FILMMAKING: 11 Shot Essential for good camera technique

http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/film-techniques.html

DRONES: They fly but can they help in filmmaking?

http://www.georgia.org/event/film-uas-discussion-commercial-use-drones-filmmaking/

FILMMAKING: What can peaches teach us about filmmaking?

http://thecitizen.com/news-business/georgia-become-%E2%80%98filmmaking-capital-world%E2%80%99

NEW CAMERA ACCESSORIES DESIGN ON THE MARKET

These are some awesome designs from MariSue Original Designs. Camera lens bags small and large, camera straps with quick release and without, sd card holders and all in matching sets. They look really cool.

CREATE SHAREABLE NETFLIX PLAYLISTS WITH FLIXTAPE

Remember mixtapes? I sure hope you do, otherwise I’m dating myself here. Basically, back in the 80s and 90s, instead of creating playlists, we created mixtapes on audio cassette tapes. Making a great tape was a far more laborious task since you needed to play the media back in real time and time the records and stops by hand. There were also a lot of rules.

Netflix has decided to bring the concept back for the new streaming medium called Flixtape. I can’t help but think that the streaming service is on an 80s kick right now after releasing Stranger Things. Here’s how the service works.

1. Name your Flixtape
   The name of your Flixtape is everything, it’s how we kick off your playlist with a few movies and shows that capture the vibe you want. Type in the feeling you’re trying to capture, a nod to the genre you love to geek out on or a message to the person receiving it.
2. Edit your playlist
   Mix it up. The editor allows you to replace and remove any of the 3 titles Flixtape has suggested for you. You can also search for and add up to 6 total titles to your playlist.
3. Customize your cover
   Your Flixtape is meant to be personal. Each one has a customizable cover with doodles that match just about any theme. Feel free to personalize it even more by adding the name of a friend, loved one, or whoever else is lucky enough to get your awesome Flixtape.
4. Share it
   Launch your Flixtape into the world with Twitter or Facebook. You can also share it with someone special via email or text. Anyone who has the privilege of viewing your Flixtape will see your amazing title, experience your custom cover, peruse your playlist and watch the titles on Netflix (as long as they have an active account).

What I really like about this, is that it solves one of the fundamental problems of a streaming service like Netflix, which is the ability to talk about an episode over the watercooler the next day. While you won’t be able to synchronize it, you will be able to send your friends a tailor-made favorites kind of like, well, a mixtape.

I would still like to see more features included into this if Netflix plans on taking the service seriously. There’s a definite use for user curated playlists, and it could introduce a more social aspect to the streaming service.

Check out Netflix’s video introducing the concept below:

You can head on over to flixtape.netflix.com to get started right now. Leave a comment.

July 19, 2016 By Danny Santos

WHY WOODY ALLEN SHOT HIS NEW FILM 'Café Society’ ON DIGITAL

There is no greater fight in modern cinematography than the film vs. digital as a medium. You have proponents and detractors on both sides, with (generally) new blood preferring digital (with some exceptions), and the old guard defending film.

The latter is where you would expect to find a technically unsavvy director like Woody Allen, who has shot all of his movies on film for decades. Well that perfect run is about to come to a close, as his new film Café Society, which opened the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival, was shot digitally on the Sony F65 and F55.

Collider had a chance to speak with spoke with Allen’s two long-time producers Edward Walson and sister Letty Aronson. According to Aronson, the switch wasn’t made without some concern:

“He’s not a big technical person so he was very concerned about it but then we were lucky enough to get Vittorio Storaro for this film.”

Not only is this Allen’s first time shooting digitally but Apocalypse Now cinematographer Vittorio Storaro’s first time as well. The legendary cinematographer’s willingness to switch mediums is what convinced Allen. Here’s whatAronson revealed:

“Vittorio’s never done digital, either, but he knows that is the future and so Woody was convinced when Vittorio said he’d do it.”

I tend to find digital a bit too crisp and harsh, which I think is where film’s softness really shines through. But I also realize that there are technical limitations to film, plus there aren’t a lot of development labs in existence anymore. Just because film isn’t the first format filmmakers reach for, however, doesn’t mean that you can’t shoot digitally and make it look like film, which is how Storaro and Allen approached the cinematography for Café Society. Producer Walson remarks:

“I think they both painstakingly took measures to make digital look more like film than many other filmmakers out there today who are shooting on digital cameras. I think there was a certain artistic element that was put into it and they’re both very phonetical about light and knowing when to use natural lighting cues or what should use artificial light. I believe they developed a way to create a more film-like quality with the lighting, the time of day, and so forth. They were able to give more of the allusion of film than most digital films out there today.”

In an interview over at Celluloid Junkie during Cannes, technophobe director Woody Allen noticed no difference between shooting on digital or film on set saying:

“There’s a camera, it has to be lit. It’s an identical thing except instead of celluloid you’re working digitally. But everything has to be composed and you go through the exact same motions as if you were shooting with celluloid. If anything, you have a few more options later because you’re working digitally. But if you’re working with a master photographer the effect can be very beautiful as you can see in the movie. There were no compromises. No modifications or anything had to be different because it was digital.”

Café Society will premiere in theaters on July 15, 2016. Here’s the trailer:

July 19, 2016 By Danny Santos

FIRST LOOK: BLADE RUNNER 2 ARTWORK SHOWS 'TOXIS' LOS ANGELES

The first official artwork for Blade Runner 2 has been released, and shows a “toxic” dystopian L.A where the “climate has gone berserk.”

Set several decades after Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking 1982 film, the follow-up is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Prisoners).

The bleak artwork, published by EW, show the dark and acid-rain soaked metropolis, which made the first film an icon of the science-fiction genre.

Starring Harrison Ford, who is reprising his role as Rick Deckard, and Ryan Gosling, very little is known about the sequel, which Alien filmmaker Scott is producing.

While the original picture was an adaptation of Philip K Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, the new movie is an “extension of the first film” according to French-Canadian helmer Villeneuve.

Speaking to EW, the director said: “I’ve always been attracted to science-fiction films with strong visual signatures that lead us into unique parallel worlds and the original Blade Runner is by far the best of all time.

“Ridley Scott had the genius to blend science-fiction and film noir to create this unique exploration of human condition. The new Blade Runner is an extension of the first movie a few decades later.”

Blade Runner 2 concept art (image courtesy: EW)

Villeneuve added that the story of Blade Runner 2, written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, will take place across the west coast of the U.S., and not just Los Angeles.

He said: “The climate has gone berserk – the ocean, the rain, the snow is all toxic.”

The director worked with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, who he teamed with on his last project Sicario, to shoot the highly anticipated sequel.

He spoke highly of the crew, saying: “It’s a great team and spirits are very high. Failure is not an option.”

The rest of the cast includes Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Carla Juri, Mackenzie Davis, Barkhad Abdi and Dave Bautista.

Blade Runner 2 will hit screens on October 5, 2017.

By Mark Hodge

WHICH CAMERAS ARE THIS YEAR'S EMMY NOMINATED SHOWS USING?

When nominations come out, by now you know the drill: One day we talk about who’s in the running for the gold, and the next day we talk about the cameras used to get them there. We’ve done it with Oscar, and now it’s Emmy’s turn.

It’s no secret that film and television are two different animals. And while both have found themselves caught up in the digital revolution, there is a cadre of rebellious film directors who have enough clout to persuade studios to let them continue to shoot on celluloid. That’s very rare in the world of TV, where the digital cinema camera and its smaller cousins (DSLR, etc.), have been a godsend for tighter schedules and lower budgets. So here’s a list of the cameras used in this year’s Emmy nominated series and made for TV movies:

Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle does the same thing. And according to Mr. Robot‘s AMA on Reddit, the series also shoots on the RED EPIC DRAGON. Other series shot on RED include The Night Manager, and although they weren’t nominated, Netflix’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Longmire series (this season was gorgeous to watch) are filmed with RED cameras. RED even keeps a rather complete list over at RED.com/Shot-on-red/television.Many series love to shoot on the 6K RED DRAGON platform. David Fincher’s, House of Cards, for instance, has been filmed on RED from the beginning, since Netflix committed to 4K after its freshman season, and have since gone 6K with DRAGON. Are they going to move on to WEAPON? I don’t know. Is there a need?

Last year’s Emmy surprise, Transparent, uses Canon’s C500, with a 4K finish by LightIron.  Portlandia began their series run with the Canon 5D Mk. II, but has since transitioned to the C300.But RED isn’t the only camera platform that serial cinematographers love. ARRI’s variety of ALEXA cameras are very popular with shows like Bates Motel, Gotham and Downton Abbey. The Americans shoot with two ARRI ALEXAs and two ALEXA PLUS cameras. This year’s 2nd highest nomination getter, The People vs. OJ Simpson also filmed with ARRI. And while Netflix just loves its REDs, Orange is the New Black is shot at 1.79-1 using an ARRI ALEXA.

And though many reality-based programs use the Canon Cinema series platform, many simply couldn’t be made without GoPros. The Amazing Race, for instance, uses more GoPros than you can shake a stick at.Then there are the series that take the hybrid approach, where A and B cameras could be a mix of ARRIs and REDs. As I’m certain the color graders just love that, series like Game of Thrones, and Homeland like to take this approach. Although it seems that most use the ARRI ALEXA as their main A camera, with the RED EPIC singing backup with the B cameras.

By James DeRuvo (doddleNEWS)

YOUTUBE'S DILEMMA: Why Online Stars Struggle to Make Good Movies

VidCon 2016

Shutterstock

A movie starring two YouTubers will make its money back in iTunes sales, regardless of its quality. That may sound like a good thing, but it’s not if you’re an online content creator looking to transition into traditional Hollywood projects and shake your reputation as a one-trick pony. Speaking from the sixth VidCon, the annual convention for digital content creators and their fans, creator Jimmy Wong is uncertain about his and others’ crossover prospects.

“It’s really hard to transition YouTube stars into traditional acting roles,” says Wong, who rose to YouTube fame with his viral hit “Ching Chong! Asians in the Library Song” — a timely response to an ugly, racist video rant.

READ MORE: Diversity is Thriving on YouTube and Four More Reasons to Be Excited for VidCon 2016

Wong is a filmmaker at RocketJump, a digital movie studio and YouTube channel that also hosts original content on its website. RocketJump produced the digital series “Video Game High School,” directed by the company’s founder and Wong’s brother, Freddie Wong. The studio is developing a new series, “Dimension 404,” which recently announced appearances by Patton Oswalt, Megan Mullally, and Constance Wu.

Though many stars learn about YouTube series from their kids (like Jon Favreau, who featured Wong’s cooking show in the background of “Chef”), it’s unlikely they lowered their rates just to delight their children; it’s clear RocketJump and other digital studios have big enough budgets to draw at least B-list talent.

But digital studios could stand to hire better writers. In May, Fullscreen released “Electra Woman & Dyna Girl,” a remake of a Sid and Marty Krofft series, toplining two of YouTube’s shining stars, Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart. The script, which follows two small-town superheroes seeking fame in the City of Angels, poked fun at its own derivative plot, but relied too heavily on inside jokes. Helbig and Hart play their best Helbig and Hart, though, which is exactly what their teenaged fans want.

“I don’t know why they even give them character names,” says Wong, adding, “Am I watching this because it’s Hannah and Grace, or because it’s good?”

READ MORE: YouTube Has a Quality Problem and 4 More Takeaways from VidCon 2016

Digital box office numbers are extremely hard to gauge, as the industry is notoriously tight-lipped on the subject. However, insiders say that Helbig and Hart’s first feature, “Camp Takota,” more than made its money back. “I think that taught the wrong lesson,” Wong says. “Which is, you don’t need to worry about the quality of the product as long as you are able to make the purchases back in iTunes sales.”

Conversely, you won’t see any YouTube stars in “High Maintenance,” the most critically acclaimed web series to date, which debuted on Vimeo in 2014 and will come to HBO this fall. HBO also tapped Issa Rae, creator of “Awkward Black Girl,” to develop a comedy series for the network. Rae originally hosted “Awkward Black Girl” on YouTube, but seems to be distancing herself from that audience; she canceled her scheduled VidCon appearances at the last minute this year.

YouTube stars seeking industry respect should take a page out of Rae’s book: do quality work, gain a respectable online following, then get the hell out of dodge. However, if money is the goal (rather than mainstream fame), YouTubers can clean up with book deals, brand partnerships, and iTunes sales. According to Wong, companies routinely fork over $80,000 for a few product placements on a popular YouTube channel.

For now, it seems young content creators must choose between money and prestige. But if they want to cross over into traditional Hollywood projects, they’re going to have step up their game.

written by Jude Dry

AS A FILMMAKER, IS IT BETTER TO BE A JACK OF ALL TRADES, OR A MASTER OF ONE?

This is a complicated question, and a little later, I’m going to answer it. But let’s start with a story. My story.

When I made my thesis film at the University of Denver, I did everything. I wrote, directed, and edited. I shot, sound designed, and color corrected.
The result…? That film sucked. At least compared to my ridiculously high expectations going into the process.
After that semester, I transferred to a different film school. One of my first teachers there was a rugged old dude who spent a good deal of time in the grip department in his earlier years. For the purpose of this article, I’ll call him Chuck.
Chuck gave us all one stark piece of advice on the first day of class.

“I know you think you can do everything. But I’m here to tell you that you’ve gotta specialize and master your craft. Otherwise you’ll be broke and on the streets two months after you make it to LA.”

“Well shit,” I thought to myself. “I sure don’t want to live on the streets. I need to get my act together and start doing what I need to survive in this industry.”

So I threw myself into cinematography head first. And over the next two years, I learned a hell of a lot about cinematography and became pretty good at it (at least in my opinion).
Let's jump ahead a few more years, to the present day. At this point, my philosophy on filmmaking has come full circle.
While I love film more than words could possibly express, I’m not particularly fond of the industry itself. I won’t get into my specific reasons, but suffice it to say that I'm not inclined to work in an industry that has a nasty habit of treating its below-the-line crew like dirt.
For that reason, I’ve become one of those people who has a day job (writing about film), and who uses that cash to work on film projects that I actually care about.
On those small sets, surrounded by friends and working on films that are genuinely cool, I find myself slipping back into the role of “jack of all trades,”  despite the fact that cinematography is what I know best.
Of course, unlike my thesis film, I’m not doing every last thing anymore. I’m mostly shooting these days, but I still find myself helping with the writing, various pre-production tasks, production design, sound, editing, and color correction.
And honestly, I love it. Filmmaking is a fascinating, complex process, and being a part of a good film from start to finish is a thrill.
Needless to say, this is how I plan on spending the rest of my life, doing something enjoyable (writing) for my income, and working on films that I care about with the rest of my time.

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You might be asking yourself, what on earth does that long-ass story have to do with the question of whether we should be a jack of all trades or specialize in one?
Well, it has everything to do with it. I’ve come to understand that there are two paths through life as a filmmaker, and that it all comes down to this one question:

“Do you want to make your own films, or do you want to be in the industry working on other peoples’ projects for a steady paycheck?”

Of course, this is a bit of an oversimplification. There are a select few people who get to make their own films for a living (lucky bastards). And there are plenty of people who do both of these things, working on other folk's sets for a steady income, then working on passion projects in their spare time.
But in general, these two distinct types make up the vast majority of filmmakers in the world.
So let's get down to answering the question posed by this article.

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The traditional advice is that we need to specialize and master a single aspect of the filmmaking process so that we're more employable down the road.
If you intend to go to Hollywood, NYC, or Atlanta to work in the film industry, this is great advice. As a specialized worker, your chances of finding industry work are far higher than someone who shows up and is kind of good a handful of things.
In fact, I'd wager that the kid who's got a few decent skills under their belt and tries to make a living from all of them will have a much harder time finding work than somebody with a singular laser-like focus on one aspect of the craft, especially if that second person belongs to one of the many specialized unions in the film industry.

So, if the industry is where you're headed, the advice to specialize is probably some of the best advice you'll find. Of course, you'll have to work your way up from the bottom, starting as a PA in your department of choice, but eventually you can make a decent living in the industry as a specialized worker.

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If you're like me, however, and you're only interested in working on films that you care about, then becoming a jack of all trades might suit you very well.
There's a popular phrase out there, and I'm not convinced that it's all that accurate. "A jack of all trades is a master of none."
The problem here is that becoming a master of one trade takes years, and maybe a lifetime of hard work, patience, and constant study. All things considered though, becoming a master of something doesn't really benefit us when we're working on smaller passion projects as much as it does when that skill is your career.
There's a principle in the business world called the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule, and it states that 80 percent of the outcome for any situation comes as a result of 20 percent of the effort put in. For example, many businesses find that 80 percent of their revenue comes from 20 percent of their customers.
In the context of filmmaking, the Pareto Principle simply means that you don't have to be a master to be effective. In fact, I dare say that most of us can make great films without ever "mastering" a single filmmaking discipline.
That's the beauty of the Pareto Principle. If we can achieve great results without traditional mastery, then we're free to hop around to different roles in the filmmaking process as long as we can produce good results.
In my case, I end up as the DP on most films that I work on, but if a friend asks me to come record sound at the last minute for a film they're working on, I can do it.

Will it be the most masterful sound ever? Of course not. But it will be good sound because I've taken the time to learn the basic principles of audio, and I know enough to get 80 percent of the results of a professional recordist. Hooray Pareto Principle!
Of course, when you're on set, it's best to have a director, DP, sound recordist, AD (or producer), and other assorted crew to help those folks out. Sets run best under traditional hierarchies where everyone has a specific job to do. No doubt about that.
If everyone were trying to do every single job on set, it would be mayhem. That's not what I'm arguing for in this piece.
More than anything, I'm saying that becoming a well-rounded filmmaker is not only an attainable goal, but it will make you a valuable asset for those people whose projects you work on. Even more importantly, it will give you a better grasp of your own projects.

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Ultimately, the answer to this question comes down to what you want to get from filmmaking.
If it's a career you want, specialization is key.
If you simply want to partake in the greatest art form known to man, however, take some time and learn multiple aspects of the craft.

You'll be glad you did. Filmmaking is truly an incredible process, and experiencing the different aspects first hand is thrilling. You may even discover hidden talents and passions that you might never have known about otherwise.

THE KEY TO FILMMAKING & ARTISTIC SUCCESS: BECOME A CRAFTSMAN

As many of you know, one of the things we're trying to do with Filmmaker’s Process is to offer alternative approaches to filmmaking. One of the best methods we've found for this is pulling ideas and mindsets from different fields. So far on this site, we’ve shared ideas from the world of business and entrepreneurship and shown how they apply to film.
With that in mind, today’s guest post is from Tyler Jones, the editor and marketing director for this site. Though he’s not a filmmaker, Tyler is a craftsman through and through, both in terms of how he treats his work and his creative pursuits. In this article, he shares a mindset shift that will help you look at the filmmaking process in a way that’s more constructive, useful, and fulfilling.
So without any further ado, here’s Tyler as he explains how to start thinking like a craftsman.

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Henry Ford’s production methods were a complete revolution.

Ford found a way to mass produce a complex product, making it affordable to everyone, which opened the floodgates and completely changed the way we consume products.

This certainly had some upsides: I, for one, am very glad that I can immediately purchase a car, or a TV at a reasonable price.
Yet something has been lost in the process of mass-production. The soul is gone from products made en masse, and you can feel it when something breaks and your only recourse is to go buy a new one.
This mass-production mentality isn’t exclusive to consumer goods, either. Music, art, and especially film have fallen prey to the formula of the Ford Motor Company.
Industries like film and music have done their homework, and they know what most people like to consume. So they set up systems to pump out as much content as they can.
I’m not above enjoying the occasional pop hit while I drive around, or going to see an action-packed explosion flick from time to time, but these things don’t make me think. They don’t inspire.

Putting the soul back into the product

Way back in the day, before Mr. Ford changed the game entirely, many people had a craft. If you wanted shoes, you went to a cobbler. Wanted a nice big house? You probably needed a mason to come and build it for you.
A craft was a good or a service provided by someone with both talent and immense experience in what they were doing. They put in countless hours to be the best at what they did, and that effort was evident in the quality of their work.
And because each person brought their own experiences and expertise into the crafting process with them, the finished product was always unique. It had a soul.

Through years of trial and error, the men and women who plied their trade were able to find the things that worked, and the things that didn’t. On top of that, each was able to inject their own personal tastes into their work, and give it their voice.
This process, though much more labor-intensive than an assembly line, created products that were unique. They were valuable not just because they served a function, but because they also expressed an idea.
For me, this is nowhere more evident than in the architecture of Antoni Gaudi, particularly in his Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. Stone pillars snaking off like tree branches, light from stained glass colored more brightly than neon signs, and details so intricate and numerous that you could spend hours staring at one patch of wall for hours. There is nothing else like it in the world because there was never another Antoni Gaudi who could have created something so uniquely him.

This kind of unparalleled uniqueness is what marks a craft. It is borne from the heart of an individual, and it speaks of their mind and experiences.
As creatives, we should approach everything that we do with a craftsman’s mindset. Doing so ensures that our work shouts in our voice, and communicates all the hopes, fears, desires, and concerns we have and want to share with the world.
Having this voice communicated in everything we do is a tremendously empowering experience. You’ve done more than just make something; you’ve given your voice form, and taken a type of ownership over your work that is unique to those who create.
Rather than pump out another product that was just like the last, you’ve taken the time to give shape to something all its own. No one can outright copy it, and no one can every claim it but you because so much of your personality is in the finished product.

“As creatives, we should approach everything that we do with a craftsman’s mindset. Doing so ensures that our work shouts in our voice, and communicates all the hopes, fears, desires, and concerns we have and want to share with the world.”

This is especially valuable to creatives not only because it makes your message unique, but because it resonates with your audience more clearly. People can see the traces of your voice left in the work, and whether they love it or hate it, they’ll know it’s yours.

Getting your hands dirty, or how to start thinking and acting like a craftsman

Being a craftsman requires a special sort of mindset. It’s one thing to sit and think of all the ways in which you want to reinvent the wheel, but to go out and do it is another beast entirely.
Being an intellectual creative requires thoughtfulness and new ideas. Being a craftsman requires action.
A craftsman doesn’t just ponder the possibilities, he gives every idea a try. A craftsman doesn’t wonder endlessly what might be, he sets about finding a way to examine each new idea and make it reality.
Often times a craftsman will fail to reach the mark they were aiming for, but they always walk away with new ideas, and a deeper understanding of their craft.
The key quality that separates a craftsman from an intellectual creative is a desire to act. A craftsman doesn’t just sit and think about a problem, he sets about trying each individual solution, and through that process of trial and error, comes to truly understand what works, and why it works.

The five principles of a craftsman’s mindset

Approaching your work as a craft is incredibly rewarding, but it does require a significant shift in mindset.The main thing to keep in mind through all of this is thatthe goal of crafting isn’t necessarily to succeed so much as it is to grow.
With that in mind, to approach filmmaking as a craft, you must:

1. Devote yourself to the 1% rule

It would be great if we could make massive leaps in our abilities every time we sit down to work, but the reality is that's just not realistic. Some days are just better than others. Some days you feel like you're on top of the world, and other days the work feels draining.
The 1% rule is a promise you need to make with yourself. A sacred pact to be just 1% better today than you were last time you practiced your craft.
Whether you’re just slightly better at nailing a challenging camera move, or even just managing your time on set, be open to the fact that success comes in many forms, and that small, incremental improvement is one worth celebrating.

It can be hard to find that 1% silver-lining on hard days, but the more you look, the easier it is to find over time.
On days I feel like I can’t write another word no matter how hard I try, my 1% improvement comes from things like handling emails with potential clients quickly, or setting out a solid plan of attack for the following day.
Being a craftsman requires that you understand the beauty is in the pursuit of growth, not necessarily in making the perfect film, song, painting, or whatever else.
The things you make are merely the tokens of your journey, each a mile marker in a long and fulfilling road. Besides, if you ever made something perfectly, what would be the point of every doing it again?

2. Embrace failure

I’ve written before on the importance of accepting failure as a good thing, but it warrants being mentioned again here and everywhere else where anyone is foolish enough to give me a platform to write.
Failing is a good thing. Learn to accept it, to love it, to learn from it, and it will make you better.
There will undoubtedly be a day when you wake up bright eyed and excited, ready to tackle the film you’re working on with loads of energy and enthusiasm. And then it will all go to hell for reasons you never expected.

“Failure is the engine that drives growth. Every time something goes wrong, we gain a little piece of information that helps us improve the next time we ply our craft.”

It can be disheartening to see the things we love and pour our hearts into fall apart, but you have to remember this is a good thing, and it will make you better if you’re willing to embrace it.
Failure is the engine that drives growth. Every time something goes wrong, we gain a little piece of information that helps us improve the next time we ply our craft.
Of course, this only works if you’re conscious of why you failed, and make a mindful effort to improve the next time. Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is the definition of insanity, so be sure you aren’t just mindlessly failing in the exact same ways expecting to get better.
To become a craftsman, you have to embrace the fact that you will fail repeatedly. You have to look honestly at the ways in which you failed, and you have to mindfully pursue new avenues that will keep you from repeating the same mistakes. Doing so turns failure into an opportunity for growth.

3. Become an apprentice

Most trades require that anyone seeking to become a craftsman spend several years learning the basics as an apprentice. It is the lowest rung of the ladder in any trade, but it serves an important role for new craftsman by allowing them to learn from masters of the trade.
Sure, a great deal can be learned by reading about your craft, watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, that sort of thing. But you will never truly understand the ins and outs of one until you’ve tried it yourself. As we’ve established, the more you try, the better you’ll get.
Masters are men and women who have spent most of their lives perfecting their craft through that system of trial and error, and their insight and guidance can be worth more than all the knowledge on the internet.
Seek out the people in your trade that you respect, and ask to learn from them if you can. If they are far away, do your best to respectfully contact them and ask for help on specific problems you have, or see if they’ve mentioned how they overcame those same issues somewhere else.
Becoming an apprentice to the craftsmen you respect will help you better appreciate what it is that actually makes their work so great, and it will give you access to knowledge that can only be obtained through experience.

Seek out the people pushing the boundaries of your craft and pick their brain. It usually helps if you can offer something in return, as master craftsmen by their very nature are busy people, but you will be surprised at how receptive people will be if you show the same level of passion for their craft that they feel.
If there’s a director, cinematographer, or producer in your area whose work you love, think about volunteering your time on one of their projects to get access to them, and see how they work. Even if you’re not being paid, the experience will help you learn and grow.

4. Push boundaries

Because of the soul poured into every project by craftsmen, each craft is, in a way, a living thing. If craftsmen did the same thing over and over, decade after decade, they would never grow. The craft would simply become stale and start to look much more like an assembly line as people cranked out the same things day after day.

In order too continue growing as a craftsperson and an artist, you have to inject your own voice into your work and push boundaries. In this way, the craft itself continues to drive into new territory and thrive.
Because pushing boundaries requires doing things you haven’t tried before, things that might make you uncomfortable, it can be difficult to give actionable advice on how to pursue this aspect of the craftsman’s mindset. I will say though that the people who are consistently pushing boundaries tend to be eternally curious.
So follow your curiosity down whatever paths it leads you. This will help you to stay inspired.Even if it seems totally unrelated to your craft, learning more about something that interests you can always be pulled back into your work in unexpected ways. Stay curious, my friends.

5. Share your knowledge

A craft like filmmaking requires a community to grow, so you should share your knowledge and your passion with those who want to learn. Doing so keeps new ideas moving between people, and will help you better understand your craft as well.
Teaching someone else the things you know will help you understand them better yourself. Even if you know intuitively how to do something, being able to vocalize it and show someone else how will strengthen your understanding substantially.

“There will never be a day when there’s nothing left for you to learn, or one when you have nothing valuable to offer someone else. Be open to sharing the things you have learned with others. It will help to drive your personal growth as well as the growth of your craft.”

You don’t need to be a master to teach someone else either, nor do you need to feel like you can’t teach someone else simply because you’re still learning yourself. There will always be people who are better at your craft than you, and likewise, there will always be people who know less than you.
Seeking these people out and sharing your experiences and knowledge with them will help to solidify the concepts you understand, and help you gain new skills.
There will never be a day when there’s nothing left for you to learn, or one when you have nothing valuable to offer someone else. Be open to sharing the things you have learned with others. It will help to drive your personal growth as well as the growth of your craft.

[Editor's note: this is exactly why we started Filmmaker Stories, a series of articles on this site where any filmmaker can share their knowledge with the community. To learn more about writing your own story, click here.]

The craftsman’s journey isn’t linear

One of the primary features of mass-production is the assembly line. It’s an apt name considering it follows one simple path forward toward completion. A craftsman’s journey is nothing like an assembly line.

Your journey will start with a choice to learn, and it will take you every direction you can imagine from there, with no end ever in sight.

Some weeks may feel like one step forward and two steps back. Others will feel like three miles rocketing to the right followed by being slammed into the ground. And others will feel like you haven’t moved at all.

This nonlinear path is all a part of the process. We like to think of growth and success as straight lines, but that simply ins’t the case. Life is too crazy and unpredictable to make a straight line, so don’t expect your growth to happen in a orderly fashion either.

If you work to improve a little every day, learn from your mistakes, continue to seek out teachers, push yourself, and share with others, you will grow immensely. I can’t tell you which way that growth will take you in the end, and honestly, that’s what makes a craft so exciting.

Taken from filmmakersprocess.com