There are basically two ways to get involved in a career in film production. One of them is the academic way, the other is the independent way. Usually, people become involved in one much more heavily than the other, rarely switching over. If you want to become a film director in the conventional way, you go to film school. You work in film crews for years and years, developing your own scripts, perfecting your resume, and hoping against hope that you will make it big. It is involved, difficult, and extremely frustrating, but sometimes it works. More often, however, it ends in failure.
Another way to try to become a film director is to simply start doing it. Many of the best film directors never went to film school. Instead, they simply started making movies at a young age with friends. Using small budgets and inexpensive effects, amateur movie directors cobble together a picture in whatever way they can. Some of them toil in anonymity for years, thinking that they will never make it big. Most of them never do, but every once in awhile, something works out and the independent film director receives a prestigious independent movie award. From there, the sky is the limit.
I'm one of the only people I know to try both methods. When I first began, I thought that film school was the answer. I have always been good with people and with following directions, so I figured that if I worked for long enough on a film crew I would be able to develop my career. It was working too. I have made many different connections in the industry, and I'd hope of being the director of cinematography on a major motion picture that was about to be made. Then, all of a sudden, I got sick of the whole thing. I simply couldn't do it anymore.
At that point, I got a day job doing something unrelated to film production. I decide to go into it for myself, making low to no-budget movies with friends. I Made some great flicks – much better than anything being produced by the main motion picture studios nowadays. I don't know if it's going to work yet, but it beats the alternative. It is important to be able to feed your dreams today, not to wait for some date in the future that may never come. I am a film director making great movies, which is what I've always wanted to do.
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