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Post #945439

Author
poita
Parent topic
Idea: Preserving the original trilogy 2 - Drafting a manifesto
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/945439/action/topic#945439
Date created
25-May-2016, 2:50 AM

Just in case it was a serious question, the first step is to go to university and study film production, you will need a solid backing in the technical aspects of film making, and reading about it on the net is very different to being involved in a production environment. It also gives you the discipline and teamwork skills, as well as a deeper understanding of the medium itself. Just as importantly, you make a ton of contacts that will be crucial to finding work.
Learning to work with directors, DOPs, colourists and other people is just as important as having the technical skills.
Study colour theory, it is a huge topic and requires a lot of understanding to be able to restore film at a high level. Learn to grade, the old way with just primaries, and learn to do it fast, relying purely on lift/gamma/gain to get the results you want. We used to have to do it realtime whilst a transfer was happening, so by fast, I mean, do it until it is second nature.

Once you have an understanding of grading both on an intellectual and muscle memory/physical level, have learned how to work in a production team, how to talk to sometimes problematic directors and other artists, have some real production experience you can put in your portfolio, even if only on student films, then you are employable and can work your way to restoration. If it sounds like a long time, a lot of work, too hard, then the industry isn’t for you. That is the fastest/shortcut way in really, the long way will be the subject of another post.
Your location is a huge advantage, you already have it easier than most anyone else in the rest of the world just because of where you live and the access to people, schools, festivals and tools. It is still hard, and you will be broke and living on noodles and working ridiculous hours, but it is great fun. So if you want to get into it, nothing is stopping anyone other than the motivation to do so.

It used to be so much harder, almost impossible to get into, but now it is there for anyone willing to do the work and develop a decent eye and to ask a million questions and accept that all of us pretty much know nothing and are constantly learning. Never pretend to know something that you don’t, you won’t last a week in production. The smartest people are the ones that ask the most questions and never let anyone down through making assumptions or by covering up for their ignorance.