i took a 4 day intensive film course for beginners — here's what I learned

I had the opportunity to take intensive film course for beginners for free recently through a program at FilmNorth. Essentially it was 5 days but I could only attend 4 days. Regardless I learned SO much so I wanted to share some reflections and tips I learned since I am releasing the first part of my becoming a filmmaker series.

1. South Park's But, Therefore Rule

I had never heard of this rule before but basically it is a good framework for how to create a story. First think of an event, therefore another event happens but there is an obstacle then another event therefore it ends in a resolution. I know that sounds confusing and doesn’t make sense. The image above gives a visual of what I just wrote. Essentially it comes down to making sure the plot is casaul. We also want to avoid a storyline that essentially says “this event happens this event happen then this event” happens. It’s important to include the “buts” and “therefores”

2. Have A Purpose for every decision

Now – I know I just shared a rule but one of the most important rules that I learned in this film course for beginners is that rules can be broken. BUT when you break a rule, make sure you have a reason for it. This doesn’t just applies for rules. This applies for any process of the creation process.There should be a reason behind every decision you make. I think sometimes it can be tempting to just jumble up a bunch of clips and shots together but in actuality you want to think about the purpose of every shot that you want to take.

3. Lead Room

This film course for beginners also included information on different shots. Although, I have talked about shots in my storytelling editing series, I still learned about new shots – yes even in this film course for beginners. The one unique shot that stuck out to me was the “lead room” shot. As shown in the image, the lead room shot is a side shot that helps the character look like her or she is in isolation.

4. Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds essentially means that if you had a 9 point grid on your camera – your character would be on the side of the screen on the third line of the 9 box grid. I have used this method in previous videos. However, I hadn’t realized that rule of thirds also includes directing where the person looks. The person’s eyes should be looking at the upper intersectional points. Also pro-tip when you shoot I recommend setting up your camera so that you see the 9 box grid

5. Direction of Lighting

Lighting was probably one of the most interesting parts of the intensive film course for beginners. I NEVER thought about how lighting positioning can evoke certain emotions. For example, as the image shows, lighting being placed below the character’s chin and above the head can evoke evil. While side lighting can evoke mystery and backlit can evoke something special