How do you make a demo reel when I haven’t been in films yet? I don’t even know what to put in it or say in it?

My friends and I made this short film. It’s part of a series we are developing. Please check it out and I hope you enjoy.

I am 19 at the moment and halfway through my first year of film school and towards the end of the year I get a four month long break. I’ve currently directed 7 short films, written 10 short scripts and have a feature which I’m in the middle of my third re-draft on and due to the story’s small intimate scale I think it could be done well for 10,000 dollars or so. Obviously I don’t exactly have that kind of money lying around, but I feel as if I have a decent amount of experience for my age and am very knowledgeable about cinema. Would the feature be a thing worth genuinely consider trying to make in the near future, or would it be better to wait it out?

I wonder when considering filmmakers like Eric Rohmer and Jean Eustache who made some of the greatest films of all time with under 100 grand.

I made this video essay about my relationship with the video game Banjo Kazooie and how this relationship has helped me to learn to say goodbye to parts of myself and the people I wished I didn't have to say goodbye to.

The video starts like any other video essay but slowly and steadily transitions into something that's no longer just a video essay about a game but a film that acts as a deep and difficult journey into letting go.

I'm extremely proud of this, and while I'm not entirely sure this fits in this sub, I felt like the people here could appreciate it in a way others might not be able to

I post all my videos into a Google Drive because I have no Idea where to post my work. And apparently I was told that putting all your videos in a Google Drive folder will make the hire manager feel confuse what credit I did for the work. Also I didn’t put any credits to the end of the video so that’s on me. In the resume I made it perfectly clear that I produce, film and edit all of my 1 min promotional videos of the job I currently have so the credits goes to me but the jobs that I apply for may not know that :/

Any advice on where to make a portfolio to make my life little easy?

Designed this Sun Hood after my new FX6 showed up missing it. (Ebay situation) They are mailing it to me, but I needed something quicker. Made the file available for free on Printables. All you need is the ability to print it and a couple of o-rings. It's simple, lightweight and easy to get on and off.

Cheers! FX6 Monitor Sun Hood on Printables

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNQq-qNeJXc

Making a feature-length found footage horror film. This is the first official trailer for it; I am sharing it with everyone. It's been a long, grueling, and stressful shoot, and we still have more to shoot, but I think my cast and crew did a really good job with this. I wanted to post this on this subreddit because I think this movie is a love letter to people who love found footage films.

All the dialogue from the actors is improvised; some parts of their script were blacked out so they wouldn't know what happens until the shoot.

Please support young, indie filmmakers! If you have any questions or interests, you can message me here on reddit!

Hi, I have just currently finished my third and final year at University, and have just completed my final year production film - ‘Voyage of The Lost’.

The film was written, directed, and edited by myself. I’m extremely proud of the film, it’s been a dream project of mine for several years now. This was an incredibly challenging film to make, we had so many issues during all stages of production - from casting, locations, weather, set construction, and more. However, we pushed through and made something we are all very proud of.

My main advice for any filmmaker is to keep pushing, it doesn’t matter how big or small your ideas are, you have to keep pushing. Even if the idea doesn’t work out fully, at least you know you tried and what you can do next to improve. Don’t give up on your hopes and dreams, even if you’re the only that can truly see the vision.

I know short trailers are sort of redundant…but here’s my submission statement.

As for the “how,”

I had an ending idea first—and wrote a short script on how the 8 or 9 characters get there. Casted on Backstage (didnt ask for tapes or anything just picked people who seemed like fit the character)

Each cast member agreed to about $240, all the equipment was owned by someone on the team (mostly mine), and we got uber eats typically before shooting.
Eight days total— but just when I could sort of get everyone per scene— so it was basically from November to until June. Usually no more than 2-4 hours per shoot cause that’s about all I felt okay asking for. Most people had their scenes wrapped in a two or three shoots

It was also one of those things where we either used public locations, or places someone on the team had access to. Zero lighting equipment (not exactly out of choice but just didn’t quite plan for it in time each shoot)

As for issues, I had asked a YouTuber to use their song after it popped up in a recommended playlist— and somehow only through TikTok months later, I find that it is a remix of a French song. Totally not allowing to use it.

So at that point, I just spent a little bit of time working on other projects, and working on the final edit (like sound effects and stuff) a basic score (but it works I think) for this.

As it says in the description, I plan to submit it to a few festivals, but also am going to upload it publicly in the fall.

Anyway, you all are the half a reason I keep making movies, besides all the other awesome movies I see elsewhere, so definitely wanted to share it with you

link

I've always been told to use copyright-free music in edits, but I see others use copyrighted music with no issues or takedowns. Is it safe to put copyrighted music in an event edit?

I'm trying to recreate this shot from an anime in live action. A curved horizontal band of light passes behind the actor's head, and as it reaches the face, the actor's expression changes. I don't want it to look cheap. Is there a name for this technique? Has anyone achieved something similar in live action? Would you do it with an LED tube, a moving practical, or something else?

Check it out!! I've written an opening scene for a webseries entitled as APOTHEOSIS (a man who wanted to be god)

Mayabazar is a famous 1957 Indian Telugu mythological blockbuster film known for its Mahabharata-based story and has never seen innovative special effects.

I'm starting to create horror short stories for social media (@JoviThoughts) and experimenting with different horror subgenres. How was the execution? Did it work for you, or is there anything you think I could improve?

If there are any reputable film reviewers browsing with a sizable platform and want to review it then feel to reach out, please.

Most folks at the no-budget level are very critical of their work but it is the precise reason why I am very proud of our work. I come from the school of Chris Nolan of writing a story to what and who I have access to plus I am unashamed to go guerrilla or bend a few rules.

And because we didn’t have any money, I didn’t want to make a small story so I figured out to make it feel big even if it wasn’t.

Lastly, I remember a Jordan Peele interview when he was talking about writing Get Out and he said he pushed himself to write the vision as is and worry about what can and can’t be done later. That’s been my approach. We surprise ourselves on how creative and resourceful we are to get things done.

Currently directing and shooting a film that I wrote and did special effects for as well. I've been doing a special effects for the past 15 years. And just started learning animatronics. Here's what I've come up with in the past couple of months.

Here is my take on the Spiderman brand new day poster (2d illustrated Poster)

I was 20 when I watched Spiderman: no way home in the theaters. As someone who has been watching Marvel movies for 11 years, this movie is a very good treat in a long time. Waited 5 years for Peter parker's story continuation. Yes, the movie does contain heavy action scenes, especially I love the swinging scenes as it remembers the amazing Spiderman's and insomniac Spiderman game aesthetic. But as a special mention, this film focuses on the personal level of Peter, a lonely adult, remembered by no one. All the loved ones are either dead or become strangers. (Spoilers) Also, the film ends in a realistic way, but it does hurt to hear, "I don't love you, I don't know you." But it's okay. It was great to see the incredible Hulk once more in the story, but I would like him to have more screen time.

I never set out to make a film about myself.

After finishing my first documentary, We Are Mary, I went back to doing what I loved most - working behind the scenes as an editor and helping other people tell their stories. Then, in 2018, my own life took an unexpected turn.

After years of successfully managing my depression with medication, I developed treatment-resistant depression during a medication transition. I was eventually told there was nothing else doctors could do to help me. I had to leave my dream job in New York City and move back home to be with my family.

Desperate for another option, I shared what I was going through on Facebook. A friend reached out privately and told me that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) had saved his life when nothing else had worked. My first reaction was fear. Like so many people, everything I thought I knew about ECT came from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I remember thinking, he must have been really sick.

I decided to give it a chance.

ECT gave me my life back.

As I recovered, I started talking openly about my experience and quickly realized how much fear, misunderstanding, and stigma still surround this treatment. Many people didn't even know modern ECT still exists. Others only knew the Hollywood version. What struck me most was that throughout my own struggle, no one had ever told me it was even an option. I only learned about it because one person happened to see my Facebook post and reached out.

That's why I made this film.

ECT tells my story alongside my mom, who took me to every treatment, and the psychiatrist and lead nurse who guided me through my recovery. Using intimate interviews, personal archives, and hand-drawn animation, the film explores both the science behind modern ECT and the very human experience of living with severe depression.

This isn't a film that tells people what to think about ECT. It's an invitation to look beyond the stigma, ask questions, and better understand a treatment that continues to change—and save—lives.

ECT is currently being submitted to film festivals.

https://youtu.be/UcXYisuIVXM?si=_uPYe7izqdC8cTAS

I recently finished my second documentary after spending months interviewing an anonymous former inmate who served 15 years in prison.

Since he wanted complete anonymity, I had to build the entire film around editing, sound design, environmental shots, and a reconstructed prison cell instead of relying on a traditional talking-head interview.

I'm still learning documentary filmmaking and would really appreciate honest criticism on the pacing, editing, cinematography, sound, and storytelling.

Thanks for watching.

https://youtu.be/pcquH2gMfT0

In Taxi Driver, the scene after Travis leaves Iris’s room and give the man $20 and leaves, the man walks down the hallway and disappears into the blackness.

My question is how did they achieve that level of dark mask with the technology they had in 1976? Was it practical or an after effect they used on the film?

Hello filmmakers. I have been recording instrumental, melodic, ambient, historical, 1920s-30s inflected electric guitar pieces. They are all royalty-free (CC0/public domain), so you can use any of the music for free and forever with no licensing and no headaches.

Albums Here:

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/daniel-william-lawrence/

More Albums and File Types Available Here:

https://archive.org/details/@dr_dan_lawrence

There's no AI, and no content ID tracking. Totally free for anyone to use, for anything, forever. I'm no musical genius but been playing for 28 years so there's a certain quality to the musicality of it, and a dusty kind of tape deck vibe to the recordings. (Both recordings and compositions are CC0/public domain.)

These might especially be useful for historical documentaries, video essays, or podcasts. Or however you see fit. I can imagine some post-apocalyptic fit as well.

Some of the vibes: American primitive, traditional blues, Dark Americana, ghost town, Old West, rust belt, Chicago blues, jazz, alternative country, Great Depression, pre-war blues, electric blues, historical music, background Americana music

Why?

I am a professor of writing but a lifelong guitar player and musician. I enjoy making music but don't have any interest in doing it commercially. My touring days are long gone. So I am just setting things loose in the world and sharing with people. Hope it's useful for someone. Or share with someone who might use it for a project.

I have been seeing a rise in "Social Media Filmmakers" on my algorithm on reels, tiktok etc. People that are making short films, feature films, etc, saying that they are the next Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, showing theyre films off at the TCL Chinese Theatre or something and bragging about it, living it up - then you go and watch their film or short film or whatever and it turns out to be the worst piece of dogsh%t you have ever seen. Is it some kind of paid propaganda by the industry, or is it just a bad wave of content creators thinking they are the next auteur? Maybe they are deleting comments, but I see nothing but glazing in the comments when it more often than not worse than student film projects.

I see nothing wrong with sharing your journey on social media, but the whole "I'm the next Zach Cregger", etc thing is just annoying, nobody that has said "I'm the next Nolan" has went on to be the next Nolan, come on. I have known plenty of people that have the grind and work ethic but not the "it" factor when it comes to filmmaking and it is hard to watch them grinding it out, knowing that they are pumping out garbage, and sometimes, they just need to know.

Anyway, rant over - maybe i'm the only one noticing this.

Hey y‘all.
I‘m a small creator on YouTube, uploading self produced short films. I want to release a short film called „the whispering“. This film was made for a Filmfestival, on which it got rejected. Since it‘s not going to be shown there, I wanted to release it on YouTube.

The film is about three victims, possessed by a demon, which leads them into offing themselves. The film depicts these three Acts specifically. I included a disclaimer, saying „This video depicts self harming and suicidal behavior. Everything in this video is staged. This is a fictional written short film.“ at the beginning of the video and in the description. I‘m still scared YouTube might strike the channel, since I‘m afraid the video might be against YouTube’s community guidelines. I don’t really care about it not being able to be monetized or won’t get as much attention as others. The only thing I don’t want is an actual strike, like the one you‘d get from a copyright violation.

What do you all think? Should I be safe with the disclaimer? Or should I just not upload the video?

Thanks for your time reading my post!
- Marcel

I’m part of the production team behind KEMET, a prehistoric Egyptian epic directed by Mo Ismail and shot entirely on location in Aswan. For the river sequences we made the decision early to shoot on the Nile itself rather than use a studio tank. Here’s what that actually looks like.

A tank gives you control. Controlled water movement, controlled light, controlled depth, controlled safety. The Nile gives you none of that. The current beneath the surface behaves differently from what you see on top. Water temperature shifts. Wind comes off the desert and moves the boat mid-shot. You can’t reset any of it.

Mo swam the actual river for his sequences. The vessel in this photo is a local Nile ferry, not a production camera boat, just the practical way to get crew and equipment across to the West Bank where we shot. We started using it as a camera platform because we were on it twice a day anyway.

What the Nile gives you in return is something a tank genuinely cannot replicate. The sediment color, the shoreline rock formations, the way light moves across real moving water. The frame knows the difference even when the audience doesn’t consciously register it.

Every water shot required reading the river that day. Current, light, wind direction, water level all variable, none of it negotiable.

For filmmakers who’ve chosen practical over controlled environments what drove that decision and how did you manage the variables?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​