A few weeks ago I wrote about filmmakers, and why, no matter what, they should play tons and tons of video games if they want to improve their craft. One of those points was related to expanding your creative intake and continuing to learn at every corner. By playing video games, you’re immersing yourself into content created by other people, which will in turn, make you more open to growing the creative part of your brain.
While not related to video games, there are other things filmmakers can do to constantly improve the quality of their work. Outside of regularly practising with your gear and shooting things over and over again, there are various online resources that can be a huge help when trying to understand how some of the most creative minds in the business work.
There is a lot of talent online, and no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to keep up with the amount of content available to you. With that said, that doesn’t mean you should give up all together. To help you keep up, we’ve picked three of the most popular online pages that you must follow to become an even better filmmaker:
1. Every Frame a Painting
Tony Zhou is a film lover, creator, editor, narrator, and founder of Every Frame a Painting. While his channel’s name certainly says a lot for what he does, Tony is one of the most knowledgeable film professionals online today. Through his extensive movie knowledge, from new features to old favourites, Tony dissects and analyzes some of the best film tactics to help filmmakers understand the looks they’re going for and how to achieve them.
Tony goes above and beyond just saying a movie was great or pointing out a few frames where cinematography was on point. He explores some of the more technical aspects of film, and even exemplifies using some of the most popular actors in the business to explain his position.
When Robin Williams (one of the best comedy film actors of all time) passed, Tony did a tribute to him, but not for his jokes, the way many other pages would have. He instead discussed his ability to move within a frame and bring the camera, and the viewer along with him, which is what created the bond that many of us felt every time we watched him on the big screen.
2. Michael Coleman
To be entirely honest, I’m not quite sure why Michael Coleman isn’t far more popular than he is. If you’ve ever seen his work, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. A major component of a film comes from behind the scenes content, and while it’s never seen on the big screen, it’s usually included in special features on the physical copy of a movie (which is why you should always buy legitimate movies).
On Michael’s Vimeo page, he shares and analyzes some of the smaller, but often equally as important components of a film. He covers things like sound engineering and sound mixing, which tend to get less attention in the spotlight because you don’t “see” them. As an accomplished producer and director, Michael is no stranger to the value of audio in a production, and I’m betting he would certainly agree with me in saying that audio is 50 per cent (if not more) of a production.
Michael has reviewed the soundtracks of some of the biggest movies in recent memory, including Interstellar and The Revenant. He interviewed some of the top sound engineers to talk about the process of filming each sound, and what went in to engineering sounds that many of us have never heard before, such as the outer space environment.
3. The Slow Mo Guys
Perhaps the most witty and immature personalities on the internet, Gavin Free and Dan Gruchy are virtually the Myth Busters of slow motion film. What can appear like uneducated, directionless content is almost entirely the opposite, as the pair examine what certain objects look like when they’re exploded, cut in two, or shattered, all in slow motion.
As a whole, slow motion video is an increasing trend in the video world today, with many filmmakers finding ways to implement a slow motion shot into everything from feature films to corporate and commercial productions. Several years ago, the power of slow motion even fell into the hands of most viewers, when Apple’s iPhone begin to support a slow motion mode, which blew up with the millennial audience and became the new coolest video feature.
Don’t get me wrong, just because they love blowing things up and inflicting high amounts of pressure on an object does not mean Gavin and Dan don’t know what they’re doing. The take the road less travelled approach and explore what happens in a split second – much faster than what our eyes can see. Collectively, it is some of the most interesting and entertaining content on the Internet today.
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