{"id":2896,"date":"2020-12-27T18:26:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T23:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shanafigueroa.com\/blog\/?p=2896"},"modified":"2020-12-27T18:26:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T23:26:43","slug":"film-school-in-30-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shanafigueroa.com\/blog\/film-school-in-30-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Film School in 30 Days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In only 30 days!! These dudes are psyched…they’re also not real, so take the whole “fast film school” thing with a grain of salt.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A YouTuber with a channel called D4Darious<\/a> got me seriously thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could actually do this filmmaking thing. He has a video called How to Learn Filmmaking FAST! – Without Film School<\/a> that got me started on filmmaking. I took notes that I could follow like a checklist: one step per day, for 30 days, is the equivalent of what you’ll learn in film school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Of course it’s important to remember that even though there are some well-known directors who never went to film school such as Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson, and Quentin Tarantino, just like writing a book it’s nearly impossible to break into the biz without some kind pre-existing connection to the industry. For most people, film school provides that connection. So while you can learn to make a decent film on your own, it’s still not necessarily a substitute for film school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This video has a great breakdown<\/a> of whether or not it’s worth it for you personally to go to film school; the calculus is different for every person. Anyone who tells you with certainty that it’s not worth it isn’t being totally honest. In my situation, since I’ve spent the last 20 years in the military and have no professional film experience or connections to the industry, it’s worth it for me to go despite the fact it’s possible for me to learn all the necessary skills on my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, if only for the purpose of getting a feel for what you’ll learn in film school, here are the 30 steps that can be accomplished in 30 days (theoretically) to get the film school experience in only a month, according to D4Darious:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Search \u201cComposition and Framing\u201d on YouTube, watch 3 videos twice, and use camera to take 100 pics practicing what you learned<\/li>
  2. Take 50 more pics around a park or somewhere interesting and practice framing and composition, rule of thirds, etc.<\/li>
  3. Search \u201c3-Point Lighting\u201d on YouTube, watch 3 videos twice, use lights around your house to replicate what you saw, take 50 pics lighting a subject (either a person or an anamorphic object)<\/li>
  4. Take 50 more pics practicing framing and composition, and 3-point lighting; take 20 of those pics with a subject close to a window, and practice using window lighting<\/li>
  5. Search \u201cDepth of Field\u201d on YouTube, watch 3 videos twice, take pics using your kit lens (or lenses if you have more than one); experiment using different focal lengths and aperture settings, notice how they affect your depth of field<\/li>
  6. Search \u201cHow to Get the Film Look\u201d on YouTube, watch 3 videos twice, record a minimum 2-min clip of anything using the proper settings specified in the videos<\/li>
  7. Do camera tests, record a few sample videos playing with only the shutter speed, then record a few tests playing with just the ISO (okay to do it all wrong for practice)<\/li>
  8. Download an editing application; practice with the editor using your own videos<\/li>
  9. Tell a story using light; find six interesting shots that have something to do with light, ex. Light in a dark room, light going through some kind of filter, etc., paying attention to camera settings and composition<\/li>
  10. Edit the light exercise together in editor, render, and note any mistakes<\/li>
  11. Vlog your day, paying attention to camera settings and compositions<\/li>
  12. Edit the vlog day together, render, note any mistakes<\/li>
  13. Search \u201cTypes of Shots and Camera Angles\u201d on YouTube, watch 3 videos twice<\/li>
  14. Shoot a scene with a couple friends using a very simple script, ex: (focus on getting camera setting and angles right)