Learn how to be a great director in 4 steps

My ongoing series has covered some great professions in the filming industry, and next on the list is director. I always wanted to be a director since the age of 12. You need visualization to be a good director, the ability to pan out shots in your head before it even happened. Still, you can pick up directing at a beginner level if you follow these few steps.

1. Study filmography to learn shots

You want to be a great director you will have to learn to read a lot. You will have to read screenplays, novels for adaptations and books for honing your skills.

Almost every series I mention book to help your endeavor. Film Studies by Ed Sikov is a great place to start no matter who you are: actor, director, film critic, you name it. For early directors this is the book because it states the dynamic of shots in general. Here's the amazon link: http://goo.gl/S8du1B

For more advanced directors this is the book that will do for you, one of the best film books I read that put me on the path of film: http://goo.gl/L2SdFY

2. Imagine if you were a camera

Before you even touch a camera you need to know how you would use it. Imagine your eyes as the lens and your head as the camera. Which shot would you use, why would you use it, does it depict what you are trying to say, does it match the plot, are you taking risks or staying with the conventions?

Talk to the great director in you and find his direction style.

3. Learn DDP

The best course that indirectly helps to make you the best director out there is DDP. I didn't realize that when I took this class in freshman year of high school. Later, I realized how much it helped me improve my directing.

DDP is a visual subject. It centers around drawing perspectives and understanding different shapes and views. Why is this important? If you want to be a director (great director) who loves finesse then you will draw out the most important shots.

Here you will use perspective drawing, learned in DDP, to visualize on pen and paper where the actors and cameramen would be. Not very exciting but it's something that will separate you from other directors.

4. Don't leave the film world

Yes you might not have the best DSLR out there, or any actors to act with. But that doesn't matter you stop getting involved in film.

I picked up screenwriting and that went well for me. Although, screenwriting isn't the same as directing it helps me visual. Besides when I'll be ready to film with a camera and crew I'll already have a finished award winning screenplay that I'll be able to shoot.

But this is about you. If you think you don't want to film with your phone, that's acceptable. But not doing anything is unacceptable. If you don't keep on honing your skills you will slowly lose your talent, but more importantly you will lose your vision.

Thank you guys for your awesome support! Love you!

How to be a great actor in 5 steps

Recently I've been doing a series of blog posts on films. I think a new and perfect addition is learning how to be great actor. As with my other posts I always mention to my readers that it's not easy to state all the tiny little details needed in order to be successful. Those are reserved for other days. Today I want to talk about acting (method acting); few steps to put you on top of others.



A mime rarely stops acting. Which makes his acting become human behavior.  

1. Realize what makes you different

And I'm not talking about things that are good, but also things that are bad. Do you have a lisp, do you limp when you walk, do you roll your tongue around your mouth?

Those are the things that make you, well you. Learn to emphasize the things that make you different, that gives your acting a character. Learn the little expressions that make you stand out from rest of the crowd.

Everyday practice expressions of different scenarios for 5-10 minutes in front of the mirror. How would you react if someone died by a car in front of you? Don't lie to your senses and over-exaggerate.

In this example, it would be over-exaggeration to say you gasped. You wouldn't gasp, you would be holding your breath in shock. You wouldn't immediately move forward to help. You would wait for other people to move forward and then move. Practice!

2. Can you even act like yourself?

For new actors and even experienced ones can you mimic what you did for the past 15 minutes exactly? You might say "I have just been sitting at the computer"

Well, what makes sitting at the computer human. Do you look around, do you massage your neck, do you put your feet up? Little things like those build your muscle memory. It teaches you what you need to complete an action and make it human.

If you were a character in a film, how would you play you?

3. Learn body language

Great now you have learned to act like yourself. But most of the times you will have to act like other people. And the only way to do that is observe and learn how people act on a day to day basis.

Did you know there are 13 ways women can try to seduce men and 2 ways men try to seduce women. What if you had a role where you had to be sexy, where you had to lean on to someone, how would you do it? The Book "The Definitive Book of Body Language" is a great start. http://www.amazon.com/The-Definitive-Book-Body-Language/dp/0553804723

4. Acting doesn't exist

What is acting? Trying to fill someone else's shoes to move towards a goal? That's wrong. Acting is the recreation of life as we know it. The people in the screenplay, are people. Real life moving beings that exist in that dimension.

You have to act like you are not acting. You have to embrace the character. Read a 5 page synopsis of the person you are supposed to be. Where was he born, why was he born, deepest fears, strengths, weaknesses, ex-girlfriends, his favorite dish, when he discovered masturbation/sex. Everything.

You won't be acting a character. You will be the character.

5. Be lucky

Seems confusing right? How can you be lucky? Well the only way you can be lucky is by being resourceful. There were 200 audition for the role of Patsey in 12 Years a Slave. Were the other women any less qualified? Most probably not. However, Lupita Nyong'o's agent connected her to the audition and she was chosen.

Now Lupita is on the cover of magazines, stores and billboards. Because she connected to the right agent, met the right people was she able to receive the right audition. There is an audition out there for you.

But here's the catch. It won't come to you. You have to go to it. So you can't miss any chances. Only then will you have the right to be lucky. I'll leave with a quote from yours truly.

"It's one thing to say that you live for art, it's quite another thing to say that you're willing to die for it."

How to be a Screenwriter in 6 steps

So you want to be a screenwriter, or you are one but don't know if you are approaching it in the right method. Obviously it's not possible to state everything required to be a good screenwriter. However, I'll try my best to point out the bare essentials.

1. Learn the format of screenwriting

This is mostly for beginners. Think of journalism, novel or blog writing. Each have their own writing style. Screenwriting also has its own format. The most important blocks of writing are action and dialogue. Action depicts what's happening to move the plot forward and dialogue is the interaction between the characters. Sentence lengths can vary from as small as 1-2 or 7-8 depending on your voice or writing style.

2. Use software to put your visions onto paper

Yes, you can use MS word or even Notepad to write your million dollar script. However, its going to be frustrating to space out the words accordingly. I have been using a free software for the past 2 years and it still has yet to disappoint me. Although, the company recently integrated an online feature I prefer to use the software. Here is the link to Celtx: http://celtx.en.softonic.com/

Although, you can buy and use Final Draft Pro Celtx has all the functions I need to produce an award winning screenplay.

3. Be a writer who cares

Before we submerge ourselves into the nitty gritty details of producing a script you need to care about your script. Now, I'm not talking about raw passion. I'm talking about how far you will go to make your screen play good. Will you go back and edit the same sentence 8 times or just write a paragraph and move on with it? How detailed are you willing to make your character? Does your character smile, does he have a weakness, what are his goals, his height, weight, eye color, birth, and most importantly, death. You have to be willing to discover all these things by yourself and sit on it. Then will you be able to write a good script.

4. Write lean

What I mean by that is use as little words as possible to convey the idea. "Harry saw the ball coming. He stood his ground and tried to hit the ball. He missed." Instead you could write "Ball zooms. Harry stiffens. Swing.....and miss" I used way less words and made a stronger impact on the reader. Another reason why writing lean would be good is to save space. In movie industry, each page of a screenplay is one minute. You waste that space then you are wasting a minute of the movie.

5. Read books

And I don't mean any books. Read books in your genre. Read books that inspire you. Read books about other writers. "Why we write" is a great book to get you moving and removing your writer's block. More importantly, read books from authors who wrote screenplay. They will speak in greater detail of what you need to do to be successful. Whatever you do don't stop reading, or your writing will never improve.

6. Share & Copyright

Share your work to your friends, family, and colleagues. Let them judge you. I shared my first screenplay to Penguin Random House and came out as the Best writer in Brooklyn (and also with a thousand dollars). You never know what fate has in store for you so just give it a shot. And when I say copyright, I mean copyright. Don't get it patented because that will not protect your work.

HOPE THIS HELPED! HAPPY WRITING!

How to be Film Critic in 4 Steps

Roger Ebert (1932-2013): One of the greatest Critics
in American Film History

Critics are what make society function. Without them we would not know how to improve ourselves. A critic can be a friend, teacher, or even your arch-enemy. Either way you will get to find various insights about you and your own work.

3 Steps for Finding Your Place in Film

Film: is the recreation of the universe compressed into few hours to depict the lives of the people in that particular universe. 

I found out my passion for film by an accident. My sister chose film and accounting as her two majors. As a result, she bought home a number of books. One of them titled "Film Studies" by Ed Sikov. My interest piqued and once I started reading that book I could not stop. 

I finished the college level book even before my own sister! I kept on finishing books.But the questions most people ask me is how do they know what place is right for them in the realm of movies? I usually get remarks like: "I would have filmed if I knew what I wanted to do" or "How do you know you wanted to be a director instead of an editor?" These questions don't have easy answers. They depend on the person but by following few steps almost anyone will be able to find their place in Hollywood.

1. Find what Type of Learner You Are

People tend to accumulate knowledge in various ways. What makes film so beautiful is that it can be learned in two ways. One through articles, books and documents and another by hands-on experience.

There are several books out there for film. The book that I mentioned was just an infinitesimal part of a massive collection. Books are a great way to start: they provide insights into the film world from the reader's home. Books can help one from making several mistakes when he/she actually starts filming. If a person enjoys reading these books then chances are they like theorizing about film.

People tend to forget that the camera is just a tool and it is the person in front or behind the camera that actually make the magic. This is why anyone can grab their cell-phones and start shooting. Likewise, acting, production design, editing all have their rudimentary forms. Yes, a person might not be able to use the Hollywood standard equipment but there are always other options. For example, many companies like Autodesk, Adobe and Nuke offer students free educational use of their soft-wares. All the person has to do is to sit down and start working. It is practice and diligence that sets a normal person apart from a talented person.

2. Find People/Places of Similar Interest

The best way to know about any profession is to talk to the people who have lived in those shoes before. Most people think this is the hardest of all tasks but in reality it is quite simple. 

If you are currently attending a high school or a college look over the alumni of your college. It is very likely that one of them are involved with film. It might not necessarily be the part that you wanted to do but you can still talk to them to get an insight into the film industry. This is extremely important because some facets of the film industry might change your passion completely. Besides if you do get accepted to talk to the particular alumni, you could get to talk to other people who actually follow your interest.

Actor's Studio in New York

Adding onto that you might want to explore places that have the similar interest. Whether you are in middle school or high school there are places that are devoted for film. The Actor's Studio accepts people to take free classes through different auditions. The place itself held people like Marilyn Monroe, Al Pacino, Elizabeth Kazan etc. There are countless places similar to the Actor's Guild. You can also start looking at high schools like La Guardia(specialized high school for filming) or AFI, USC, NYU(Universities with strong film curriculum). 

3. Don't just Sit there!

If you feel like there is no places or people of similar interest near you then open up your own spot! Through websites, blogs and even workshops let people know you are dedicated towards your passion.

You can not find your place in film by only grabbing your books or your camera. You also need to believe in making a change. Go out to the world and tell people what you want to do! There will be thousands of people who will say no but even one person can change your life forever. And working with that one person you will be able to learn about team-work but more importantly about your own mistakes.

Also, because you feel like you do not know what you want to do in film does not give you the excuse to sit down. A lot of people did not know what they wanted to and they found their own passion. Alfred Hitchcock started as a screenwriter and then became an art director. Later, one person recognized his work and told him to direct a film. That movie was "Jack the Ripper" and after that moment Hitchcock started to find out his passion for direction. He discovered his place in film. Go out there and make a difference to be treated differently. Always remember:

   "An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory"

                                                                                         Friedrich Engles