ANYONE CAN BE A DIRECTOR TODAY

Consumer technology and you!

Yes this is true. You cannot only be your own director, but producer and yes, even distributor when you use the internet to get your project out there.  You do not need o shoot on film, but work digitally and even working digitally you don’t need the expensive “Red”  Camera or the soon to be released inexpensive “Scarlet” Camera.  You don’t need all the lighting and grip equipment or the large film crews; dogma filmmaking has proved that! You just need a good camera and there are many consumer style cameras out there that will give you what you need.    You don’t need to go to tape; mini dv or otherwise cause just like the Red and the Scarlet many of  the latest consumer style cameras have built in hard drives and let you download into a computer directly into an editing system like Final Cut Pro  or Premiere.  You no longer need to transfer from a tape into the computerized digital realm.  You can literally pack your entire system in a briefcase and travel anywhere to make your movie.

In a large lecture course on film directing that I do at UCLA students from across the campus are required to do a midterm directing project “on paper”. A very successful course with 75 or more students in it they are asked to storyboard their projects with a specific approach and are taught how to use a consumer type of digital still camera towards that goal, or to draw out their storyboards or use the latest storyboard software called Frame Forge 3D for their project. And half if not more of them actually use a consumer type of video camera and whatever editing system their computer or lap top may have to direct the project and deliver a final version on DVD.  Many of them are quite remarkable and not from students who are trained in the regular film school.  Clearly this is the dawning of a new era for the director/filmmaker. Camera technology on the consumer level is mimicking the technology on the pro level and will allow stories and documentaries to be told with non invasive equipment allowing for talent to be more comfortable; especially when working in a reality or pseudo reality format.  It is a new way of thinking and approaching for even the most experienced director and one that must be embraced if creativity is to flourish.

This is all good because you are also able to get your project out there to be seen on many different sites on the internet or in the myriad of festivals throughout the world.  There will be no commerce to you from this method;  but it will be viewed and hundreds if not thousands of times.  So if you are doing it only for your ego…this is good.  But in reality, at some time you may realize that ego is not enough to live on or to continue with your passion.

Of course this all sounds great and one can suppose that it is.  However, the reality for this success lies in the story and its characters and if you do not know how to tell a story, though and with developed characters,  if you do not know how to use whatever camera you are using to tell that story with whatever limitations or bells and whistles that it may have,  and if you do not know how to make creative magic in story telling through editing and the intricacies of sound and picture in post production they it is all for naught.  And that is where the training comes in.  Yes anyone can be a director today….ANYONE…but can they do it with heart, soul, and the understanding of a true story teller.  SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!!! --MS