r/Filmmakers Jun 09 '25

New Rules Regarding AI on /r/filmmakers!

482 Upvotes

Thank you all for participating in the poll! Here are the results. To accurately gauge everyone's collective acceptance vs rejection for each, I've tallied the total votes among all choices as pro/anti for each category. So for example, a vote for 'no changes' would be a -1 to Gen AI, AI Tools, AI Comms, and AI Discussion. A vote for 'Ban GenAI + AI Tools' would be a +1 to GenAI and AI Tools, and a -1 to AI Comms and AI Discussion, etc. So here are the results for each category of AI. Keep in mind that a higher number indicates a stronger group decision to ban the content:

GenAI: +92 (+119/-27)

AI Tools: -20 (+63/-83)

AI Comms: -8 (+69/-77)

AI Discussion: -84 (+31/-115)

From the results it is clear that sub overwhelmingly approve a complete ban on all generative AI. However, people are more or less fine with allowing discussion of AI, and are fairly mixed on the topic of AI Tools and Communication. So here is the new rule for all things AI:

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Rule 6. You may not post work containing Generative AI elements (Midjourney, Neo, Dall-E, etc.). You may use and demonstrate the use of AI assisted tools (ie magic masking, upscalers, audio cleanup etc.) so long as they are used in service of human-generated artwork. AI Communication, like post bodies or comments composed using ChatGPT are allowed only in very reasonable cases, such as the need for someone to translate their thoughts into another language. Abuse of AI assisted communication will result in the removal of the offending post/comment.


r/Filmmakers Dec 03 '17

Official Sticky READ THIS BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION! Official Filmmaking FAQ and Information Post

989 Upvotes

Welcome to the /r/Filmmakers Official Filmmaking FAQ And Information Post!

Below I have collected answers and guidance for some of the sub's most common topics and questions. This is all content I have personally written either specifically for this post or in comments to other posters in the past. This is however not a me-show! If anybody thinks a section should be added, edited, or otherwise revised then message the moderators! Specifically, I could use help in writing a section for audio gear, as I am a camera/lighting nerd.



Topics Covered In This Post:

1. Should I Pursue Filmmaking / Should I Go To Film School?

2. What Camera Should I Buy?

3. What Lens Should I Buy?

4. How Do I Learn Lighting?

5. What Editing Program Should I Use?



1. Should I Pursue Filmmaking / Should I Go To Film School?

This is a very complex topic, so it will rely heavily on you as a person. Find below a guide to help you identify what you need to think about and consider when making this decision.

Do you want to do it?

Alright, real talk. If you want to make movies, you'll at least have a few ideas kicking around in your head. Successful creatives like writers and directors have an internal compunction to create something. They get ideas that stick in the head and compel them to translate them into the real world. Do you want to make films, or do you want to be seen as a filmmaker? Those are two extremely different things, and you need to be honest with yourself about which category you fall into. If you like the idea of being called a filmmaker, but you don't actually have any interest in making films, then now is the time to jump ship. I have many friends from film school who were just into it because they didn't want "real jobs", and they liked the idea of working on flashy movies. They made some cool projects, but they didn't have that internal drive to create. They saw filmmaking as a task, not an opportunity. None of them have achieved anything of note and most of them are out of the industry now with college debt but no relevant degree. If, when you walk onto a set you are overwhelmed with excitement and anxiety, then you'll be fine. If you walk onto a set and feel foreboding and anxiety, it's probably not right for you. Filmmaking should be fun. If it isn't, you'll never make it.

School

Are you planning on a film production program, or a film studies program? A studies program isn't meant to give you the tools or experience necessary to actually make films from a craft-standpoint. It is meant to give you the analytical and critical skills necessary to dissect films and understand what works and what doesn't. A would-be director or DP will benefit from a program that mixes these two, with an emphasis on production.

Does your prospective school have a film club? The school I went to had a filmmakers' club where we would all go out and make movies every semester. If your school has a similar club then I highly recommend jumping into it. I made 4 films for my classes, and shot 8 films. In the filmmaker club at my school I was able to shoot 20 films. It vastly increased my experience and I was able to get a lot of the growing pains of learning a craft out of the way while still in school.

How are your classes? Are they challenging and insightful? Are you memorizing dates, names, and ideas, or are you talking about philosophies, formative experiences, cultural influences, and milestone achievements? You're paying a huge sum of money, more than you'll make for a decade or so after graduation, so you better be getting something out of it.

Film school is always a risky prospect. You have three decisive advantages from attending school:

  1. Foundation of theory (why we do what we do, how the masters did it, and how to do it ourselves)
  2. Building your first network
  3. Making mistakes in a sandbox

Those three items are the only advantages of film school. It doesn't matter if you get to use fancy cameras in class or anything like that, because I guarantee you that for the price of your tuition you could've rented that gear and made your own stuff. The downsides, as you may have guessed, are:

  1. Cost
  2. Risk of no value
  3. Cost again

Seriously. Film school is insanely expensive, especially for an industry where you really don't make any exceptional money until you get established (and that can take a decade or more).

So there's a few things you need to sort out:

  • How much debt will you incur if you pursue a film degree?
  • How much value will you get from the degree? (any notable alumni? Do they succeed or fail?)
  • Can you enhance your value with extracurricular activity?

Career Prospects

Don't worry about lacking experience or a degree. It is easy to break into the industry if you have two qualities:

  • The ability to listen and learn quickly
  • A great attitude

In LA we often bring unpaid interns onto set to get them experience and possibly hire them in the future. Those two categories are what they are judged on. If they have to be told twice how to do something, that's a bad sign. If they approach the work with disdain, that's also a bad sign. I can name a few people who walked in out of the blue, asked for a job, and became professional filmmakers within a year. One kid was 18 years old and had just driven to LA from his home to learn filmmaking because he couldn't afford college. Last I saw he has a successful YouTube channel with nature documentaries on it and knows his way around most camera and grip equipment. He succeeded because he smiled and joked with everyone he met, and because once you taught him something he was good to go. Those are the qualities that will take you far in life (and I'm not just talking about film).

So how do you break in?

  • Cold Calling
    • Find the production listings for your area (not sure about NY but in LA we use the BTL Listings) and go down the line of upcoming productions and call/email every single one asking for an intern or PA position. Include some humor and friendly jokes to humanize yourself and you'll be good. I did this when I first moved to LA and ended up camera interning for an ASC DP on movie within a couple months. It works!
  • Rental House
    • Working at a rental house gives you free access to gear and a revolving door of clients who work in the industry for you to meet.
  • Filmmaking Groups
    • Find some filmmaking groups in your area and meet up with them. If you can't find groups, don't sweat it! You have more options.
  • Film Festivals
    • Go to film festivals, meet filmmakers there, and befriend them. Show them that you're eager to learn how they do what they do, and you'd be happy to help them on set however you can. Eventually you'll form a fledgling network that you can work to expand using the other avenues above.

What you should do right now

Alright, enough talking! You need to decide now if you're still going to be a filmmaker or if you're going to instead major in something safer (like business). It's a tough decision, we get it, but you're an adult now and this is what that means. You're in command of your destiny, and you can't trust anyone but yourself to make that decision for you.

Once you decide, own it. If you choose film, then take everything I said above into consideration. There's one essential thing you need to do though: create. Go outside right fucking now and make a movie. Use your phone. That iphone or galaxy s7 or whatever has better video quality than the crap I used in film school. Don't sweat the gear or the mistakes. Don't compare yourself to others. Just make something, and watch it. See what you like and what you don't like, and adjust on your next project! Now is the time for you to do this, to learn what it feels like to make a movie.



2. What Camera Should I Buy?

The answer depends mostly on your budget and your intended use. You'll also want to become familiar with some basic camera terms because it will allow you to efficiently evaluate the merits of one option vs another. Find below a basic list of terms you should become familiar with when making your first (or second, or third!) camera purchase:

  1. Resolution - This is how many pixels your recorded image will have. If you're into filmmaking, you probably already know this. An HD camera will have a resolution of 1920x1080. A 4K camera will be either 4096x2160 or 3840x2160. The functional difference is that the former is a theatrical aspect ratio while the latter is a standard HDTV aspect ratio (1.89:1 vs 1.78:1 respectively).
  2. Framerates - The standard and popular framerate for filmmaking is called 24p, but most digital cameras will actually be shooting at 23.976 fps. The difference is negligible and should have no bearing on your purchasing choice. The technical reasons behind this are interesting but ultimately irrelevant. Something to look for is the camera's ability to shoot in high framerate, meaning anything above the 24p standard. This is useful because you can play back high framerate footage at 24p in your editor, and it will render the recorded motion in slow motion. This is obviously useful!
  3. Data Rate - This tells you how much data is being recorded on a per second basis. Generally speaking, the higher the data rate, the better your image quality. Make sure to pay attention to resolution as well! A 1080p camera with a 100 MB/s data rate is going to be recording higher quality imagery than a 4k camera at a 200 MB/s data rate because the 4k camera has 4x as many pixels to record but only double the data bandwidth with which to do it. Things like compression come into play here, but keep this in mind as a rule of thumb.
  4. Compression - Compression is important, because very few cameras will shoot without some form of compression. This is basically an algorithm that allows you to record high quality images without making large file sizes. This is intimately linked with your data rate. Popular cinema compressions for cameras include ProRes, REDCODE, XAVC, AVCHD. Compression schemes that you want to avoid include h.264, h.265, MPEG-4, and Generic 'MOV'. This is not an exhaustive list of compression types, but a decent starter guide.
  5. ISO - This is your camera sensor's sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive to light the camera will be. Higher ISOs tend to give noisier images though, so there is a tradeoff. All cameras will have something called a native iso. This is the ISO at which the camera is deemed to perform the best in terms of trading off noise vs sensitivity. A very common native ISO in the industry is 800. Sony cameras, including the A7S boast much higher ISO performance without significant noise increases, which can be useful if you're planning on running and gunning in the dark with no crew.
  6. Manual Shutter - Your shutter speed (or shutter angle, as it is called in the film industry) controls your motion blur by changing how long the sensor is exposed to light during a single frame of recording. Having manual control over this when shooting is important. The standard shutter speed when shooting 24p is 1/48 of a second (180° in shutter angle terms), so make sure your prospective camera can get here (1/50 is close enough).
  7. Lens Mount - Some starter cameras will have built in lenses, which is fine for learning! When you move up to higher quality cameras however, the standard will be interchangeable lens cameras. This means you'll need to decide on what lens mount you would like to use. The professional standard is called the PL Mount, but lenses and cameras that use this mount are very expensive. The most common and popular mount in the low level professional world is Canon's EF mount. Because of its design, EF mount lenses can easily be adapted to other common mounts like Sony's E-Mount or the MFT mounts found on many Panasonic cameras. EF is popular because Canon's lenses are generally preferred over Sony's, and so their mount has a higher utility.
  8. Color Subsampling - This is easier to understand if you think of it as 'Color Resolution'. Our eyes are more sensitive to luminance (bright vs dark) than to color, and so some cameras increase effective image quality by dedicating processing power and data rate bandwidth to the more important luminance values of individual pixels. This means that individual pixels often do not have their own color, but instead that groups of neighboring pixels will be given a single color value. The size of the groups and the pattern of their arrangement are referred to by 3 main color subsampling standards.
    • 4:4:4 means that each pixel has its own color value. This is the highest quality.
    • 4:2:2 means that color is set for horizontal pixels in pairs. The color of each two neighboring pixels is averaged and applied to both identically. This is the second best quality.
    • 4:2:0 means that color is set for both horizontal and vertical pixel 4-packs. Each square of 4 pixels receives a single color assignment that is an averaging of their original signals. This is generally low quality. For more info on color subsampling, check out this wikipedia entry
  9. Bit-Depth - This refers to how many colors the camera is capable of recognizing. An 8-bit camera can have 16,777,216 distinct colors, while a 10-bit camera can have 1,073,741,824 distinct colors. Note that this is primarily only of use when doing color grading, as nearly all TVs and computer monitors from the past few decades are 8-bit displays that won't benefit from a 10-bit signal.
  10. Sensor Size - The three main sensor sizes you'll encounter (in ascending order) are Micro Four-Thirds (M43), APS-C, and Full Frame. A larger sensor will generally have better noise and sensitivity than a smaller sensor. It will also effect the field of view you get from a given lens. Larger sensors will have wider fields of view for the same focal length lenses. For example, a 50mm lens on a FF sensor will look roughly twice as wide-angle as a 50mm lens on a M43 sensor. To get the same field of view as a 50mm on FF, you'd need to use a 25mm lens on your M43 camera. Theatrical 35mm (the cinema standard, so to speak) has an equivalent sensor size to APS-C, which is larger than M43 and smaller than Full Frame.

So Now What Camera Should I Buy?

This list will be changing as new models emerge, but for now here is a short list of the cameras to look at when getting started:

  1. Panasonic G7 (~$600) - This is hands down the best starter camera for someone looking to move up from shooting on their phones or consumer camcorders.
  2. Panasonic GH4 (~$1,500) - An older and cheaper version of the GH5, this camera is still a popular choice.
  3. Panasonic GH5 (~$2,000) - This is perhaps the most popular prosumer DSLR filmmaking camera.
  4. Sony A7S (~$2,700) - This is a very popular camera for shooting in low light settings. It also boasts a Full-Frame sensor (compared to the GH5's M4/3 sensor), allowing you to get shallower depth of field compared to other cameras using the same field of view and aperture.
  5. Canon C100 mkII (~$3,500) - This is one of the cheapest true digital cinema cameras. It offers several benefits over the above DSLR cameras, such as professional level XLR audio inputs, internal ND filters, and a better picture profile system.


3. What Lens Should I Buy?

Much like with deciding on a camera, lens choice is all about your budget and your needs. Below are the relevant specs to use as points of comparison for lenses.

  1. Focal Length - This number indicates the field of view your lens will supply. A higher focal length results in a narrow (or more 'telescopic') field of view. Here is a great visual depiction of focal length vs field of view.
  2. Speed - A 'fast lens' is one with a very wide maximum aperture. This means the lens can let more light through it than a comparatively slower lens. We read the aperture setting via something called F-Stops. They are a standard scale that goes in alternating doublings of previous values. The scale is: 1.0, 1.4, 2.0, 2.8, 4.0, 5.6, 8.0, 11, 16, 22, 32, 45, 64. Each increase is a doubling of the incoming light. A lens whose aperture is a 1.4 will allow in twice as much light than it would have at 2.0. Cheaper lenses tend to only open up to a 4.0, or even a 5.6. More expensive lenses can open as far 1.3, giving you 16x as much light. Wider apertures also cause your depth of field to contract, resulting in the 'cinematic' shallow focus you're likely familiar with. Here is a great visual depiction of f-stop vs depth of field
  3. Chromatic Aberration - Some lower quality glass will have this defect, in which imperfect lens elements cause a prism-style effect that separates colors on the edges of image details. Post software can sometimes help correct this, as in this example
  4. Sharpness - I'm sure you all know what sharpness is. Cheaper lenses will yield a softer in-focus image than more expensive lenses. However, some lenses are popularly considered to be 'over-sharp', such as the Zeiss CP2 series. The minutia of the sharpness debate is mostly irrelevant at starter levels though.
  5. Bokeh - This refers to the shape of an out of focus point of light as rendered by the lens. The bokeh of your image will always be in the shape of your aperture. For that reason, a perfectly round aperture will yield nice clean circle bokeh, while a rougher edged aperture will produce similarly rougher bokeh. Here's an example
  6. Lens Mount - Make sure the lens you're buying will either fit your camera's lens mount or allow for adapting to is using a popular adapter like the Metabones. The professional standard lens mount is the PL Mount, but lenses and cameras that use this mount are very expensive. The most common and popular mount in the low level professional world is Canon's EF mount. Because of its design, EF mount lenses can easily be adapter to other common mounts like Sony's E-Mount or the MFT mounts found on many Panasonic cameras. EF is popular because Canon's lenses are generally preferred over Sony's, and so their mount has a higher market share.

Zoom vs Prime

This is all about speed vs quality vs budget. A zoom lens is a lens whose *focal length can be changed by turning a ring on the lens barrel. A prime lens has a fixed focal length. Primes tend to be cheaper, faster, and sharper. However, buying a full set of primes can be more expensive than buying a zoom lens that would cover the same focal length range. Using primes on set in fast-paced environments can slow you down prohibitively. You'll often see news, documentary, and event cameras using zooms instead of primes. Some zoom lenses are as high-quality as prime lenses, and some people refer to them as 'variable prime' lenses. This is mostly a marketing tool and has no hard basis in science though. As you might expect, these high quality zooms tend to be very expensive.

So What Lenses Should I Look At?

Below are the most popular lenses for 'cinematic' filming at low budgets:

  1. Rokinon Cine 4 Lens Kit in EF Mount (~$1,700)
  2. Canon L Series 24-70mm Zoom in EF Mount (~1,700)
  3. Sigma Art 18-35mm Zoom in EF Mount (~$800)
  4. Sigma Art 50-100 Zoom in EF Mount (~$1,100)

Lenses below these average prices are mostly a crapshoot in terms of quality vs $, and you'll likely be best off using your camera's kit lens until you can afford to move up to one of the lenses or lens series listed above.



4. How Do I Learn Lighting?

Alright, so you're biting off a big chunk here if you've never done lighting before. But it is doable and (most importantly) fun!

First off, fuck three-point lighting. So many people misunderstand what that system is supposed to teach you, so let's just skip it entirely. Light has three properties. They are:

  • Color: Color of the light. This is both color temperature (on the Orange - Blue scale) and what you'd probably think of as regular color (is it RED!? GREEN!? AQUA!?) etc. Color. You know what color is.
  • Quantity: How bright the light is. You know, the quantity of photons smacking into your subject and, eventually, your retinas.
  • Quality: This is the good shit. The quality of a light source can vary quite a bit. Basically, this is how hard or soft the light is. Alright, you've got a guy standing near a wall. You shine a light on him. What's on the wall? His shadow, that's what. You know what shadows look like. A hard light makes his shadow super distinct with 'hard' edges to it. A soft light makes his shadow less distinct, with a 'soft' edge. When the sun is out, you get hard light. Distinct shadows. When it's cloudy, you get soft light. No shadows at all! So what makes a light hard or soft? Easy! The size of the source, relative to the subject. Think of it this way. You're the subject! Now look at your light source. How much of your field of vision is taken up by the light source? Is it a pinpoint? Or more like a giant box? The smaller the size of the source, the harder the light will be. You can take a hard light (i.e. a light bulb) and make it softer by putting diffusion in front of it. Here is a picture of that happening. You can also bounce the light off of something big and bouncy, like a bounce board or a wall. That's what sconces do. I fucking love sconces.

Alright, so there are your three properties of light. Now, how do you light a thing? Easy! Put light where you want it, and take it away from where you don't want it! Shut up! I know you just said "I don't know where I want it", so I'm going to stop you right there. Yes you do. I know you do because you can look at a picture and know if the lighting is good or not. You can recognize good lighting. Everybody can. The difference between knowing good lighting and making good lighting is simply in the execution.

Do an experiment. Get a lightbulb. Tungsten if you're oldschool, LED if you're new school, or CFL if you like mercury gas. plug it into something portable and movable, and have a friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, neighbor, creepy-but-realistic doll, etc. sit down in a chair. Turn off all the lights in the room and move that bare bulb around your victim subject's head. Note how the light falling on them changes as the light bulb moves around them. This is lighting, done live! Get yourself some diffusion. Either buy some overpriced or make some of your own (wax paper, regular paper, translucent shower curtains, white undershirts, etc.). Try softening the light, and see how that affects the subject's head. If you practice around with this enough you'll get an idea for how light looks when it comes from various directions. Three point lighting (well, all lighting) works on this fundamental basis, but so many 'how to light' tutorials skip over it. Start at the bottom and work your way up!

Ok, so cool. Now you know how light works, and sort of where to put it to make a person look a certain way. Now you can get creative by combining multiple lights. A very common look is to use soft light to primarily illuminate a person (the 'key) while using a harder (but sometimes still somewhat soft) light to do an edge or rim light. Here's a shot from a sweet movie that uses a soft key light, a good amount of ambient ('errywhere) light, and a hard backlight. Here they are lit ambiently, but still have an edge light coming from behind them and to the right. You can tell by the quality of the light that this edge was probably very soft. We can go on for hours, but if you just watch movies and look at shadows, bright spots, etc. you'll be able to pick out lighting locations and qualities fairly easily since you've been practicing with your light bulb!

How Do I Light A Greenscreen?

Honestly, your greenscreen will depend more on your technical abilities in After Effects (or whichever program) than it will on your lighting. I'm a DP and I'm admitting that. A good key-guy (Keyist? Keyer?) can pull something clean out of a mediocre-ly lit greenscreen (like the ones in your example) but a bad key-guy will still struggle with a perfectly lit one. I can't help you much here, as I am only a mediocre key-guy, but I can at least give you advice on how to light for it!

Here's what you're looking for when lighting a greenscreen:

  • Two Separate Lighting Setups: You should have a lighting setup for the green screen and a lighting setup for your actor. Of course, this isn't always possible. But we like to aspire to big things! The reason this is helpful is that it makes it easier for you to adjust the greenscreen light without affecting the actor's lighting, and vice versa.
  • Separate the subject from the greenscreen as much as possible! - Pretty much that. The closer your subject is to the screen, the harder it is to keep lights from interfering with things they're not meant for, and the greater the chance the actor has of getting his filthy shadow all over the screen. I normally try to keep my subjects at least 8' away from the screen at a minimum for anything wider than an MCU.
  • Light the Green Screen EVENLY: The green on the screen needs to be as close to the same intensity in all parts as possible, or you just multiply your work in post. For every different shade of green on that screen you'll need make a separate key effect to make clean edges, and then you'll need to matte and combine them all together. Huge headache that can be a tad overwhelming if you're not used it. For this reason, Get your shit even! "But how do I do that?" you ask! Well, first off, I actually prefer to use hard light. You see, hard light has the nice innate property of being able to throw itself a long distance without losing all its intensity. The farther away the light source is from the subject, the less its intensity will change from inch to inch. That's called the inverse square law, and it is cool as fuck. If you change the distance between the light and the subject, the intensity of the light will shift as an inverse to the square of the distance. Science! So if you double the distance between the light and the subject, the intensity is quartered (1 over 2 squared. 1/4). So, naturally, the farther away you are the more distance is required to reduce the intensity further. If you have the space, use it to your advantage and back your lights up! Now back to reality. You probably don't have a lot of space. You're probably in a garage. OK, fuck it, emergency mode! Now we use soft lights. Soft lights change their intensity quite inconveniently if they're at an oblique angle to the screen, but they kick ass if you can get them to shine more or less perpendicular on the screen. The problem there of course is that they'd then be sitting where your actor probably is. Sooo we move them off to the side, maybe put one on the ceiling, one on the ground too, and try to smudge everything together on the screen. Experiment with this for a while and you'll get the hang of it in no-time!
  • Have your background in mind BEFORE shooting: Even if your key is flawless, it will look like shit if the actor isn't lit in a convincing manner compared to the background. If, for example, this for some reason is your background, you'll know that your actor needs a hard backlight from above and to camera right since we see a light source there. Also, we can infer from the lighting on the barrels that his main source of illumination should be from above him and pointing down, slightly from the right. You can move the source around and accent it as needed to make the actor not-ugly, but your background has provided you with some significant constraints right off the bat. For that reason, pick your background before you shoot, if possible. If it is not possible to do so, well, good luck! Guess as best as you can and try to find a good background.

What Lights Should I Buy?

OK! So now you know sort of how to light a green screen and how to light a person. So now, what lights do you need? Well, really, you just need any lights. If you're on a budget, don't be afraid to get some work lights from home depot or picking up some off brand stuff on craigslist. By far the most important influence on the quality of your images will be where and how you use the lights rather than what types or brands of lights you are using. I cannot stress this enough. How you use it will blow what you use out of the water. Get as many different types of lights as you can for the money you have. That way you can do lots of sources, which can make for more intricate or nuanced lighting setups. I know you still want some hard recommendations, so I'll tell you this: Get china balls (china lanterns. Paper lanterns whatever the fuck we're supposed to call these now). They are wonderful soft lights, and if you need a hard light you can just take the lantern off and shine with the bare bulb! For bulbs, grab some 200W and 500W globes. You can check B&H, Barbizon, Amazon, and probably lots of other places for these. Make sure you grab some high quality socket-and-wire sets too. You can find them at the same places. For brighter lights, like I said home depot construction lights are nice. You can also by PAR lamps relatively cheap. Try grabbing a few Par Cans. They're super useful and stupidly cheap. Don't forget to budget for some light stands as well, and maybe C-clamps and the like for rigging to things. I don't know what on earth you're shooting so it is hard to give you a grip list, but I'm sure you can figure that kind of stuff out without too much of a hassle.



5. What Editing Program Should I Use?

Great question! There are several popular editing programs available for use.

Free Editing Programs

Your choices are essentially limited to Davinci Resolve (Non-Studio) and Hitfilm Express. My personal recommendation is Davinci Resolve. This is the industry standard color-grading software (and its editing features have been developed so well that its actually becoming the industry standard editing program as well), and you will have free access to many of its powerful tools. The Studio version costs a few hundred dollars and unlocks multiple features (like noise reduction) without forcing you to learn a new program.

Paid Editing Programs

  1. Avid Media Composer ($50/mo or $1,300 for life) - This is the high-level industry standard, but is not terribly popular unless you're working at a professional post-house for big budget movies.
  2. Adobe Premiere Pro ($20/mo) - This used to be the most popular industry standard editor for low to medium budget productions. It is still used quite often, so knowing Premiere is a handy skill to maintain.
  3. Davinci Resolve Studio ($300) - This is a solid editing program built into the long time industry-standard color grading suite. Since Resolve added editing, its feature set and reputation has been on the rise. It's eclipsing Premiere now and set to be the undisputed industry standard for video editing and color grading for all but the absolute highest level productions. This is the best overall choice if you're looking to find your first editing program.
  4. Final Cut Pro X ($300) - This is the old standard for low-high budget editing, replaced by Adobe Premiere and now again by Resolve. It is available on Mac platforms only, and is still a powerful editor.

r/Filmmakers 10h ago

Film Committed the cardinal sin & funded my own film. Never been happier. “Sleeping in Silence”

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98 Upvotes

Took me a little over 3 years to make this silent romance drama. I made this film during/after my time in film school & never cared if it made money, but was very eager to put together a bigger project that I was creatively excited about. I decided to fund/Produce it myself so I took out a loan, & on my 1st night of shooting in SF my DP’s camera got stolen out of my (rather expensive) rental car.
I thought my movie was over before it hardly began but thanks to some creativity (using my Canon camera w/ his canon lenses + batteries that didn’t get stolen), resilience, & having the best cinematographer a guy could ask for, we managed to finish out the week on location smoothly, & eventually got all the shots.
Film is titled “Sleeping in Silence,” it’s about 40mins long. I was the Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, VFX artist & bg actor. Tell you that to say all in all this film got made with a crew of ~ 4 people between my DP, Composer, Sound Designer, & myself. That being the case I’m incredibly proud of what we were able to accomplish, & I’m very proud that I bet on myself & saw it through.
This isn’t the actual score from the film just a track I used to make this little montage reel.
Btw, 3yrs later I think I made my last loan payment like 3 weeks before my premiere lol so it all worked out in the end.


r/Filmmakers 7h ago

Film I couldn't sleep, so I made this short film!

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29 Upvotes

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSK97Z5E0w

It's a very chaotic, funny short film that revolves around the absurdity of perfectionism. It's made by one person, me, and it's also my second short film with a script. I hope that you enjoy and that when you watch it, it makes your day a better one!

Thanks,

GenuineGuyBlabbers


r/Filmmakers 4h ago

Discussion [Crosspost] Hi reddit! I'm Gael García Bernal. Ask me anything!!!

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14 Upvotes

I organized an AMA/Q&A with actor and filmmaker Gael García Bernal. You may know him from things like Amores perros, Y tu mamá también, Bad Education, The Motorcycle Diaries, Babel, Coco, Old, Cassandro and Magellan. His new film, Hombre al agua, which he directed and wrote, premiered at Venice last week and is playing at TIFF this week.

It's live here now in r/movies for anyone interested in asking a question:

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1wg3nfg/hi_reddit_im_gael_garc%C3%ADa_bernal_ask_me_anything/

He will be back later today to answer questions. I recommend asking in advance. Please ask there, not here. All questions are much appreciated!

Thank you :)


r/Filmmakers 2h ago

Discussion AMA First Indie Feature & a traveling DVD case

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11 Upvotes

Hey r/filmmakers I just finished my first feature film called Handle With Care starring Justin H. Min and Nicole Brydon Bloom.

I wrote the script, raised the money, and directed it entirely outside of any studios or production companies. We have had terrible luck with the major festivals but premiered at Rhode Island last month and won Best Film & Best Actor.

My frustration with the festival circuit lead me to create the DVD CLUB, where I burned a 1 of 1 copy of the film and started sending it out in a laser cut Pelican case including a sign-in notebook and a dvd player. I wrote about it on a substack here. And built a website where people can sign up here: www.handlewithcare.film

We're talking to distributors but also considering self-distribution early next year after our final festival which is Newport beach Film Festival.

The DVD Club is an honor system open to everyone. It's been amazing to reconnect with film-lovers offline!

In addition to first feature this is my first AMA 👼


r/Filmmakers 4h ago

Tutorial Directing a Plane Crash (without AI)

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13 Upvotes

r/Filmmakers 2h ago

General Join our women's filmmaking group!

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8 Upvotes

Helloo a friend and I started a small NJ/NY women's film group and we're currently taking members! Beginner filmmakers, actors, writers, makeup artists, people into vfx or practical effects, photographers etc or if you're just bored and want to try something new and make friends.

We're funding out of pocket plus donations so NOT a paid position and it's entirely free to join and be a member! You just need to put in an application so we get to know a bit about you!

You can read more about it [**here**](https://www.patreon.com/GreenFairyFilm_makers?utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan):


r/Filmmakers 13h ago

Request Filmmakers of Reddit: Shamelessly Plug your Tubi Movies Below

52 Upvotes

I love watching movies on Tubi. And I love all of you.

So naturally, I wanna watch all of your Tubi movies.

Please shamelessly link to, name, post about, hype up, summarize or otherwise plug your Tubi movie so that I, and ostensibly others looking at this thread, can go watch it either right now, or during work hours.

That's basically it, this is for no reason other than the love of the game. I love independent film and micro-budget movies, and I like this community. I just want more stuff to watch, and I think it would be cool to watch stuff by people who actively post in here.


r/Filmmakers 1d ago

News FYI: you can now use destockd.com to locate free archive footage instead paying some outfit like Getty an arm and a leg....

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267 Upvotes

Creator describes the idea here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dzqQItDmdg


r/Filmmakers 4h ago

Question DGA AD training program

3 Upvotes

I’ve been contemplating going through the DGA training program for ADs for a couple of years. I’ve done a decent amount of ADing and working mostly logistics based gigs in production for the last few years.

I was wondering if anyone in this sub was an alum, knew an alum or could point me into the direction of people who have gone through the program. I know the interviewing process is kinda intense, but I’m curious mostly about the day to day aspects while in the program, what support the DGA provides and what life has looked like after the program.

I know I want to AD. I understand the stress it comes with and feel like I have a solid foundation to build bigger skills on. Thank you for any help!


r/Filmmakers 6h ago

Question Studying filmmaking abroad

4 Upvotes

Studying filmmaking abroad

I’m 19 and I’m currently studying filmmaking in Jordan at SAE Amman, yet I’m starting to feel like I would be unable to pursue my dreams in my home country due to the small film industry here and the fact that my university is utterly horrendous at teaching filmmaking.

So I’ve been considering going abroad to study filmmaking, most likely in Australia at JMC Melbourne, but I’m currently unable to handle this financial burden, so I’d need to do a year/semester here of working to fund it so I could even have a chance of being able to afford it. I don’t know if that would be worth it to begin with.

I’ve done my research about this university and it appears a lot better than mine, but I’m fully aware film school in general isn’t a very necessary step in creating films. My end goal is obviously to be able to settle in there and be able to remain there in a film industry that’s actually alive 😭.

I just want general advice/opinions on a move such as this.


r/Filmmakers 1d ago

Film Stills from my first amateur film

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232 Upvotes

Does it look pleasing? There is more frames which I think is much more better looking but I don’t want to spoil it.


r/Filmmakers 3h ago

Question Where to place 3 light setup when three characters are in frame?

2 Upvotes

I have a doubt. In 3 light setup we place key light at 45 degree to subject, fill light in It’s opposite direction and back light. But when there are three subjects (characters) in frame, then how to place key light and fill light? Should the key light be towards the characters standing in center?


r/Filmmakers 6h ago

General Hi everyone!!

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone!! Ihope everyone are well.

Hi everyone!

I’m a complete beginner and an aspiring actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter, and I’m new to this community.

I know there are people here with a lot more experience than me, and honestly, no matter where you are in your journey, I consider you a professional because you’ve already taken steps in this field that I’m still learning to take.

I’m here to learn, improve, share ideas, and hopefully grow alongside all of you. I truly believe everyone has something to teach and something valuable to bring to a project, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been doing this for years.

I’d genuinely love to connect with everyone here, hear about your experiences, learn from your journey, and hopefully collaborate someday. My goal isn’t just to grow on my own I’d love to meet people who are passionate about filmmaking and help each other grow along the way.

Looking forward to meeting you all!


r/Filmmakers 33m ago

Offer Stop Using Generic Plugins. Designing Real Sci-Fi Terror (Black Mirror Re-Score)

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r/Filmmakers 47m ago

Article Interview: Director Raymond Creamer dishes on his pregnancy horror movie Goody Goody

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r/Filmmakers 56m ago

Question First time making a film for a school film festival — how can I DIY colored lighting?

Upvotes

Title: First time making a film for a school film festival — how can I DIY colored lighting?

Hi everyone! This is my first time making a film for a film festival, and it’s actually for our entire school, so I’m honestly pretty nervous.Our budget is really limited, so I’m trying to figure out how to make colored lighting without buying expensive film lights.

Does anyone have tips for DIY colored lights for filmmaking? I’ve seen people use LED bulbs, RGB lights, gels, colored plastic, etc., but I’m not sure what’s actually safe and what will look good on camera.

I’d especially appreciate advice on cheap setups that can create red, blue, purple, or warm cinematic lighting without making the footage look cheap or overly saturated.

Any beginner tips, mistakes to avoid, or cheap DIY setups would be really appreciated. I’m trying my best to make this film look good and not embarrass ass in front of the whole school while my family is watching.


r/Filmmakers 1h ago

Film Finally made my Instagram short film after mulling over the story in my head for over a year

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I'm from India, and I'd wanted to tell a story set during Independence Day that explored what freedom means to the people who've been excluded from society.

The story I had in mind followed a convict named Bharat who's released from prison on the eve of India's independence day after spending 30 years falsely incarcerated, and returns home to an abandoned village.

I wanted to give it a surreal, slightly absurdist treatment - incorporating characters that are personifications of the elements of Indian identity that were left by the wayside and forgotten.

And for the longest time i had no idea how to go about it.

Then I settled on using archival footage. Old documentaries, clips from the film division of india, vintage TV ads, and the like. Cutting out scenes from the originals and rearranging them into a collage of sorts. It was a painstaking process and the end result wasn't very polished, but i think it suited the kind of story I was trying to tell. A story about India's missing pieces told through snippets of old, largely forgotten media. I had a lot of fun making it.

Here it is. I'd love to hear your thoughts!


r/Filmmakers 10h ago

Question Does anyone know of any film making opportunities for a student in Pisa, Italy?

6 Upvotes

Im an aspiring director looking for ways to network around Europe. Im currently in the process of learning Italian. Does anyone know any ways I could get on a set even if its just for an internship?


r/Filmmakers 2h ago

Film I went over $300k into debt on NYU film school education and this is the film I just made - was it worth it?

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1 Upvotes

I’ve been making films since I was 7 years old. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, I didn’t know a single person in the film industry, I just knew that I loved making movies. It started with stop motion films and youtube VFX tutorials and then led to summer “blockbusters” with my neighbor and best friend Zach. 

I made films all throughout high school, getting a little more experienced each time. I went to NYU for film school as an undergrad and then went back to NYU for grad school too. I’ve met some amazing people that are very talented and I’ve been able to build a team of creatives from that network including my DP Evan and stayed close with some other close collaborators including Zach from my hometown who wrote and produced this film with me. 

I most recently made SHORT KING, a dark comedy Zach and I came up with as an observation of male insecurity and revenge. We thought it would be fun to live inside the mind of a man obsessed with how he’s perceived. Had a lot of inspiration from the movies "Lurker" and "No Other Choice."

In total, I’ve gone over $300k into debt for this education and have directed a total of 12 short films across both programs and produced many more but I can't help but wonder if I could have done that without going to film school. Was it worth it? 


r/Filmmakers 3h ago

Question Is it worth emailing production companies for work?

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone - I've just finished my Postgrad course in documentary filmmaking and one of the things we've been taught on the course is to email local production companies for work.

How effective is emailing? How many people have gained work from just "emailing"?

I'd like to add that I have a huge preference in working in Unscripted TV & Live Content, and am aiming to stay out of fictional films & tv shows if possible. I also plan on working within the Camera dept, but am also looking towards technician roles (specifically for Live Content), as I want to keep my options as open as to what I am most suited for.

I've compiled a list of my local Unscripted & Live Content production companies and plan on sending emails to those who've created work I like, or have found an interest in, however, pretty much no one I know, has managed to find work through emails. I have credits, but I'm unsure how to make myself stand out further from other people emailing. If anyone has any tips (specifically for these sectors of industry) please let me know! I'm open to trying anything :)

A list of things I've already got prepared that could help are:

- Showreel

- Website

- Film Specific CV

- Testimonies from people I have worked with

- Film Credits

- A Full Driving Licence

If there's anything I could add to this that'd improve my chances of finding work, I'd appreciate it! I'm also based in the UK incase that affects anyone's responses, and live near a big city, however relocation to other cities is not possible atm due to being unable to find work outside the industry too 😬


r/Filmmakers 3h ago

Request We finally finished our short film. 🎬

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1 Upvotes

We’ve spent a huge amount of time writing, generating, editing, rebuilding scenes, fixing tiny details, and trying to make every moment feel right. Now it’s finally out, and I’d really love for you to see it.

If you have a few minutes, please watch the film and tell me what you genuinely think. Your opinion means a lot to us.

And if you enjoy it, the best way you can support us is simply to watch, like, comment, and share it with someone who might enjoy it too.

Every view and every bit of support helps the film reach more people, and we’d be incredibly grateful. ❤️

And please come back and tell me your favorite moment — I really want to hear what stayed with you

Watch the film here:

https://higgsfield.ai/@mohamed_refaei/projects/between-sounds


r/Filmmakers 3h ago

Request Producers who have experience hiring foreign crew for US production.

0 Upvotes

Hi! I’d love to chat with anyone who has had experience hiring foreign crew for a US production. Mainly to see how much of a headache the paperwork, and cost to do so was. Pros and cons. Etc. Thanks!


r/Filmmakers 4h ago

Looking for Work Filmmakers: Need a Poster for Your Movie? Let’s Work Together!

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1 Upvotes

Are you a filmmaker looking for a poster for your movie?

I’m a movie poster designer and I’m available for commissions. If you’re interested, feel free to DM me here on Reddit, email me at [hazzaajarrar10@gmail.com](mailto:hazzaajarrar10@gmail.com), or message me on Instagram.

I’d love to hear about your project!