USEFUL TIPS FOR YOUNG FILMMAKERS

We all know that the filmmaking industry is always competitive especially when it comes to directorial jobs. A lot of aspiring young directors cannot handle the pressure of the competition and many of them often give up on their dreams while some pursue and emerge to be successful.

If you ask any successful directors out there on how they have reaped success in this very demanding and harsh industry that few come out victorious.

However, it is not impossible for aspiring young directors to become successful in their chosen career in filmmaking, actually, there are tons of ways to improve your directorial skills and follow the footsteps of your favourite movie and film directors.

Graduating in a film school or an academy is entirely not necessary to become a good director; if you ask any good directors in either Hollywood or any major filmmaking studios, most of them haven’t even set foot in a film academy, most of them started from the bottom and learned directorial techniques and honed their filmmaking skills through experience that they encountered right from the start of the career.

One of the best examples of an aspiring young director that started from the bottom and became successful in his career is independent film director Logan Sekulow, the man behind the re-launching of Walt Disney’s Laugh-O-Gram Studios in 2014. Sekulow helped us compile the best tips to improve your directorial skills and hopefully, this will give you more knowledge that you will use to become a better director.

Sekulow is a 32-year old Stone Mountain, Georgia native who was known for his hosting, writing, and career in Nickelodeon in both Florida and New York added feather to his already decorated cap in the movie and film industry when he directed two critically acclaimed films entitled “As Dreamers Do” and the documentary “Welcome Home, Dick Van Dyke” which earned praises and became entries of several film festivals around the United States.

MAKE PROJECT BASED ON DEMAND- If you are not required to make a film project for a film festival then there is no necessity to create one at all. You should create something else that best fits your current ideas. You should always play to your strengths in order for you to become an effective filmmaker.

START SMALL- You should set your expectations first. You cannot instantly reach the “Hollywood” level by imitating the styles of popular Hollywood directors that have blockbuster films. Instead of copying their styles, why not utilize your own style and improve; who knows that this will work out well.

STUDY SOME FILMS- Common mistakes that young and aspiring filmmakers commit is that they focus themselves in perfecting their directorial jobs but one effective way to become more effective if it is to study the films that you’ve watched; especially those films that you are fond of. You should look at the films’ camera angles, video editing and also the set lighting.

STRIVE HARDER- There are always challenges along the way and in order for you to become a better filmmaker, you should push yourself to strive harder to hurdle these challenges. We all have a bad day but you should always look on the brighter side, these challenges that you face should teach you a lesson and learn something out of it.