A skill is a skill, you just have to learn it

Can't believe Tarantino wore an Astroboy tie to that TV interview.

Alfred Hitchcock directed 17 films before "The 39 Steps", generally considered his first classic. He had been working for over a decade. I keep that pinned up on my writing desk to remind me this is work, and success is relative. You don't get to the classics without making a lot of stuff you'll forget.

people forget that the arts (film, theatre, music, painting, sculpting, etc) are a craft that you have to keep working on. I forgot and this reminded me. Thank you :)

As a 16 year old filmmaker working on my first "real" short film, this literally made me tear up. I don't know why. Relief? Joy? Regret for all that time wondering why I sucked so bad? Still not sure. But I thank you and No Film School for this. I really needed it.

Wonderful!

As a senior in high school trying to get accepted into film school with only films that I am not quite proud of, studying techniques from all of the directors mentioned in the video, even after watching Slacker for the first time just yesterday, this video comes as a huge sigh of relief for me. Thank you

I expect this channel will blow up and be huge in the next year or so, but from those of us who are already fans- keep up the good work man, talent never goes unappreciated

I know this video only has a little over 100k views, but it feels like everyone from every film school has both seen this video and breathed a sigh of relief because of it. Thank you for that gift to the community.

I honestly can't say how much this means to me, I've been feeling insecure about my filmmaking abilities and your videos are comforting. They really inspire me and remind me to keep going :) Thank you!

So as a 25 year old filmmaker in Denver, I have been at this for 9 years. I have made over 30 short films and my goal is to be in pre-production of my debut feature by 2020. And later this year I am going to be directing my first "big budget short". But some days it's tough. It's really hard getting into a business that less than 1% of people succeed in. But whenever I feel down, or I feel like I am going nowhere, I go to youtube and watch this video. It's so refreshing knowing that the people who I look up to and admire started exactly where we are now. And I am so excited to see what our generation has to offer.

A recently made a 5 minute short film with my friends at college, I had a wide view on what i wanted the film to be and when those things began going wrong, I felt disenchanted for a while, until my teacher said it was great and that it doesn't need to be a Tarantino, Scorsese, Anderson glory years film, it could be a Tarantino, Scorsese or Anderson first film. I feel more comfortable with it now and hope to continue making them because even though it went wrong in parts, and trust me, it did. I loved it, I loved the struggle of trying to piece up something that came from my mind

Guy and Madeline is really good, though.

Sitting here thinking I'm wasting away because I'm almost 22 and haven't made a feature film. You can't imagine how much I sigh with relief when I watch this video.

3:16 -3:26 Damien used that visual cue in La La Land Wow Ps love ur channel

this channel and this video reminds me so much of every frame a painting

So I'm just back from my watching La La Land for the first time, utterly crushed by the talent of the director while at the same time being hopeful to not give up and here you are telling me it's all going to be okay and to not give up, but just keep making, thereby reinforcing my main take away from the film and now I feel so very much happier than I did 5 minutes ago. Thank you. Your Film Blog is amazing.

As a 40-year-old filmmaker with a long career, my advice to just own it. Show off your old stuff, don't be ashamed of where you came from. I'm commenting from a KZfaq channel that does exactly that.

I first thought that Spielberg would be the exception because his first feature, a TV movie called Duel, was pretty great if not fantastic. But if you dig deeper you find out that had already made several movies at this point since he was 13 or so. And he also worked a couple of years for some TV shows. He made his terrible first movies at such a young age that he was able to make his great movies like Jaws in his mid-twenties.

Guy and madeline on a park bench is a good first debut, good video BTW

The title of this video could not be farther from the truth and this whole video has truly inspired me. Can't wait to see more from your channel!

This video is Electric! I’m 53 and was about to give up on my goal on being a filmmaker. I’m 2years from retiring from the NewYorkCity Police Department. I just figured let me settle in and just enjoy watching Movies. And then I saw your video… Thank you…

_Royal Ocean_ shares its birthday with me ^_^ Happy anniversary~

talent is drive. the need to get better at something because you love it.

I may not like many of my films but I still leave them up for everyone to see. Why not.

Great video. This is also the tough thing about growing a KZfaq channel, I consider all the shorts on there my 'early work' and fall out of love with them very quickly. I like the idea of showcasing the journey publicly though, as painful as that can sometimes be.

Thank you for not forcing humor into this video.

Damien's first film looks amazing tbh. Great video btw. I love your channel!

Yet another one of your videos that I constantly come back to. Thank you 🙏🏾

there are always exceptions satyajit ray and his cinematographer Subrata Mitra had never operated a camera before when they started production on pather panchali, of course Ray had worked in advertising before so he had a visual sensibility but still

Just found the channel. Enjoying it immensely.

I just finished working on my first real short, and I was super embarrassed by it. This video made me feel a little at easy. Thanks, Andrew.

What about Kevin Smith, his first film is pretty much his best one

This video essay is just the best encapsulation of what I was thinking about for ages and always try to prove to other people. It's great that now IMDb filmographies of known directors are MUCH fuller so that you can see that not one of them, not even geniuses like Orson Welles were overnight successes. It's good that this thought crossed my mind rather early into production of my first feature film. I'm still yet to finish it after 12 (!) years of hard work and learning through every possible mistake, but since I was also working on hundreds of amateur productions: short films, music videos, freelance gigs, etc. I am glad I never finished it in a few years as I intended, because now it will be a tiny bit better. Even though I am ashamed of my filmography now, full of unwatchable short films and so on, I'm glad that feature film has better chances because of all of them and I'm not disowning anything, even the worst... Still, I really hope that I will finally finish that train wreck of a feature this year because, well... I'm tired of it not coming through and I have more then 350 other big ideas I want to pursue. Hopefully 12-15 years behind the camera will make those projects move much faster, although I'm not intending on stopping learning: you should learn something every day if you want to stay in the game.

To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, "every artist was once an amateur".

cheers guys wish you all luck!

Whenever I doubt myself as a film maker I watch Peter Jackson's Bad Taste. The film has such a gung ho spirit and is a joy to watch. It's a constant reminder that we all start somewhere.

Can't wait to see more of your work in the coming years :)

This must be one of the most important videos on the internet.

This is a lesson that I have to keep learning over and over again, lol. Film making and storytelling is really a skill that just needs constant practice, repetition, and hard work. Thank you for making this video. I'm so glad to have discovered this channel this year.

Thank you. I needed to hear this! Making films for the last six years with no headway.

thank you, you don't undersand how much i needed this today

This is very comforting to hear

I really like what I'm seeing of Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, though.

You're tapping into The 10,000 hours. Anders Ericsson (look it up). The basic premise of which is, just about anyone, in 10,000 hours of deliberate practice 2-5 hours per day, can become world class at almost anything. (Of course something like the NBA requires height...) You need good coaching. So you can become a good writer mostly on your own, but you're not likely to become a great tennis player all alone. Vanessa Williams is more than what you can see, but just about everything you need know about Charles Dickens is on the page. Filmmaking is collaborative, at minimum you need actors, so build a group of friends with similar interests. Think Shakespeare wrote a play and then thought, now who can I get to play.....? He wrote for the actors he knew would work. He listened to the good ideas from the experienced, and figured out how to work with the inexperienced who had naive ideas. So there's no such thing as a prodigy-- period. In any field. Mozart's career is examined, he was writing symphonies when he was 17. They're okay, but completely derivative. The Beatles? Hamburg 12 hours a day, to a bar with drunks who'd be in there all day, and they got bored playing the same 12 songs 15 times a day, so... But here's the problem. The Dunning-Kruger Effect states basically that low ability people aren't capable of being aware that they're low ability. Basically it's really hard for you to tell if you're getting any better. What I've experienced. I write, then I'll have the Speech Function on my computer read what I've written, and it sounds like an audiobook. I've listened to thousands of audiobooks, so I have some level of expertise. As the Dunning-Kruger Effect relates to me is, as I learn more and more, and work on my writing, I know that I'm improving, but the audiobook version still sounds 'good' at about the same level. This is like what happened with Tarantino's movie, what he thought he had in the can, he didn't have; but he wasn't aware it wasn't there. What I do notice is that I can tell when a sequence of event happens more efficiently. So comparison with established works. One thing I have noticed as I've worked at writing, I've developed 'taste.' Ever see a crap movie but you thought it was good? Happens to all of us. But taste is not when you become a snob, but when you see something or read something and you have an idea of how it worked or went wrong (and no not the ending), But also how it did what it did and how it could be better. Stephen King writes wonderful 300 page stories, unfortunately he buries them in 900 page unedited 'stuff.' So how do I know? Well, every part should be essential. Somebody explain how in 11/22/63 endless pages about casting student plays has anything to do with the story of time travel and the Kennedy assassination? There are ways it could....but they are not there. The TV version condensed the story but seemed to include the endless repetition... I skipped 4-5 episodes and watched the end and never felt I'd missed anything. (All the streaming services want 10-12 episode series, figure out a good structure for various genres so they don't become 4 episodes stretched to 10 and boring. Come up with some multi episode outlines and you could be working next week. They have to be desperate.) Picasso said "Bad artists copy, great artists steal." Here's how this can work. David Lean transitions (good video. Thanks) Go out and quickly shoot, with your phone, a series of Lean transitions. Oh, it's overcast and rainy, so how are you going to do the match to sunrise? Do something else. Color. Mom says I want you to meet a nice girl, boring quiet guy looks down at his brown tie and then up/ teased red hair bright yellow dress female molotov cocktail. Make a list of Lean transitions, then go shoot as many as you can. By the time you get deep into this, almost none of the transitions you like will be traceable back to Lean. ' okay. Lesson over.

Everyone thinks that we're sh*t when we are making bad films yet working hard; then suddenly, everyone thinks we are prodigies when we make a kickass movie. But we don't care. We love it.

Really needed this at this point of my life, thank you

Wonderful message and thank you for your videos. Happy anniversary Royal Ocean!

I really needed this sir. Being in film school I have struggled with the false idea that if I'm gonna be the best, I can't fail ever but boy is that not true.

I'll be having a drink to celebrate your first year tonight! Your videos are truly inspiring and they also stand out because you manage to avoid doing essays on films and topics that have been covered to death in other videos already. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks! This is good to hear!

Just when I am feeling down about myself and having to reconsider my aims and my goals, this video comes along. Thank you.

This is comforting to know. my first film I wrote was pretty bad, so we didn't even put it on youtube. But the experience was good, and I won't try to film three different scenes in the same day at different locations again

Congratulations on your anniversary.

You're so right about the morose comfort of seeing how all the greats weren't that great at the beginning. Even Kubrick and Malick's first works were terrible, with Andrei Tarkovsky and Akira Kurosawa being the only filmmakers I can say were good from the start, but even then their early works are super stiff and more promising than anything. This video was just what I needed after making my second film, which I wouldn't call a failure but certainly isn't the personal triumph that my first was. Even though I didn't end up making the film I wanted, I learned something invaluable: You're not going to get anywhere if you're afraid to suck.

I just watched all your videos. Awesome stuff, man. By far my favorite video essays on KZfaq.

thanks for the pep talk ;)

To all those people mentioning Orson Welles or Damien Chazelle as exceptions, there are some things you have to take into account. Orson Welles was put into a boy's school where he was able to learn drama rigorously starting at the age of 10 or so. He developed those skills his entire life and after 15 years of hard work he made "Citizen Kane". Damien Chazelle practiced drumming all his life to get the musical intelligence he displays in his films and studied filmmaking for 5-6 years before he made Guy and Madeline. Because his musical films are so unique, he's filled his own respective niche which everyone praises him for because he writes from his experience and knowledge. Yes, there is talent, but it accounts for 5% - 5% is understanding what will make you different from others and being in touch with your own experience deeply. The rest is 95% work and only those that believe it will make it. When Spielberg got rejected from USC 3 times he believed it. When Kubrick didn't even get into college 'cause his grades were so poor he believed it. When Woody Allen failed his film class at NYU he believed it. I don't need to go on. It's up to you.

Beautiful video. Although, watching Scorsese's first short, you could tell the kid was going places.

What a great message. Thank you for this video!

Yup, do it for loving it, thanks for that. Get started and get moving!!! all of our first short films we were varying degrees of unhappy with, but the whole purpose was to help us learn, and when we had time and as our experience grew we eventually got to a place where they are all getting re-edited (also digital remastered, as we shot 12 films on analog 8mm tape, all captured in pc at half screen size, it was 2001-2003) then when they're finished put them online, put up details/videos of the story behind them, mostly to re-enforce this message you just put out here, which we have also been saying for years. not that we compare ourselves to Orson Welles, but check out his avant garde short film "The Hearts of age" 7 years and 4 directed films before he got to Citizen Kane. No overnight film prodigies/geniuses is right.

I've had my first short film since film school halfway shot for the last six month and it's been hard to find the motivation to continue the project. This pretty much confirms my suspicions that it's probably gonna suck. However, it does give hope for the future. Thank you sir!

Wonderful, inspiring video. Your channel is highly underrated -- the quality of your video essays are not so far off from those of other youtubers. Really needed to hear this advice, not as a filmmaker, but as an aspiring writer. Thanks for it.

I'm editing my first feature and this video is indeed comforting. Good luck!

Another video for my Inspiration and Help folder

All my friends know I'm pursuing film and they all think I'm amazing at it even though I've made like 3 films in the last 5 years, none of which I'm even that proud of. This is exactly what I needed to hear and should get me through my last finals and finally graduate and really start my career. Thank you.

Congratulations, man! I've just discovered your channel, really like it. Keep the great job :)

As comforting as is to see this, there is an exception: Orsen Welles (Citizen Kane).

Congrats Man! I just got into your channel a few months ago and I've been impressed ever since. Keep up the great work!

Congrats man! I love your channel

This makes me feel so much better

This was good. I usually am not a fan of video essays. But this was really solid advice that I hadn't heard before.

it is very inspiring. Thanks for the essay Saladino

congrats on your 1 year anniversary

Your killing it with these videos keep up the great work!

Cheers, mate! Thanks for the timely message!!

So much inspiration in such a short video! Thank you for all of you great work, I'm a young filmmaker and a lot of my confidence comes from your channel :)

That's just what I needed to hear today, keep up with the awesome work!

simply beyond an amazing video with a great message that every aspiring artist should watch

I really needed to hear this.

Thanks, i needed this one right now.

this reminds me of how we are not perfect, we're just human. Anyway, love the channel and it's content. Keep the good work.

Thank you for that piece of inspiration. It came absolutely at the right time.

"With that, I'll give you the first of many years of Royal Ocean to come..." "....Cheers!"

Very thoughtful words. Nice.

Lovely essay, looking forward to your work in the future!

This channel is awesome - happy birthday! :)

I've been stuck making a short movie stressing out to make it perfect... your video is very comforting haha!! thx :)

Your channel is amazing! I'm so glad I found it!

Thanks for shooting my "it has to be perfect otherwise i can't do it at all" mentality right in the foot.

thank you, it's so beautiful

it may seem a little odd to talk about your ISAO TAKAHATA video here,but i think you truly understand the conception and excution of ideas in movies, that is why you chose him as your subject of discussion. which i think is simply great because its the basic nature of movies...

this is an amazing video....keep up the good work... also happy 1st anniversary of your channel,may it grow up and lead you to success.

Great work again man. Insightful essay.

but...Orson Welles?

In virtually every case, despite lacking budget and production values, the first movies of directors who went on to become 'greats' show definite promise, and you can see that there's something to it that hints at potential for future work. The question is: is the problem that there are resources not available, or is it that the director is simply not talented? Someone making films should have a pretty good idea which is the case.

Great inspiration! Thank you 😊

Thank you for making this!

I'm so glad I discovered your work :')

You've done so many great videos in the space of a year! I want to start doing video essays but I don't know how I'd produce that many in that space of time