All those wannabes, newbies, dreamers and nutters over the years. None of them got anywhere...theres never been a "big" success in the history of this board (well, since I've been here). Its an impossible dream for most people, they dont have the money, time, resources and ultimately the talent required.
There's nothing wrong with a hobby. But see it for what it is.
Most people are not and will never be good enough. There's a lack of good ideas and a lack of technical skill. Over the years you could count the people capable of lighting a scene on one hand.
What is success? I'll define it as being a working filmmaker, DOP, screenwriter whatever. Forget blockbusters and box office and such nonsense. Are you a pro? Thats good enough.
I used to get lambasted fairly regularly for going to film school.
"You'll learn to make films like everyone else."
"I prefer my one chip handicam to Super 16."
"I read rebel without a crew."
OR
"I can learn on my own."
Nonsense. Of course you can't.
Someone has to teach you something at some point. Now you could be a runner for a decade and make coffee and pick up a few things. But some formal training with quality gear, like minded talented individuals and a day to day devotion to film above all else, is a massive massive advantage.
Yet, most of the people I went to college with will never make it either. Out of my grad class and the year below theres a bunch of about 11 that will have careers out of 45. We are talking about the only film school in a country of 4 million.
These numbers are low.
Barely anyone used to take this kind of info or constructive crit well. But they didnt go off and prove people wrong. They packed it in because the people giving the criticism were correct.
The people left on the board by and large actually make stuff...but the output for the most part is pretty low and fairly uninspiring.