Zach Goodwin

Hi, last xmas I watched all of Werner Herzogs youtube content (having been watching his films for the last 10 years), so I know his methodology pretty well. I love how he suggests that you should get a job as a bouncer at a strip-club rather than go to film school and how you don't need to ask permission to film anything these days - I am going to quote him of both of these comments...
Thanks!
I think I am going to take that course, and Aaron Sorkins - have you taken that one Liam?

sorry, yes I did finish the course, but I skipped most of the homework. I did a writing assignment - something like write a script for an hour without stopping to think, if possible, just let it flow (but I didn't listen to classical music during, like he said to). I had to let go of the idea that he was the authority instead of just a guy who has definitely made some good films, because that was stressing me out, and I would never have gotten past lesson two.

He's eccentricities have served him well.  I never get the sense that he's playing a "wacky creative" role so much as he is an earnest guy and what you see is what you get.

sorry for my bad english if I understand it (maybe I didn't) you are stuck at first task (read the pilgrim). if so I'd encourage you to go on with the tasks, maybe you can leave the book at half, or skip some chapters. maybe the most important seed/root of this task is not to read it 100%. It is understand how Baker describes the peregrine point of view.
I have great trust in this masterclass looks the best I have found but I can not tell until I complete it. I'm working for that, doing "homeworks" is exciting in this case (but I didn't like when I was at high school).
 
 

I got that assignment before I was letting myself take it all with a grain of salt. He said in that lesson that if you don't read read read read, you'll never be a great filmmaker. I have ADD that makes finishing any book kind of an impossible task. Though I want to try some more, and it sounds like an interesting book, at the time that was only discouraging. I also don't know if Herzog himself would have done any of his own assignments. He's a little too eager maybe to say that he's the pro here and give us baby steps to go through. Don't think he was giving terrible advice, just specific and a little closed minded. I really did enjoy it overall once I let go a little. 

I'm soory for that, did you made also all the masterclass assigments? I'm reading the peregrine then I will need to write 20 pages inpired from it (it's my first assigment).
This masterclass is looking really cool to me.

I took that course. It was fun and interesting, but not the wise guidance I was hoping for. He's pretty opinionated. Was more fun just as a course on how crazy herzog is

I suggest try to get inspiration from this masterclass. will give you many ideas https://www.masterclass.com/classes/werner-herzog-teaches-filmmaking

camera - sensor size, focal length, aperture, shutter speed, frame rate, iso, white balance, codec, log. Not that they need the best in any of these, but they should know what they are
Camera movement - handheld, tripod, pan, tilt, stabilizer, crane
some lighting - point out natural lighting can often work for low budget but great looking footage and that iso isn't the saving grace
editing - hard to cover every editor, maybe the simplest intro to how an edit works in premiere vs avid since the others seem to slightly mimic from there. Maybe imovie or YouTube's editor if that's what they all have access to
Color wheels, curves
screenplay formatting - Celtx, I have a google docs format I could send you if you want to go that way, or just basic elements of a script.. they don't need it to look nice
Maybe just show them some film clips and how the filmmaker told stories with editing, camera work etc. The Graduate has tons of great examples of the basics being used in a powerful way, for instance. Telephoto lens manipulating perspective when he's running to the church, some interesting zooms, the quick edits and framing when ben sees mrs robinson naked for the first time, shot reverse shots, plenty of loooong takes. Encourage them to study their favorite filmmakers.
Clips from good looking or entertaining films shot with minimal everything. Kendy Ty, Tangerine, This is John (the $3 short film), first episode of it's always sunny in Philadelphia (before the pilot), 
If they can draw, encourage them to look at animation and see if they want to give it a shot. This is just a more personal thing.. interesting though. Something like Home Movies or Cyanide and Happiness could be very doable for some of those teens (with some work), and can definitely tell a story
I don't know, covering all of that might be difficult in limited time. But that all would have been/was helpful to me when I was first starting. If they're using phones, you can skip most of the camera stuff and they can figure that out later. Could skip almost everything, just enough to fill in the gaps and spur them on so they know there aren't roadblocks just because they don't have the best equipment or professional training. Maybe you could just get their interest right away with something cheaply made and beautiful and then let them ask questions about whatever, things they might still be mistified and baffled by, and let the workshop go wherever that takes you.

Just tell 'em that what they're shooting should be motivated by the story/emotion it's trying to convey. And always ask yourself the 'what?', 'how?', 'why?' of things.
Everything begins with a 'set'. Doesn't have to be a legit studio set, it just describes the location you're going to have your shoot at. Pick/create a setting that itself supports the story; to make it believable within its own reality. Often when people are starting out, they care too much about the camera and technicalities and forget about things like location and wardrobe/props (like kids (in their everyday clothing) playing actual warfare (guns, bangs, bullet holes, blood) in their urban neighbourhood (without any real interaction with/response from their environment)). Once you have your story, create a universe where that story is taking place, be consistent and make it believable ('believable' doesn't neccessarily mean 'realistic', I could imagine a comedic take on previous scenario and kids are playing warfare with cardboard costumes on and having cardboard guns that shoot Skittles, people coming out of their homes to collect the yummy richochets). Thing is... you've got to really sell it to the viewer, suck them into your reality and make sure they're not thrown off.
On set, before any legit shoot, there are checks for 'light', 'sound' & 'camera'. When everything is in order there's the call for 'action'. These are the principles you need to think about. The impact of light (and shadows), sound design (maybe more so a 'post' thing to think about (foley/SFX/ADR/music)), camera set-up/use and the actual action (it's about 'motion picture' after all). What mood are you trying to set and how do these individual elements work together to create said mood?
When you introduce a change... make sure it's done with purpose. A lot of times when people get new gear, they start using it... because they have it, not because the story asks for it. It gets boring quickly if every shot is a slider shot. It's just too much. Don't be a slave to your gear, let the gear work for you. Do things with moderation or when it actually supports the story to do it otherwise. Think more about your framing, about the movement of the camera and that of the subjects... what can you do with that? What does it (subconciously) tell the audience/what impression would that scene make?
I think we all agree... you can shoot something enjoyable on $0 budget and a potato, if that potato was used to tell a interesting and engaging story, that took its audience's mind offa things for a second and made them experience 'something'. Sometimes I say, it kinda is emotion pictures. It's conveying mood and emotion. It's visual storytelling. It's art. Like a painting, but one that is in motion. There's a mood, there might be a message, there's room for the viewers to explore these things for themselves, wonder and try to figure it out, but hardly anything ever is something completely random without a pay-off or reveal. Just make sure there's some motivation behind what you're doing and you'll be fine. In the end it doesn't really matter all that much if you shoot something on a RED or a Panasonic Lumix... in 1080p or 4K... or in potato quality. Just make sure that what's in front of the camera is solid and makes sense... that's the bigger picture.
Technically... most you might ought to know, if applicable at all (smartphone or GoPro could just be as easy as hitting the red record button), is just the basics of light capturing. Framerate, shutterspeed, aperture & ISO, with the possible addition of light or ND... what each does and the relationship between them. Maybe lens characteristics (effects and use of focal length, compression, focus and separation). And how to edit everything together in post... especially when and how to make effective cuts. And well, it does help to make sure the audio doesn't completely suck before they show it to anyone. But that about it. Technical information is always at your disposal. Ideas and creativity... they need to be sparked. It's much more the global understanding why one would do certain things a certain way, rather than knowing specific technical details.

DUDE.
WOW. Still trying to lure @Zach Goodwin out?

You mean something like this?

I'm still wondering where @Zach Goodwin is, I want his input badly.

A story without words about the demobilized soldier watching with drone for the neighbors

Inspired by Fargo (TV series)
Budget: 15$

All work in Davinci Resolve Studio 12
Shot on Canon 5D Mark III with Magic Lantern (ML RAW) and DJI Phantom 3
Thank you for watching

Of course, radiation fits zombies like a glove.

I'm not taking the tinfoil off my head for anything.

The red capes are coming.... the red capes are coming...
 

Thanks Stanley, we were fortunate to have a great composer write a score. It definitely elevates the film I think. I'm actually not sure about the scale of the models, the director and art director put all the time into that department.

Glad you enjoyed it. 5d was used for any of the extreme Macro stuff of the models. We had limited film stock and the models needed lots of takes. Used Film Convert to try match the raw footage to the 16mm. 

Graduate film shot with Zeiss Super Speeds on S16mm Kodak Vision 3 250D & 200T along with some marco shots on a 5D mkIII with ML Raw. It was made about two years ago but has been going through festivals until now.
 
 

Fujinon 25mm...

Lens porn?

I'd like to congratulate Zach on for once not writing an unnecessarily long and baffling post
 
Zooming in post feels different to using a dolly and feels different to zooming with a lens. Sometimes you see all three techniques used in a single film or TV episode. Each one has a different emotional effect and one can't be used to replace another. 
 

Cartel Land is CRAZY. Not only great looking footage but intense and nerve wrecking.