to have a vivid picture of what you want to do, and what you want to happen. Picture every detail. Don't think of your movie in terms of words or writing, but in sight and sound. The words should come naturaly with these two things. As far as what to do with the camera; make every angle meaningfull, make every shot count. Rule out possiblities, cover all your bases when planning out shots. That's the science of making a movie. As far as the overall story goes; try to be original. Break rules and bounderies. People want to see new things in movies, things they've never seen before. This is part of why they watch them. You don't have to be a good writer to make an excellent movie. When writing dialog, think naturaly and place yourself in the characters shoes. The rest is in your head; the lighting, the colors, the angles.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 20, 2002 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Phaethon ]</font>

[miker]

one thing i have noticed about making movies:

the more serious you get, the less fun it is.

there's a lot to be said for knowing the rules before you break them, but you should also ask yourself three questions before embarking on a project IMO:

1. Will you learn anything?

2. Will it be fun?

3. Will you earn any money?

if all answers are 'no' then i'd avoid the project.

[Phaethon]

"one thing i have noticed about making movies:
the more serious you get, the less fun it is."

It depends on what your definition of "serious" is. If by "serious" you mean not fun, then of course you are right. But when I say serious I mean one of two things. One; this isn't something I do on the side, I want to do this as a proffesion some day. Or two; I'm not going to do a half-@$$ job on this movie because I want it to be good.