50 Important Things I Have Learned About Filmmaking

Filming and shooting videos is a part of my life. It gives me happiness, satisfaction, and a path to travel along with my baggage of artistic dreams.

For me, film making is more than converting a written script into visuals.

I carry my camera everywhere and literally shoots everything.

And trust me, I always get something good out of the box.

During my Filmmaking journey, there are many things that I learned while shooting.

From technical things to all the practical stuff, here are:

50 Things I Have learned About Filmmaking

1. If possible, always shoot raw.
2. It’s better to use a DSLR than traditional handycams or camcorders.
3. Use white LED light panels for lighting instead of yellow lights. It eliminates flickering.
4. Use good quality external microphones. Camera’s built-in mics are really bad.
5. Always shoot at manual mode.
6. Keep the ISO value as low as possible. This will reduce grains and thus you get better footage.
7. Set picture control settings to neutral.
8. Just because someone has expensive pieces of equipment doesn’t mean that they’re a good filmmaker.
9. Editing your film is an art in itself.
10. Go outside and shoot videos rather than spending hours a day on Film Making and Videography forums.
11. Being a Filmmaker is classy.
12. Whenever possible, use a monopod instead of Tripods, they are easy to carry.
13. Always use High-Speed memory cards with your camera to avoid buffer.
14. Worry less about technical aspects and focus more on compositional aspects of film making.
15. Join an online filmmaking forum.
16. Find your style of filmmaking and stick with it.
17. Don’t pamper your camera, Use and abuse it.
18. Don’t be afraid of lens flares, they always look good.
19. Use a lens hood, when shooting outside at daylight.
20. Attach a follow focus with your lens.
21. Always double your shutter speed with respect to the frame rate you shoot at.
22. Don’t be afraid to bump up the ISO when necessary.
23. Double-check your camera monitor for sharp focus.
24. Learn how to read a Histogram.
25. Never shoot videos on an empty stomach.
26. Edit your own films and videos.
27. You don’t need an Editing Studio to edit your films.
28. A laptop is enough for Editing.
29. Alcohol and Film Editing do not mix well.
30. Always dial in proper White Balance before hitting the record button.
31. Costly lenses don’t give you better videos.
32. The more films you make, the better you get.
33. Draw inspiration from other filmmakers but never worship them.
34. Simplicity is key.
35. Having a second monitor is the best thing for Video Editing.
36. Carry your camera with you everywhere. Everywhere.
37. Join a filmmaking club or start your own.
38. Always carry extra batteries for your camera.
39. And, also some extra memory cards.
40. Shoot with multiple cameras as cuts will look natural.
41. It is always better to underexpose than overexpose, you can always manipulate the exposure in post.
42. Monitor your audio while shooting.
43. If you can’t afford a stabilizer, use Adobe After Effects warp stabilizer to stabilize your footage.
44. Color Correction and grading should be done at the end. Use LUTs for color grading.
45. Never talk behind the camera.
46. If shooting with characters, ask them not to look at the camera.
47. Have fun while shooting Films.
48. Filmmaking is more than shooting videos, it is a philosophy of life.
49. You will discover a lot about yourself through your Filmmaking.
50. Write your own list.

Conclusion

This list is a compilation of all the major filmmaking things I’ve learned over the past few years.

I suggest you to go though each and every point in this list and later create your own list.

Why?

Because creating your own list will help you understand things you already know and also the things you need to learn to get better at filmmaking.