Study More Than Film

"Read about history and psychology because so much art draws from those two areas. If you don't have some passing familiarity with history (recent and ancient) and psychology, your inferences about an artist's point of view will draw almost entirely upon second or third hand attitudes, i.e. you'll be critiquing film and tv based mainly on what film and tv you've seen. This will make your work shallow and prevent you connecting the art to life."
-Matt Zoller Seitz, on advice for young critics

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[awesomewaffles]

this philosophy doesn't go for film makers but artists of all forms of art whether you're a writer, game designer, painter, musician study more than what's in your media you're creating in.

[Reilly]

You can't make good fiction if you don't have a strong grasp on reality.

[Ar_Dee]

0:57 thats the most violent gardening i have ever seen

[SecondThought]

Fantastic work as always! Your editing is killer.

[TrippingOnCinema]

I took away - Experience life and bring out You in your film.

[hunnyhanafy]

Totally agree - so often you hear young filmmakers or students just wanting to be the next Scorsese or Edgar Wright or Wes Anderson cos they think those directors DEFINE cinema when honestly I believe you won't make 'great' or interesting films unless you expand beyond the canon and develop your individual voice through study and personal experience. There already is a Scorsese and Kubrick and Coppola etc but there isn't a 'you'. Cinema needs difference and variation.

Also whacking those DVDs over physically pained me.

[FramesOfNick]

Jesus, just get 100k subs already this is criminally slept on

[CaioAraujoRibeiro]

I think that is the number one problem of young filmmakers, all that they know about is film, even worse, most of them mostly just american cinema
Thank you for this video

[areapictures]

Saladino, I swear to God, you speak my language. Being a filmmaker is about much more than studying film. Frankly, had I not grown up with musicians and sound designers all over my house I'd never have even made anything. Some people I know can't listen to or read or create anything if it's not part of a film and while I do get that, it makes it so much harder to distinguish yourself. It's so important to approach art with your whole being, not just your preferred fields. Especially since film is such a playground for the arts, everything - theater, music, fashion, interior design, literature, performance, visual effects, typography - they all play such important roles. And thats just on a superficial level too. On a human level, having a repository of feeling and experience to draw from is imperative to have relationships or trust with anyone. Masterfully done. Cheers

[DanielEarl]

Every Frame A Painting covered this in 'Evolution of an Artist'. So true.

[kj.in.my.way.]

I found this really thought provoking. I want to be a great story teller. Your line about if all you watch is tv than all you will create is what has already been done was amazing. Never thought about it that way.

[outwasting]

get yourself together man. move to philly. buy a loft. start a noise band. get six or seven roommates. eat hummus with them. book some gigs. paint. smoke cloves. listen to animal collective. start some type of salsa company.

[EntertainTheElk]

Choose life.
Great essay. Respect for reading CS Lewis. I believe you had Mere Christianity cracked open. Dense dense dense but oh so good.

[nachoooooo]

YES YES YES!!! This man gets it!! They say write what you know, be inspired by your life experiences because those are unique to you. But if you spend all your time ingesting films, and you aren’t making any significant life experiences or discoveries or memories, what do you have to be inspired with? Not to mention, each film is an investment of 2 hours of your life you can’t get back... Your life is a book and the pages are turning quickly, so fill them with something great and beautiful! And along the way, you’ll find a tale or two that inspires a great story people want to see...

[tobiasburnett]

I appreciate how long it took to make this

[asherhuskinson]

This is why I love filmmaking. It's perfect for people who are interested in everything!

[twle]

AKA; Expand your General knowledge & suspend your ideology enough to see things from a different perspective.



Nice vid, please keep it up.

[Wonderful_Productions]

One of my favorite things as a filmmaker is that I feel it gives me an excuse to try everything, learn everything and experience everything possible to better help my growth in making films. This video expresses those feeling perfectly and with such brilliant timing to humor, effects and transitions that it really pull you into the video itself. Thank you Andrew for another masterpiece!

[thibhan]

"Learn whatever the heck this thing is"
I believe that was a rambutan, my friend

[AScreenwritersJourney]

2:24 OMG - a shout-out to my all time favorite fantasy trilogy, The Riddle-Master Trilogy! (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind) Thank you for including this.