There is somebody in my family who is studying to be a filmmaker. My boy, who is now 20 years old, has wanted to make films since his early teens. He is passionate and dedicated, and he shows a lot of genuine talent. However, being dyslexic, he has never performed well in the traditional school atmosphere, and the thought of attending film school was difficult to him. However,, he is too passionate to give up thus he discovered another means of learning.
He did what anybody with a need would do, he trained himself and became responsible for his on success.
When he was on 2nd grade my boy started homeschooling and with the discovery of his dyslexia we need to use alternate methods of teaching for him. When he made a firm commitment to learn to be a filmmaker, we turned “home school” into a “film school” of sorts, tailoring his curriculum toward moviemaking. We made a high quality camera and computer an investment Each time we watched a film, it became “class.” We read books about moviemaking and storytelling aloud, and talked about the concepts. While we are at this ,my boy was amazed at the fact that most of his favorite directors never even made it to film school. He then realized that if they were able to do it then he is in a position of making it as well.
But perhaps the most significant part of his education in studying to be a filmmaker was actually in producing two short films. He used the tales in his mind and wrote a script. He used a storyboard for his script and plotted the sequence of the shots, just like in the textbook. Friends and family became cast and team, and on one occasion he even held a casting call at a local modeling school. He scouted places to look for shooting areas and obtained the necessary papers in order to be able to film there. During the first short movie, he dealt with many pitfalls and a lot of stress, as he experienced firsthand the reality of what it takes to make a film. But by the second short movie, he understood a lot more about what he was performing. He learned how to foresee, take things gently, make the necessary modifications when the situation calls for it. On the set, he acted like a pro.
At present, my son’s second short movie is entered in contest in film festivals around the nation, and is getting seen by people in the business. He is composing the screenplay for his first full-length movie, and plans to use his short film as a “calling card” of sorts, to show what he can do and secure financial backing for the full-length movie when the script is complete. This is my boy’s ongoing journey of learning to be a filmmaker.