Movies are made up of individual shots stitched together to convey something. In stories they convey what happens and in what order. In film things do not just happen, there is also the way these things are seen. The camera can be put in any number of positions and pointed in countless ways. This has become a language of its own, film grammar, but its nature is not like that...

Filmmakers not situated in major filmmaking areas are at a disadvantage in certain ways. Camera and lighting rental places will not be as plentiful, skilled crew members will be hard to come by, and screen actors fill not be waiting tables at every restaurant. There are realities of regional...

Many beginning filmmakers overlook makeup and get by for a long time without it. Thought makeup is not a requisite for fine filmmaking, it is a tool you should be familiar with. In real life we are used to makeup being use for one purpose and mostly by women: to look more attractive. In...

Films can be ruined with unintentionally poor sound. If dialogue is unintelligible, so will the film be. We all know recording good sound is important, but the confluence of lack of experience and the variety of devices compounds the situation. Often we hear about expensive, difficult to...

Cinematography can be a confusing subject for a non-technical director. There are f-stops, shutter speeds, ISO ratings, and foot candles involved, so it can get overwhelming. Often a director has a trusted cinematographer that handles this part of the filmmaking...

Every movie director will have a specialty. Some directors pay more attention to the performances, some to production design, some put all the emphasis on the camera work. No matter what the differences may be amongst film directors, the one thing that will ultimately lead to their downfall...

Filmmaking with little money is not the best situation. Just as in life, you would not choose to have no money. No movie director wants to have to come up with a unique way to eat when buying food would be so much more pleasurable. In low budget filmmaking you will rarely be in a position...

As a movie director you are the ultimate decision-maker. Other people do the making of the film and you are the one that guides all the movie making parts to make sure they coordinate. You don't need to know the different filmmaking...

You may not be able to act at all. You might freeze up on camera and stutter through your lines. If you can't be an actor maybe you can find some people close to you that can. You have friends and relatives that might just have what it takes to be in a movie. None of these people need be...

Filmmakers may come across situations where they are stuck with recorded sound they can't afford to redo. These filmmakers may have had the gain too high, the microphone too close, or the recording media was bad; but sometimes...