Hardest thing about making movies?

[Glenn Gipson]

<<<-- Originally posted by Jaime Valles : One word:

DISTRIBUTION.

Anyone can make a movie. Talented, resourceful filmmakers can sometimes make good movies, maybe even great movies. But only a blessed handful ever get theatrical distribution. It may be easier to get straight-to-video distribution, but not by much. -->>>

You should see some of the garbage that gets released in the African American market...trust me...you wouldn't believe it. Getting distribution for Black movies is a cinch, because that market is big right now. So it all depends on your movie and how it fits into a particular market.

[Yi Fong Yu]

people making 'great movies' are far and few. i mean, after all, how many citizen kanes and seven samurais can be made at one time?

as for me the hardest part is the beginning. getting all the ideas down.

[Chris L. Gray]

<<<-- Originally posted by Joe Carney : >>Kind of a tricky question... because it pre-supposes that you HAVE a script. No script... no movie.
<<

Don't tell that to M. Antonioni (the famous Italian Film maker). He made it up as went along. He used an outline and little else when starting. Lots of independents do that.
'Curb Your Enthusiasm' only uses an outline and the talent adlibs most of the dialog.
Sometimes it's better not to use a script.

Cassavettes used a script, but rewrote it a 100 times before finishing. -->>>

I wrangle with this all of the time. I'd like to create without having to write a thesis about how I'm going to get it done..in some ways it feels too much like being imprisoned.

However, sometimes it helps to have at least a rough outline of what you want to accomplish in the project, but leave yourself room to improvise.

I have much more experience writing and producing music, but it's very similar. Sometimes I get the urge to define a concept for an album, sit down and write down say 12 song titles and challenge myself to complete it in say a week to see how it would come out.

Now the album might not come out like I want it, but usually I'm lucky enough to get something fruitful out of it and maybe go in a different direction.

Since I'm so new to filming, I think I'll end up using both approaches and things in between. Some concepts are better executed with even just a few storyboarded concepts or an outline.

Some things are lucky enough to create themselves and are given birth during editing/post it seems.

I was fiddling around with my DVX100A I just bought, learning the controls..and decided to shoot an impromptu short. I felt it was crap going into it, but after a few edits in final cut express I kinda like it now! Showed it to a friend who has very discerning tastes and he loves it.

At any rate, it's one for the repetoire and the experience taught me a lot more about the camera, lighting and what I can do by myself.

So maybe one of the hardest things about shooting a project is finding the courage and discipline to take it from A-Z.

[Yi Fong Yu]

it depends on the type of movie you wanna make. i mean with curb your enthus, it's good but it's not a 'classic'. for that you have to go with 6' Under, which is tightly scripted but each scene/dialogue are all rich with symbolism, purpose, etc. it's very hard, it's very much like writing a novel.