Filmmaking – Learning by watching

Filmmaking is indeed an art form, but it is a craft first, much like designing a car. The first step in designing a car is to determine it’s primary purpose.
Is it a family car, meant to carry a bigger number of passengers and have decent luggage space? Is it a sports car that needs to be light and aerodynamic? After establishing it’s primary purpose, you’ll need to study the market. To be able to design a better one, you will need to get familiar with the best of those cars that already exist. You would never design a sports car that weighs 3 tons like an Escalade. The design for each car type will include a set of required elements that has been tried and tested for decades. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room in the design to
build something new and unique, and if one really puts their mind to it, something better. Similarly in filmmaking, you’ll first need to decide whether your film is meant to scare, humor, thrill or charm your audience.
Next, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the best films out there that have done just that. Although your film is your unique artistic expression, it
is also an intricately crafted machine that requires a set of fundamental elements for it to function as intended. Let’s identify and discuss the elements of each film genre type, so that the next time we watch a film,
we can pick apart how the craftsmen and women used these elements to their advantage, and in doing so, learn how to make better films of our own.

Trainer Creative Lab – Talal Al Asmani