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Learning by osmosis?


kye
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In the spirit of "the more you look, the more you will see", I was wondering if I should just pick something brilliantly made and just watch it over and over and over again.  Kind of learning by osmosis.

I'm thinking that at first you'll see the story, but after a while once you get bored of that, you'll start noticing more and more, and eventually you'll be aware of framing, lighting, dialogue, pacing, editing, music, sfx, vfx, grading, etc etc.  Instead, we watch things once, or maybe a few times, but never enough time to notice everything about it.

Has anyone done this?  What would you watch?  Could you watch it 100 times?  or more?

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To me, the more brilliant stuff you watch, the more easy and natural it gets to replicate it, even subconsciously.

I've been 'collecting' short videos / ads / specs on vimeo and YouTube for a while and every time I watch them, I notice something new. It doesn't necessarily mean it taught me something new, but at least I start paying attention to these details.

Photography (and therefore a good portion of cinematography) is made of learning how to see (and then capturing it).
After seeing millions of well-composed scenes, with great lighting, etc, you start thinking like all these new neural networks. I know, it's a brutal comparison, but how do we (as humanity) learn if not by listening to others and watching how they work / accomplish something?

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I think one of the key benefits of going to film school is that they force you to look at films and analyse them, force you to make films of different kinds, force you to use each type of shot, each type of lighting setup, each type of whatever.  In this sense, if you can overcome the laziness and also push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things then this is the answer.  I'm a big fan of just making lots of videos, and also of making different types of videos.  However, this is only half of the picture.

The analysis of what other people did is the issue for me, thus the idea of just watching something over and over again.

I make videos of my family, so in terms of genres, its: travel docos (when we travel), nature docos (when we visit zoos and wildlife sanctuaries), action/hype videos (when we swim, or when we attend sports events like bull riding), and sports videos (when the kids play sport).

What are the finest examples of those genres I should be watching 100 times over?

 

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Well, there definitely has to be a structural approach to learning. Even if you keep watching the same film over and over again, perhaps this time without the sound. You'll notice things you otherwise would not have. Perhaps the next time, maybe try reediting the movie to see how it works worse or better. Etc.

I personally dip back into Scorsese films every year. I'm a fan of his characters, editing and structure. Can't ever learn enough from his films.

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10 hours ago, kye said:

 

I make videos of my family, so in terms of genres, its: travel docos (when we travel), nature docos (when we visit zoos and wildlife sanctuaries), action/hype videos (when we swim, or when we attend sports events like bull riding), and sports videos (when the kids play sport).

What are the finest examples of those genres I should be watching 100 times over?

 

Travel - Michael Palin, Anthony Bourdain or Simon Reeve.

Nature - David Attenborough. 

Sport - ESPN's 30 for 30 series, A Sunday In Hell, TT3D Closer To The Edge, When We Were Kings, Johan Cruijff: En un momento dado

 

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32 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Travel - Michael Palin, Anthony Bourdain or Simon Reeve.

Nature - David Attenborough. 

Sport - ESPN's 40 for 40 series, A Sunday In Hell, TT3D Closer To The Edge, When We Were Kings, Johan Cruijff: En un momento dado

 

For motorsports, ΤT isle of man Closer to the edge and Senna are completely different but brilliant.

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@kye totally. ive done that with my favorite shows

particularly the x-files for me. also the sopranos – a show like that, thats so well made, i can watch it over and over and learn stuff all the time

i credit that practice with a lot of my understanding of filmmaking. it really is this invisible art that no one really knows exists, but when you start to watch films and see the blocking, the sound design, etc etc, thats a total game changer

today, i can get something out of watching OLD films that i never wouldve watched in the past, that i absolutely love now~! like, once you can see through the "movie magic", black and white films become a lot more contemporary, a lot less alien. for me at least

 

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8 hours ago, kye said:

I think one of the key benefits of going to film school is that they force you to look at films and analyse them, force you to make films of different kinds, force you to use each type of shot, each type of lighting setup, each type of whatever.  In this sense, if you can overcome the laziness and also push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things then this is the answer.  I'm a big fan of just making lots of videos, and also of making different types of videos.  However, this is only half of the picture.

The analysis of what other people did is the issue for me, thus the idea of just watching something over and over again.

I make videos of my family, so in terms of genres, its: travel docos (when we travel), nature docos (when we visit zoos and wildlife sanctuaries), action/hype videos (when we swim, or when we attend sports events like bull riding), and sports videos (when the kids play sport).

What are the finest examples of those genres I should be watching 100 times over?

 

IMO, no better place to start learning about "making something out of something" with no more than a camera and a mic for outdoors sport activities than Warren Miller's work...

warren miller - YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=warren+miller

...first hit there (this morning) brings up...

. . . Like There's No Tomorrow Official Trailer - YouTube:

...and ought to get anyone's juices (creative, and otherwise) flowing!

As for travelogues, a personal fave of mine (again, just camera and mic and whatever nature gave them on any given day for light and adventure) and a personal "repeat go to"...

180 South HD Trailer Official - YouTube:

 

...great reminders for me that there's a world of personal adventures to be had and that I need to get up off my ass and go do something!

Hope that helps. :)

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