Don't Like The Rules? Change 'Em

By the time that I decided to be a filmmaker, or at very least study filmmaking at University or College, I had already watched a lot of films. Maybe even read some books on the subject to get better informed of this thing they call the 'Movie Business'. If it was the same for you as it was for me on the journey to your chosen vocation (whatever it may be), you will have put in some hard time trying to learn the steps necessary to succeed. But probably the best lesson you could ever learn is the one that no one ever teaches you during those formative years when you are developing into a professional. It is a lesson that, had someone told me, would have saved me a lot of heartache, frustration and soul-searching in vain. I will speak as a filmmaker here, even though this advice is good for all vocations.

Without further ado here is the lesson that all artists should know:

You don't have to learn how to make a film, market a film, or know the rules of the business to be a successful filmmaker. You can just change them.

Read that again. Once you have stopped being outraged at how anyone could say that, read it again. Once you have thought about all the time and money you spent on a course learning how to be a filmmaker, like generations before you, read it again. Now let the anger go and let me see if we can talk calmly about this. Because, yes, when the thought came to me, I too was angry. I mean I'd spent so much time learning about how to write, make, market and show my films the way I was supposed to. The way every filmmaker is supposed to. How was it that I could've missed the most obvious of lessons for so long. The reason is that it is the one lesson that they don't want us to know. The one lesson that puts the power well and truly in our hands. The one lesson that makes them afraid.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking here about knowing how to technically make films. Obviously it is incredibly important to know how things work. To know background and theory and everything. When I say you don't have to learn to make or market, what I'm talking about is not having to follow the prescibed route in these matters. This way of thinking probably hasn't always been possible. I mean there is a right way and a wrong way to approach any business endeavour. But we are naive if we continue to think that the 'system' of making a film is the one and only thing in the world that has not evolved over time. It has. Like generations before us we have had the calling. The desire to tell stories and write films. The desire to hone our craft and our ideas. To create. But unlike any generation before, we now have something new. Something exclusive to our time. We have the ability to communicate and interact like never before. And it is this that has ultimately destroyed what is left of the formal and faraway film business. The elite and mysterious movie world. Lets examine the journey of a film, from its conception to its final resting place and see how things have changed.

1. The Idea - Inspiration comes from everywhere. Ideas come in all shapes and sizes. Big ones, little ones, sudden ones, ones that dwell for years at the back of our minds, good ones, bad ones, the list goes on... Writers are true artists creating something from nothing. Sitting down in front of writing pads (IPads, anyone?) and pulling whole worlds out of their asses. Giving their creations form, and voice, and character. What these writers did was nothing less than amazing. They were even employed by movie studios to write films, one after the other. It was really something to be in the minority of people on this earth who could write. To cut a long story short, the internet gave a voice to people who believed they could also write but were never brave enough to call themselves writers. Look at how many blogs have been created. how many people have websites. The internet gave people an audience (or at the very least the illusion of a public outlet for their words) and people decided that they too may have something going on in their lives that was worth writing about. For the first time information was free and readily available in high quantities to anyone who needed it. If there was something you needed to know you could find it on the internet. If you wanted inspiration some news story would provide. Suddenly the world was a smaller place and anyone could communicate with anyone. Ideas for films were no longer the preserve of the studios. Now anyone with a decent level of grammar could be the exciting and inspirational voice in the wilderness, saying something meaningful.

Pre-Production - You have the idea and the story and the script is written. Now you just have to get a studio to finance your film, get a cast, a crew and a set to shoot on. Oh, did I mention your equipment. Lights, camera (and eventually action). How much do you think all this costs? Thousands. Probably (in the case of the feature films) millions. We'll guess what, not anymore. Idea - free. Story - free. Script - free. Cast - ask some friends, visit an acting school, find some amateurs who don't want to be amateurs anymore. More than anytime in the past people want to be famous. Mostly without any talent. But with a simple blog online asking people if they are interested, you can find actors. There is always people who will want to be in a film. There will even be people who can act who want to be in a film. There might even be people who can act, who are talented, who are hungry and who believe in your words who want to be in a film. To find these people will take a blog and a little luck. But even luck costs nothing. just make sure you pay your actors. Remember, they are working and like any job, require a paycheck at the end of the week. Crew - work with your friends. They are your biggest critics and your best allies. They love you (or at least they should do, other wise why are they your friends?) so they will stay an extra hour so you can get that shot. It may cost you a pint and a happy meal at the end of the day, but the work will be completed. As long as you know what it is you want to achieve you can direct them with what to do anyway.

So your idea has been formed the way you want. The script has been written how you want it. If you don't answer 'yes' to anything here, then why not? You are not writing for a studio. You're not on clock. You have as much time as you need to get it right. Like Burger King - you can have it your way. The shooting has been completed for relatively little money forked out. So now comes the editing process. And this could cost, but guess what? The world being what it is, free apps are now available that will edit movies. Who'd have thunk it? Other than that, find someone with editing equipment and borrow it. Come on, I bet if you think really hard you will know some guy who knows some guy who has a piece of kit that you can use or rent at bottom dollar.

The final piece of the puzzle is marketing your film. Now in times gone past your aim would be to see your film on the big screen in the cinema, but this is no longer the case. Advertising is a much cheaper and easier task with the internet available to give you all the exposure and buzz you need. Hell, even putting your film on there as pay-per-view could make you more money than a run in the cinema. If you don't think this is the case you should read this:

http://silentbobspeaks.com/?paged=7

Kevin Smith is taking a completely new marketing route with his new film 'Red State'.
He is taking it on tour and offering it for viewing on the internets for anyone who wants to see. He spent no money on expensive advertising, choosing to market the film in-house. In this way, every dollar that the film makes beyond the budget of making it, is profit.

So have a serious think about the business you are in. Do you have set rules to follow? Patterns of working that may never have been questioned in the history of time. Maybe it's time to question why processes we follow are processes we follow. Especially if they are long-winded, time-consuming and expensive. All I'm really saying is that I think there is more than one way to do something. So just find the method of working that suits you best. Find the system that reduces your frustrations and increases your confidence and enjoy exploring new options.

To finish this (long) entry I just want to send out some regards to a few filmmakers who have taught me that films can be someting different than what we perceive. They can be truly original endeavours. Not just what is on screen, but in the way we, as filmmakers of the new millenium, make them. In no particular order thanks to Kevin Smith for writing the most honest blog I have ever read. To Robert Rodriguez for the ten minute film school which taught me almost as much as my three year degree (in ten minutes). Finally to Quentin Tarantino for writing freethinking dialogue that sounded like real-life and wasn't coonnected with the images on screen. These men are the current examples of everything dicussed above.

As always, your thoughts are welcome. Cheers.