I noticed something in directors.

[thedudeman69]

When I was reading up on directors, they always state that they filmed siblings or they did stuff with their toys. I mean, that is outstanding. It's awesome that those people progressed into the next generation of filmmakers. Also, some filmmakers took ineitive and did everything on their own first films. I mean, they finaced it, wrote it, directed it, and even acted in it. I was wondering what would've happend if they didn' see their dad's camera and started to direct with it? None of the famous directors would be around. If Scorsase wasn't ill as a kid, he wouldn't have gone to the movies and realize that he wanted to be a director! I mean, think about it. We should be glad that these people made it their life work to do movies. On the other hand, Uwe Boll...he sucks, he probably decided to do something one day when he was bored. :D

But anyway, I am gratefully thankful for this generation of filmmakers that make the damn good films that I enjoy watching.



Thoughts?

[Derek237]

That is interesting information, but I guess not really suprising. If someone is "destined" to be a filmmaker, they won't do it on a whym or just for money (I would say "*cough* Uwe Boll *cough* right now but I actually haven't seen any of his movies..so I won't), they have all that delightful artistic energy building up in them, even at such young ages. Just look at Beethoven.

I did things like that when I was a kid. Playing with my dad's camera and trying to make movies, etc., I mean. I was actually just looking back at some home movies a few weeks ago, and noticed that in every video, I would make up some crazy story. We vacationed to Mexico, "there are aliens here, etc. look at them, washed up on the beach" (Jellyfish in actuality), or "We have to get out of the woods or we'll die," etc. etc. I actually very very much ANNOYED the hell out of myself and am extremeley embarassed. So if one day I ever become a famous filmmaker (hey stranger things have happened), I would burn those tapes and never let the public see the awful filmmaking of my past.

P.S.

I once read that Paul Thomas Anderson watched porn as a young child. He didn't think it was odd. He was quoted as saying something like, "some kids played baseball, I watched porn." Just think, if not for that, we would not have Boogie Nights!!

[Addicted2Bayhem]

yea all the great ones express this desire early and show signs at a young age...no surprise...

Michael Bay has said in many interviews how when he was 9 years old he almost burned his house down when he took a super 8 camera and was filming his train set he rigged to explode with fire crackers. Even at that age he was obsessed with explosions! haha. Anyways the curtains caught fire but luckily the fire department came before it got out of hand. Needless to say he was grounded for a while after that.

With each M. Night Shama-lama-ding dong DVD he has an old video recording of one his many early (like junior high school) home films he made, and BOY are they bad LOL!

Ridley Scott's first film was a low budget home video starring his little brother Tony Scott.

So yea directors all have that desire to direct, with a super 8 or even pretend camera. They have that eye and that great desire to create stories similar to the ones they saw on screen and escape reality. Many kids, including me and im sure many of you as well, did it too. But only the ones who never grow out of this phase, the ones who becomes obsessed with making this dream a reality, only those who have the real talent and connections and drive to make it happen by doing indies or starting out in tv ads and music videos before doing studio projects....can grow up to really become a big time movie maker....

[bigred760]

When Spielberg was on "Inside the Actor's Studio," they showed a home video movie he directed about aliens - what later would become the inspiration for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was actually pretty cool watching the video and listening to him talk about it and Close Encounters.

Not to say that if one doesn't make movies from video cameras when they're 12 years old, they won't be any good. But it is cool seeing these famous directors and how they've been interested in creating worlds through movies at a young age.

[rilocay]

I noticed that whenever there's a pic thats not like a red carpet or interview taken, like on the job, their almost ALWAYS pointing out of frame.....

http://www.webwombat.com.au/entertainment/movies/images/eli-roth-2.jpg
http://www.scottso.net/Scorcese.jpg http://www.kinoweb.de/film99/StarWarsIPhantomManace/pix/sw-40.jpg


:confused: :p

[Monotreme]

I don't think this is anything more than coincidence, although as the years have gone by it has definitely become more of an indicator. Back in the 50's, I can only assume that it was a lot easier and a lot more common for young boys (and girls) to make little experiments with cameras in their backyards or whatever (my favourite childhood filmmaking stories come from Peter Jackson, who takes pride in the WWI epics he made as a child, digging trenches in his own backyard and everything). It's just that a few of these kids decided that continuing to make films would probably be really cool. I'm sure many lawyers and bankers filmed some cheap games with toys or with their friends in their backyard when they were young. Nowadays, amateur filmmaking is certainly not as common a hobby as you'd think it is. Does that mean that because throughout my entire childhood right up until I actually started learning film I made countless little filmed bits, ideas, lego games, and many really lazily made and cheap stop-motion movies with play-dough, I am destined to be a great filmmaker? Not quite. I do agree, though, that it is certainly an interesting addition to a filmmaker's past, and definitely supports the theory that your interests in your younger years echo what you truly desire from life, whether you choose to follow these dreams or force yourself into the mundane in your adult life.

And yeah, I always noticed that pointing thing and it's weird. Also allow me to add that the picture of Scorsese catches him in one of his coolest moments. The squint and everything... the man is my god.

[CletusHorniblow]

That's a very interesting point, Monotreme. But, it sure does give hope to all of us aspiring filmmakers out there who spent the majority of our childhood doing the exact same things. I remember making a film at the extremely early age of 8 or 9 called "The Psychic" with a group of friends and another called "Rent". Whenever we did that, I would always take charge of the group and make sure everything went the way I saw it.

But, even years before that I used to create characters and scenarios for all of my action figures. It didn't matter whether they were Ninja Turtles, Street Sharks, Power Rangers or wrestlers; I made my own characters and stories out of them.

Just knowing how some of my idols in the film industry did thesame things that I did during their childhood gives me so much hope that I'm on my way to becoming a full-fledged filmmaker.

[m_burlock]

Originally posted by thedudeman69
I was wondering what would've happend if they didn' see their dad's camera and started to direct with it?


They'd borrow somebodies camera or rent one or get into a film school after high school and borrow one from them and start experimenting like crazy, learning all the while.

Or they'd see a film in theaters and it'd inspire them to enroll in a film school after high school.


P.S.
And if the high school they went to was rich enough they'd borrow the one that belonged to the school's film class. Or be lent one that belonged to the school for film class for the year or the semester (if he/she was taking film class that is).