Hello all, I am hosting a Film Festival in my hometown of Joseph, OR. Nov. 5th-7th
https://eaglecapfilm.com/
To open the event our home town band https://youtu.be/TeDh-3IKwgc?si=AbWpBWFE5ETEIq6s
Will be playing at the historic OK theatre.

Our festival will feature documentaries, narratives and westerns. We will have a block party with street performers, and an awards show/dinner to conclude the event.

This being our first year I can’t promise anything other then our town is beautiful and we striving to make sure you have an amazing time celebrating the beauty in this world. 🌎

For more information please check out our website and If you have any questions or comments feel free to send me a message.

\-cheers

I’m a 17-year-old male with little to no money or equipment besides my iPhone, but I want to start making short films and posting them on YouTube to share my journey in filmmaking and directing. What are some key things I should focus on, and what equipment should I consider getting to kick off my journey?

I'm in the market for my first camera for indie film. I can't seem to find any advice on what camera's to look at because most threads are full of people saying "camera's don't matter, focus on audio," which might be great advice, but I still need a camera.

To start with I will be shooting very low budget guerrilla style indie films, so I need something suited for that but that I can also build on as I grow, and something that doesn't cost a fortune.

Why don't I use my cell phone? Because for me one of the points of filmmaking is it's another activity away from these timezapping devices. I don't want to incorporate my phone into yet another joy of mine.

So if you have a camera recommendation I would appreciate hearing about it! Cheers!

I run CONTRABAND (contraband.watch), a scheduled VR cinema platform on Meta Quest for films that deserve a real audience but don't have a distributor standing between them and one.

How it works: you submit, we schedule a community screening for our First100, an early group of cinephiles who signed up specifically to discover films with no other home. They watch, they vote. Score 3.5 stars or higher, and the film moves to a public, ticketed screening open to everyone. Real room, real tickets, direct payout, weekly.

We just had our first real proof this works. Handle With Care, the feature debut from director Matthew James Thompson, whose lead actor Justin H. Min just won Best Actor at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, is screening on CONTRABAND pre-wide-release. Couple of reactions from early viewers:

We're not asking how you made your film or whether it fits a category. Independent, AI-produced, hybrid, documentary, experimental, if it's finished, 70 minutes or longer, and doesn't already have a distribution deal, we want to see it.

No submission fee. No advance against royalties. Revenue split is creator-friendly, happy to walk through exact terms with anyone who's actually considering it.

Submissions: contraband.watch/filmmakers

Will stick around in the comments for anything people want to ask.

I'm a content creator with a pretty decent profolio of making music videos edits, talking head videos featuring myself etc but my biggest work is through my music videos (amv) content.

I got monetized on the edits channel and have been trying to milk the ad revenue like crazy but because ive had a video get over 5 million videos and it was shared monetized n i ended up getting decent money from it.

At first im like this is great but the overtime views started to slow and my other videos that got high views where fully copyrighted so now I'm trying freelance n im not go lie im not the best marketing person so it was hard to know where to even start but I've which I few videos and have been working on my resume, proposals etc and its feels like I'm not really getting anywhere.

luckily ive meet some cool people at my job that has either some experience in video editing or a known dj in chicago thats been letting me use his music to make music videos off of but other than that nothing much else ive started back making talking head videos and stuff again showing my journey into the professional side of video editing just to let let people know what they are getting into.

been trying to get into freelance for a little while and it has been annoying to say the least paying money on upwork just not get anyone is annoying but I also what to work on film now or later if I can. I live in chicago and I'm proficient in CapCut but I'm intermediate when in comes to davinci resolve.

(This post isn’t so much pertaining to whether or not film school itself is worth it)

I’ve lived in Ohio my entire life. I have a few amateur short films under my belt but nothing crazy and I have 0 real connections here in regard to film/television.

I never went to college, I am considering going to film school now at 24. What I’m questioning is location. Obviously school in my home state would be substantially cheaper than moving to NY or CA, but I question the value of the connections and opportunities that would be available to me.

If you were in my shoes, would you stay home at the cheap school or move to where the industry is?

I don’t mean the production design, art direction, props, cars, etc.. I mean how would you make it look like it was shot in the 90’s? Because you could have a period piece movie set in the 18th century that came out in ‘95, and one that came out in 2025; and most people would be able to tell (generally) when the movies came out just by the way it looks. To me, 90’s movies always have this sort of washed out “gray” look to them, which got the life of me I can’t figure out because when you examine the shots they still have colors, they still have contrast, still have shadows. The most obvious thing i see is I think 90’s movies used way more atmosphere, eg: smoke machines, foggers- I don’t see it as much these days.

How would you make a movie look like it was shot in the 90’s?

I’m curious about your experiences with non-actors versus actors. Did you ever have an experience where you hired a friend and they turned out to be a natural actor? I’m mainly referring to micro budgets or no budget kind of filmmaking. Actors are professionals so even a half decent trained actor you think would do pretty well compared to a non-actor but I think about Apocalypto and Deer Hunter and how some of those people who did the best performances were non-actors.

I've been feeling a little frustrated with YouTube lighting tutorials. Almost every video I see about cinematic lighting is about a dark room, putting a soft key light at 45 degrees, adding a fill/backlight and some background practicals. That's fine, but why is that almost the only look? I want to learn how to light a normal bright interior in a nice way. Like a normal house in daylight/night where you can still see the room clearly, but it still feels cinematic. I was watching a Malayalam short film and the room looked natural, not dark or dramatic, but it was still beautiful. That's what I want to learn. I'm making a short film myself, and I don't have big equipment. I don't want to make everything dark just to look cinematic.

How do people light bright, natural rooms without big gear? Are there any tutorials or cinematographers who teach this kind of natural lighting? Am I searching the wrong thing?

That's it. Just a small rant, but also genuinely asking for suggestions.

Feel free to delete if the wrong place

Questionnaire:

£500 top ideally less if it still meets my criteria
UK
New or Used
DSLR that can shoot video in 4K and pics
Music content videos and pictures
Cinematic photography
Cinematic videography

Essential features:

Shoots in 4K
Good battery life
Great for shooting video and pictures
Reliable tracking/autofocus
An articulating screen (maybe not as essential as the others but I want to see myself in frame but can probs bypass this with any of the apps that go with it and see the footage on my mobile)
Needs to be portable but quality first
I’ve seen people recommend a used Fujifilm X T3? That’s within budget used but open to suggestions
Looking to upgrade from my Canon EOS 1300D DSLR as it’s just not good enough at 1080p especially for video footage

Notes:

I’m a musician and want to shoot my own aesthetic
cinematic music content and pictures.

Thank you :)

I'm starting out in doing zero-budget filmmaking with friends so please go easy on me!

I'm trying to write a script and struggling with ideas for a story at the moment, when it comes to shooting day, how can I improvise and think creatively without feeling nervous or self-conscious of ideas and how can I think of ideas quickly?

Like, when you shoot films how do you come up with your impromptu ideas and get that skill?

Are there any good online resources or creators you'd recommend for me to watch/read to start improving?

Thanks in advance :]

A low-angle shot, medium shot, of a guy running in a hallway. He's kinda worried and stressed.

This is a reference drawing i just made. You can see why im asking for a reference and not drawing the storyboard. And I didnt ger the perspectives right

Hi!

Aspiring screenwriter/director here.

New to the technical and legal stuff.

If I were to insert a song - literally any song, like: Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees for example.

But have a local artist cover the song acapella/without the original music, and credit the original artist/songwriters/producers, would I be able to use this?

Or would I still need the rights?

Hey guys, I’m 16 and it’s been my dream to make films for as long as I can remember. A few months ago I realized that with the amount of high quality tech available to young filmmakers these days it should be possible for me to make a feature film. In May I decided I would write/direct a feature coming of age. I wrote the script and worked all around to save money, purchased a good amount of gear and got a few of my close friends to read the script and agree. However, I need an older actress aged 20-25 (or at least someone who believably looks that age) and I honestly have no idea what to do. Please help me out here guys. And yes, that part is pretty integral to the film so I can’t just remove it or rewrite it so she’s younger.
(Probably gonna copy and paste this into other groups as well)

I noticed a bit of a trend among new filmmakers on socials saying they shoot higher frame rates and are not afraid to push shutter speed way up. But I also know that goes against the convention.

I can see a difference when those are higher, personally.

Hey guys! I’m new to filmmaking, and I’m currently taking IB Film in my high school. We have this continuous shot project, and I was planning on filming a guy leaving his house with an eye level shot. As he leaves, he gets on his skateboard, and the camera rotates and moves down into a ground level shot, or a knee level shot if that’s not possible, while the skateboard is in motion. I don’t have a lot of equipment, but I have a DJI Osmo Pocket 3, an iPhone 17 Pro, and a DJI Osmo Mobile 8. Any recommendations on how to make this happen?

You’re enjoying the team, it’s somewhat awkward but very kind. Making friends with the APOC well.

Potentially a new job that’d offer a promotion from my entry level gig. I am still in pre-production. The new job would start mid-September, but shooting on this current job starts mid-September.

They both would finish at the same time, so I wouldn’t lose months worth of work.

I’ve really been wanting the opportunity to move up from PAing / Running, but I also desperately don’t want to burn bridges. This would be the first time I’d ever leave a job this early after accepting it.

They haven’t offered anything but I’m friendly with the coordinator on the other gig so I do have an in.

what’s the best beginner cinema camera? there are so many options to choose and i’m not really sure what the best bet is. i’ve never had a video camera. i keep getting recommended vlog cameras which isn’t my goal

Odd question.

Is there a term for the title sequesnce where the title is part of, or comes out of the landscape?
The only example I can think of off hand is Evil Dead Rise where the title comes up out of the woods.

I know there have been others like the name of the film layed over the street like a street name on a map, etc. If you know other films please drop them also.

I don't really understand filming in the dark. so often, I'll be watching a show or movie, and it's basically watching a reflection of myself in the TV or ipad or other screen, while listening to something happening. I figure, "whoever made this show/movie doesn't want me to see it." So I turn it off. It's just weird. if I was gonna make a movie, I'd want people to be able to see it. I'm not gonna just show black and ask the audience to imagine a film I might have made.

Ultra short film, one minute long. Used SFX and music from a few creators on Pixabay. The licensing is fine in terms of it not being a monetized venture.

What is the etiquette for giving or not giving credits at the end of the film for this sort of content?

Thanks in advance.