BARAKA. Beautiful, beautiful film.

People gifted with "the eye" and imagination for creating images, colour and beauty have a way, through the movies they create, of making the drabiness of ordinary life fade into insignificance.

I'm inspired by creative people and movies, and the work I do, in a way, would enable me to showcase more works from talented souls.

--maxcap

What an interesting thing to say. It's not a film "everyone" has seen, unfortunately. It reminded me of 'Koyaanisqatsi' only more lush and beautiful. Anyway it has no conventional plot as such but it does tell its own story, absolutely- and it's a story that would be much harder to describe in words.

I watched a ton of movies as a kid, but i started out wanting to be a drummer. i was an MTV addict as a teenager and would watch religously (anyone remeber 120minutes, Yo MTV Raps? am I the only one?). after a while, a lot of the more visually intensive videos inspired me to be strictly a music video director (I basically wanted to make 5 min experimental films) so i took an intro film class, discovered the art of the story and fell in love with a million films and filmmakers. i focused first on cinematography (still my first love) but now ive moved more into directing.

some inspirational films
memento
Fight club
PI
Get carter (yeah the remake, dont laugh)
Being john malkovich
Belly
minority report

Im starting to reach out and get into the old guard of filmmakers, but i think there are enough Kubrick and Kurosawa fans to go around. i do love spielberg and a few others

Inspirational people
Floria Sigismondi
Hype Williams
Paul Hunter
Spike Lee
Spike Jonze
Samuel Bayer
David LaChapelle
David Fincher

Again, i have a soft spot for photographers and artists more so than directors, but I'm working on that.

19 and proud of it...but I would have to say Lord of the Rings would have to be the movie(s) that really kicked me into filmmaking. Particularly Fellowship of the Ring - I came back from the theater thinking "Why can't people make more movies like that?" I have no dreams of blockbusters - just hard work that'll pay off with some great pieces of art and/or entertainment.

I am along the same lines as Mickey Stroud. My inspiration mostly comes from my own imagination and the expressions from my audience. Being able to wow someone, to evoke some kind of emotion in them, have them see something in a different light. Just the joy you can bring another human being is what does it for me.

I have a HUGE imagination, sometimes a little too much lol. But I am inspired by people, life, nature and beyond.

Hmm... what movie and director got me interested...

I think when I saw Lord of The Rings and Spiderman in theaters, I remembered the sheer fun of experiencing a movie, and it's profound effect. That actually made me interested in acting, but I wasn't sure I was really cut out for it. It's not something I have hopes of pursuing big time, because I don't know if it fits me yet, at least on such a big scale.

I've wanted to do a short movie for years, I don't really recall what spawned the idea. But I can say recently that Vanilla Sky and Cameron Crowe's work has inspired me, Mark Romanek as well. I will also add Nicholas Bartleet to that list now. ;)

Oddballs and Events
 

NBK is one of the most significant movies. Also Videodrome and Straw Dogs. The Photographer is another, and The Pledge, with Jack Nicholson. Crossroads for the music, and Rocky Horror for the same reason. Constantine, Hellboy, and, the absolute number one... Sin City.

Great topic, interesting reading... When I was a kid in the 60s, we had a pizza joint called Shakeys that had player pianos, waiters in straw hats, and played silent movies as you ate. I specifically recall the Harold Lloyd silent comedies and the amazing stunts he performed. Keaton, Chaplin, Keystone Cops were all part of the mix. I was hooked. Later we made our own single reel silent Super 8 features - a spoof of Dudley Dooright, a spoof of Bonanza - and then I did a few stop motion films. Everything was cut in camera and you didn't know what you had until it was developed. In high school I made more Super 8 silents for American History class and for a competition. The first R rated movie I saw was Cuckoo's Nest. That made a huge impact on me. A high school film class introduced me to a lot of classics that made an impression like Night and Fog, Battleship Potemkin, Citizen Kane.

I went into the theatre instead of film, though. Went to a good drama school and had a nice career for several years acting, directing, some writing based in NYC. (A lot of comedy.) Then I got interested in digital video just about the time the VX1000 came out and I started pursuing corporate video production. That's still my primary focus 8 years later and I enjoy it and my clients are happy. Some recent favorite films include Amelie, Eternal Sunshine. I stay vicariously connected to the NYC creative community through my best friend who is a writer/director (Pieces of April/About A Boy/Gilbert Grape). But I'm Dallas based now and expect to keep building my corporate connections and maybe move into commercials eventually. That's it for now.

2 movies, one director.

On Any Sunday, and The Endless Summer. Both by director Bruce Brown. These are a must-have for any aspiring action sports director/cinematographer.

I am in the process of producing/co-directing my first real film. It's an 'On Any Sunday' type motocross movie, set to be filmed next summer, and out next winter. I can't wait to start!

...I always like to see what people say to this question, it gives you an idea of what everyone is thinking...

...inspiration, okay...

...the film that made me want to go into filmmaking was one that I saw many years ago called 'Daughters of the Dust' by Juli Dash. It showed an aspect of African American life that very few people are familiar with. It was beautifully shot with a simple storyline and I think when I saw it, I watched it over and over just to look at how beautiful I thought it was.

...at this point in my life I am trying to shoot a documentary on an aspect of African American creativity that few people are familiar with. I guess I am still being inspired by that film....

...and I am glad to be here, this is my first post!

Wow Karen, i had totally forgotten that film! I saw it 10 years after its release as part of a class, it was being noted for its budget. I think it was an inspiration for indie minded filmmakers everywhere. glad you mentioned it

This is a great question and a great thread to write my first post.

Comics were my first exposure to the idea of creating a story with images. A big change happened while I was in grade 7 when my friend brought out his parent's VHS video camera. I was hooked. Unfortunately that only lasted a day. It wouldn't be until the summer after my grade 10 year when I finally bought my own after a summer of tree planting. I haven't filmed a lot do due other things going on in my life but I'm back into it 100% now.

Robert Rodriguez has had a huge impact on me as a filmmaker. El Mariachi was an incredible movie for only being made for $7000. The book "Rebel Without a Crew" was even better. Stanley Kubrick has been an inspiration, particularly his view on editing.

Great thread!

For me I find Inspiration in life.

Wow! This thread has really got me thinking.... Quick thoughts...

Classics like Hitchcock, Kubrick, Kurosawa, Wells of course... Then there's twisted folks like Tarentino.

But I guess what pushed me over the edge was Robert Rodriguez. He made me believe it was possible to go out and tell a story without having access to a gazillion dollars; just imagination, a lot of learning and a hell of a lot of work. That it can be done.

Viva Rodriguez.

After my dad got video editing software, I tried it out and found it was something that I enjoyed. Since then I've been making videos largely for the post production stuff of editing and making music for the soundtrack. All of the stages are really enjoyable, but there was no particular inspiration that made me want to make a movie.

I'm an actor Russell Crowe is my inspiration however the minute i saw the opening sequence of the film collateral by Michael Mann I knew i wanted to be a filmmaker. My goal is to write act and direct my own stuff which is what im doing now at only the age of 16.

i just joined this site, and this is my first post.

i live in san luis obispo and just graduated from cal poly. i came to poly to study lanscape architecture so as to become a better filmmaker. i felt that an architect's understanding of space, design, and how those things can communicate subliminally could set a filmmaker apart. it has seemed odd to most people, but i guess i can't blame 'em.

my biggest inspiration has been bob dylan. the scorsese documentary plays in my dvd player like a favorite record.

i writing a book, producing a few short films, and working on screenplay... so the creative prowess of dylan has always kept me going.

I loved Juliette Binoche in "Chocolate" so a friend of mine loaned me a copy of "Blue" from the Three Colors trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski. I loved it. I rented "Red" and "White" too. I couldn't get enough of this director. A Short Film About Love, Blind Chance, Camera Buff, No End, The Scar, A Short Film About Killing and then I found "The Decalogue" and it blew me away.

I've always loved writing stories and telling stories. Telling stories with moving pictures, like Krzysztof Kieslowski, has become an obsession. I think he was an artists in the truest sense of word. I aspire to make films like he does.

I had a desire to be a professional photographer. Learned a great deal about what it takes, had the equipment, became a photo snob, but I could never get over the "I took this picture" and move it into " I captured this memory". I have even been able to teach other talented people and couch them with their photography to take award winning photos.

Then my son was born and I purchased a video camera. The end results of my first hour of video footage was a realization that I thought in POV and time stream. I could tell a story with this tool! Well, the rest is history... I started sharing memories and events with the video camera.

Overall, I see that people who view my photos generally see a nice "snap shot". When I show them a short video that I have done they are mesmerized, and often emotionally moved. They have truly experienced and felt what I am trying to express.

That is unusual, because film-making requires the combination of more skills than photography. Consider yourself blessed.

I've always wanted to create things, and then in high school I exposed myself to Dogma, and shortly afterwards all of Kevin Smith's works. If a conveinence clerk from New Jersey can do it using his friends, why couldnt anyone? I took a visual communications class in high school where the final project was to write a script and shoot it.

Ive never had as euphoric a feeling as i did when I printed out the final script, and considering it was a story about my recent breakup from my first serious girlfriend, that says a lot. Had a hell of a fun time shooting it with my friends (though i refuse to even watch it anymore its so horrible lol) and applied to college to be a film major. As my experience and training has grown so has my tastes.

I'm a huge fan of classic films now. Cary Grant's my favorite actor and I damn near worship Charlie Chaplin for everything he did. Over this past summer I got a job doing business videos for a company. It's not where I expected to be, but it's my foot in the door and I'm doing what I love.

So yea, I'd say those that inspire me are: Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, Charlie Chaplin, and for some strange reason anytime I watch Tim Burton's Ed Wood, I feel very inspired as well.

patrick, look up FW Murnau (his stuff is out on DVD... on netflix if you have it) for even MORE inspirations =).

Steven Spielberg for me, I just grew up with all of his movies.

Watching the directors label dvd about michel gondry, or one of the others from that series. Those are great, real creative and inspiring directors to me.

Since my goal is to be a producer of p2p entertainment, my inspirations are more of the business type than the artistic. Ray Kroc (the guy that made McDonald's what it is today) because he showed that you're never too young to start in a new direction in life and reach the highest peak. His involvement in McDonald's started at the age of 62. Hugh Hefner (Playboy) because he showed that you can start it on a shoe string ($500) and take it not only to the highest heights but new levels of respectability. And Walt Disney because he also took something of low repute (amusement parks) and raised them to not only respectability but to a grand scale (Disney World).

They also laughed at Disney when he started work on Snow White. Nobody wants to sit through a feature length cartoon, they said.

Docs ussually inspire me than Dramas...

I watched a piece on Helmut Newton last night, that was pretty inspiring. I also liked a film about a used car salesman called The Slasher. I spent a week working on a schooner workshop with cancer survivors and their shorts were very inspiration (not popular, but still).

As for dramas: The Way of the Gun and Forrest Gump

I find still images incredibly inspiring too.

An odd assortment...
 

Having come up at that time, I would have to say that Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai stands at the top of any list for me. And implicit in that notion is the idea that people should NOT know what they are doing. All the mystery, the possibility is drained out of the thing when people figure out what they are doing.

My background is in various things, from doing stage lighting for avantist dance in the Eighties to writing about music in the vain attempt to avoid the reification and reiteration of cliché. And then there was art school, for an awareness of scale and focus.

Filmmakers? Jacques Tati, Michael Haneke, Jean-Luc Godard, Zhang Yimou, and Kurosawa are clustered around the top of my list. On any given day one rises to the top, even if only to be replaced.

bruce, i dunno if you are aware of the 3 disc criterion SE SD-DVD that have been recently released. it looks AWESOME compared to all previous editions. the sound source is punchy and very clear. FYI =). PS there is an interview with kurosawa himself for the Japanese DGA =D. it rox. his advice is learn by doing. excellent advice indeed from THE sensei.

My inspiration
 

My inspiration is my wild imagination, and wanting to play with cool toys. Still photography was cool and I still do lots of it, but video uses more of my geek skills.

What really drove me to video production though, was being an extra in a film and getting to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff. I love movies, but I've always been more interested in "how'd they do that?"

The first thing I check out on DVD's is the extras dealing with production.

I attended two of the Star Wars Celebration conventions. Most fans wanted to hear the actors speak and collect trinkets. I spent all my time listening to the people from visual effects, sound design, set construction, wardrobe, and other crew. Those people are the real stars of the show.

The Evil Dead series along with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction really got me into film. Tarantino, Sam Raimi, Tony Scott, and Robert Rodriguez would have to be my directorial influences.

Great shock-cinema from Japan also really sparked an interest in film making with me. Films such as Story of Ricky, Ichi the Killer, Battle Royale, Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and my fave Lady Vengeance.

My inspiration is the legends and myths of world cultures. I've been obsessed with them since childhood. I want to tell my own myths and stories and realized that the most potent way to do it nowadays is through film.
The idea at first was to make animation films, but I'm a crappy artist with my hand and most of my artist friends are too inserious and too hard to hold together for even one project.

My favourite filmmaker is Maya Deren.

What really got me into filmmaking was Kill Bill Vol. 1 funnily enough. The way he shot the Crazy 88 fight sequence blew me away.

That being said, nowadays its films such as Oldboy and Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai that inspire me to keep on going and learning to one day hopefully make a film thats even halfway as amazing as those.

The reason I got into making movies was my dispair at the quality of horror movies being made. Being a fan of the Exorcist the modern tripe being churned out wasn't doing anything for me.

That being said I've not tried horror yet!

Directorial influences = Friedkin, Kubrick, Stone, Mann, Aranofsky.

Standing on the shoulders of those before us...
 

I have always had the need to express myself artistically in some way...be it painting, writing, or playing around with making computerized music.

My passion for films began very young...My very first memories to do with movies was watching the James Bond films with my uncle. The first major theatre experience that made an impact (maybe leaving a scar is a better phrase) on me was seeing the original Re-Animator.

I have over 700 DVDs and love watching the outakes, the making of's and listening to the commentaries.

Tarantino and Rodriguez have definitely been major idols for me. (Getting to briefly meet and talk to Tarantino, a person wish come true, at the Matrix Reloaded premiere was awesome and will forever be a highlight in my memory!)

Some other major influences who have left a stain on my psyche are David Lynch, the Coen Bros., Tim Burton, Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, Ridley and Tony Scott, Christopher Nolan, Jim Jarmusch, and of course Martin Scorsese.

I definitely seem to gravitate towards the more bizarre, cerebral and indie films. But I do think that my collection of DVDs would be considered very eclectic.

Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger than Paradise" was the first movie I saw that made me think "Maybe I could do that."

A few years later, I saw Errol Morris' "Vernon, Florida," and Les Blank's "Gap-Toothed Women" in the span of a couple of weeks. That's what sent me over the edge. I collaborated on my first documentary feature in 1986 and never looked back.

Biggest inspiration would be Bruce Brown.The godfather of surfing and motorcycle films.Steve Mc queen told him never to work with a major studio, and he never did...Still got nominated for an oscar for his movie On any Sunday...a true legend

Uncertain Inspiration
 

I'm not sure exactly what fires my movie making boiler. But I guess I always had an artistic side waiting to come out. I never thought it possible to make your own movies until DV came along. It all seemed a bit out of reach before digital.

I do dislike a lot of the films on at the cinema these days, too much CGI and unrealistic action for my taste. And not enough focus on character development and plot. I saw the new Indiana Jones (The Kingdom of the Crystal Wotsit) movie this year and felt almost suicidal by the end of it, I had a similar feeling when I saw Transformers and the recent King Kong film. My favourite director is Alfred Hitchcock and when I watch his masterful movies I really can't understand why people watch the big Hollywood films at the cinema, when to me they seem vastly inferior on so many levels.

I guess I hope to redress the balance and revive the old Hitchcockian days of traditional filmmaking!

I seem to have the bug for filmmaking now and I can't remember the precise moment it bit me.

But I intend to make a good go of it and make the movies I want to see!

I got the knack for filmmaking from my uncle. It kind of runs in the family. I don't know if I would have been aggressive or ambitious enough to attack the film industry if my uncle didn't lead by example. He is the Director of the Monaco Film Festival and has produced various television shows and indie films throuhgout the years but has never lost his passion for the art of filmmaking. He has always been there in support of my pursuit to succeed and I don't think I could have done it without him.

As far as movies go, I actually was inspired by X-men. Sounds silly but I have been a long time lover of comic books and action figures and new I wanted to transfer that passion over to filmmaking. Now I simply wish to create great films with a fantastic story.

VBS.tv for the idea of citizen journalism. Les Stroud for combing my love of the outdoors with DV.