Kevin Smith - Great Filmmaking Advice (08.27.09 - Day 874)

[foreveralwaysalone]

Speaking as a wannabe film writer I can say this is some good advice. I'm young and have no money at all. But it's not stopping me from writing something in full tension of it being viewed by others. If only someone would lend me the 30 grand I can make it happen. :(

[mikedelgado8888]

Great stuff

[Satchel334]

Kevin's film does not match up on both sides!

[siskavard]

Kevin's great.

[dyagnylproductions]

Great Film Making advice? Find a great film maker first, cuz Kevin Smith aint one of them. Anyone here see Jersey Girl?

[zottepark]

Wow, man. I love this video, and I think I'll watch your other videos, because I'm a fan of Eric Saperston's "The Journey" Documentary, and I think what you're doing is exactly that. You're on a Journey to meet your top inspirations and in the process, yourself. I hope you find what you're looking for, Gavin! I know that I'm still looking.

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@zottepark Appreciate the support! What is it that you are chasing?  Also I don't know of "The Journey" - have any more details for me?

[zottepark]

@GavinMichaelBooth You're welcome! I'm just trying to find my niche in life, really, mainly in media. Trying to figure out if I do well with reviews, or skits, or just plain being a personality when I make vlogs. The Journey is an independent documentary by Eric Saperston, who decided to take a road trip in his Winnebago and meet the biggest names in business/entertainment. His goal was to take them out for coffee and ask for their advice on life/being successful.

[DonRMB]

Horrible advice at the end, about cutting your movie just to entertain the audience.. FUCK THE AUDIENCE! Make the movie you wanna make, if you like it then there's someone else out there who will like it too... But on another note, he's famous and succesful and I'm not so What the Fuck do I know?

[zigifrojd]

@DonRMB From what I read and I am film director I can say you know much than Kevin Smith. To cut film to entertain audience is stupid and bad. Film, cinema is art and if you create real great art no1 can take it away from you. Should Peter Jackson have cutted shorter LOTR and put funny stuff in LOTR just to be more entertaining to majority of people. Of course not.

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@zigifrojd He means trimming the fat... because sometimes YOU think ALL the scenes are great but they aren't necessary for the finished film. Especially for first time indie filmmakers. He's talking about cutting it down to tell the most interesting film -- if that saves you some bad acting, less than stellar lighting, a few audio mistakes by cutting down some of your less than best stuff it can make the film BETTER... saying more with less so to say.

[SenorCajones]

@zigifrojd It would be nice if you learned English and translated that for us. Because your thought is half understandable and half of it sounds like pure fucking "what?"

[TheCinemaJackTV]

He seems like a smart guy, but I haven't liked a single movie of his and I really don't like the way he handled the criticism of Cop Out.

[SenorCajones]

@TheCinemaJackTV The film world is full of people like that for me. I hate Spielberg and ALMOST all of his films. They are childish and cliche...and have been since the beginning of his career. That said, it doesn't mean that there aren't things to learn from Spielberg. But I guarantee if we were in the process together, I'd take out his fucking knees.

[Huddiethegreat]

Dumb. He would have told Lean to cut Lawrence of Arabia, Gance to cut Napoleon, or Kubrick to cut Barry Lyndon

[StarkRG]

He's a genius who grew up being told he was nothing. This gives him the modesty required to maintain his humanity while simultaneously unleashing his genius.

[SenorCajones]

@StarkRG How do I say this? Oh...yeah...the old standby: fuck you.

[SirRippie]

No offense Gavin, but I came to this video through the "related videos" on the right side of the screen. After watching this interview with Kevin Smith I really think you should follow a bit of his advice. How? He mentions cutting a movie down as to not bore your audience. After the video I went to see what other videos you might have up and I see 1746 videos? I don't even know where to begin to try to find content I might enjoy so I probably won't bother at all to sift through all of it.

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@SirRippie Ya - I have another channel to catalogue my music videos and film trailers, etc because due to making a video a day for this How Many Days? project I wanted to avoid that exact issue. Try Youtube Dot Com / mimeticonline

[UltraMegaSuperPhil]

@SirRippie When Smith said that, he was talking specifically about film making. The dude can have thousands of youtube videos and still make good films. FYI, Kevin Smith releases over 7 hour-long+ podcasts a week, so he's no stranger to verbosity, but his films are always a reasonable length.

[poweronia]

Great advice! Thank you for uploading.

[Exoand]

You can hate his movies but he is a great speaker.

[blastofo]

Kevins a great speaker. Which is why hes doing more podcasts and lectures than directing now.

[jonryanx]

no paul thomas anderson?

[motivatedmayhem]

awesome. 

[theempire00]

I like the way he talks hehe. also very good advice

[spadeofhartz]

where the fuck did that rabbit come from?

[Anarchovoyeur]

I don't like his films or the way he directs but in this case, he's right, great piece of advice...

[the1mightygod]

i want to make a film with you

[nobigdeal84]

This really motivated me right now, I really needed it.Thanks!

[marccunningham2]

Keep going man. Don't know you but I support anyone who is passionate about pursuing a dream.

[level22productions]

Say what you want about his movies, but this man is smart and is able to lay down advice without stuffing it with fluff that doesn't really tell you anything. He speaks the truth and does it with passion.

Go see Red State

[calicoproduction]

You inspire me!!

[yusef1818]

i really like how kevin just approached.this

[grafleinsdorf]

I'm not the biggest fan of his films, but wow, he really says some intelligent things here.

[DirectedBySteve]

tweeted, and re-tweeted, my friend!

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@DirectedBySteve Appreciated

[ronineditor]

He was a god in film school, gave us all advice. Honestly, I don't think he's a great director but man, his approach is so refreshing and inspiring. He just goes out and makes his movies and loves doing it... that's what it's all about.

[Mitchsmooth]

@ronineditor he also is great with money. Clerks II cost 25,000. MADE over 2 million. He is great

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@Mitchsmooth it was more than that. The ORIGINAL Clerks - the version he shot and took to festivals (before getting bands like Soul Asylum on the soundtrack, getting cleaned up and remastered and having the sound redone on Mirimax's tab, etc) cost in the 25,000 range. Clerks 2 was EASILY a million dollar production.. if not more like 4-5 million.

[Mitchsmooth]

@GavinMichaelBooth Ooops. Sorry typo

[metfilmguy2009]

Keep going mate :)

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@metfilmguy2009 No plans on stopping anytime soon!

[jandzownedu]

this is really great since im striving to be a director. thanx for the interview

[CaptainPillowMusic]

This is probably the most honest and helpful advice regarding filmmaking on youtube.

Thanks for posting it.

[alekasattic02]

i'm in love with him

[indieFilmFanatic91]

Right on! Kevin Smith says it like it is.

[TheWorksful]

good advice.

[markjacob266]

Thanks for posting this interview. Kevin Smith is amazing and he always has good advice for new filmmakers.

[Blessedtouch]

This is a fantastic answer! Thanks Kevin Smith, Thanks Gavin for making this happen!

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@Blessedtouch Hoping to get a new interview with him real soon.

[comradevodka]

love the RABBIT analogy

[JFAINTER88]

I kill my babies! lol great stuff!

[StrifeTriggerDude]

Hey lady, you ever had your asshole licked out by a fat man in an overcoat?

[FunkyFlower7]

Best thing I've found on youtube today - great video (and beautiful). Good luck with your project, it's a really good idea. Subscribed.

[Rutagher]

that was great advice that i believe applies to any storyteller, be it director or novelist. i can't believe that interview was on the fly.

[MrDaddio1963]

cop out was the 1st Kevin Smith movie I hated!

[lebroz]

a real guy in person

not a conceited a hole

was on 1 day in his movie

[Gustavkunst]

I think he thinks he has been around long enough for him to be giving pseudo lectures about film making just like that. Please, feel free to think differently and you don`t have to follow anyone`s recipe, specially when someone thinks he can tell you how things can and need to be done.

[bartelby123]

@Gustavkunst I must've missed the part where you've created anything worthwhile, or achieved anything in your life. It's not as easy as you make it sound. I don't think he's trying to give anyone concrete advice that they MUST follow.I mean, I'd listen to this guy as much as I'd listen to Tarantino or Spielberg, because even if this guys movies do suck and even if he's an asshole, he has somehow found a way to do what he loves in life and he's just sharing some advice on how he achieved that.

[morgantown1]

Seriously, Cop Out? Why, Kevin, why...

[kingofwhoville]

great

[pigletsmom]

Great interview. Love him. Thanks for your persistence.

[DJxSGGxNeo]

Hey awesome thing you got going on, You need an actor in the future let me know, never done any acting just always wanted to....

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@DJxSGGxNeo No time like the present to start!

[vellocent]

@DJxSGGxNeo Film school students are always looking for reliable actors, always. 

[radjoezel]

just made a little movie for school (2min) and would like to get some opinions and tips + the more views I get the better grade

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@radjoezel What's it called and where is it to see?

[radjoezel]

@GavinMichaelBooth

[radjoezel]

@GavinMichaelBooth just click my name only movie on my account it's called 220V cuz we weren't alloud to use electricity (had to load battery with a bycycle etc)

im a belgien movie student so srr if i spelled half of this text wrong

[J85TELEVIZZLE]

freakin sweet interview

[ArmenianProductions]

how long have you been filmmaking?

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@ArmenianProductions 4 feature no/low-budget films... moving on to my first "major" indie film and then several music videos, web projects, and documentary work along the way.

[spidvid]

Fucking right Smith!

[scoutthedoggie]

Thanks to YouTube I can make and release the videos that all my friends said "No one will watch" 35 Million views and 100,000 subs later I can now give the finger to them.

[JD1010101110]

clerks was flabby

[GavinMichaelBooth]

@JD1010101110 hahaha yes yes.. it was... good call.

[thoraxtofu]

actually it is physical changing them. your brain is physically altered during the learning process.

[John4660]

Tim Burton ? Where the fuck did that come from?

Wait, I know. he made those horrible christmas movies that sucked years ago.

I get it and i did laugh because it came out of know where.

Your one funny dude Kevin Smith.

I'd kill my bables too!

[chiefdavidOK]

@John4660 ....There is a great story about why Kevin mentioned Tim Burton, just search Kevin Smith/Tim Burton on Youtube. It has a purple background on the avatar.

[trentkill]

Tim Burton LOL. Still holding that grudge.

[batmanguy123]

"i kill my babies"....WIN

[meltz911]

Love "Moves"

How did you get him to do this? Charm? Friends? Persistence?

[Sherzad17]

Great interview, great advice. Kevin Smith seems like an ordinary guy but at the same time he creates movies that are inspiring and talked about for years.

[policedan]

was that in windsor or what how did u get to meet hi,m dude luv him to very funny kevin is dam

[maregee]

awesome. kevin smith is one of my favs

[dreamon14]

he surely knows what he's talking about. when he was saying "getting the message across, giving the audience something to take away from the theatre, giving them something to think about" i thought about some movies that tend to go on and on and on. clearly, if a writer has to make a 3 hour movie as to why the chicken crossed the road. he/she needs to get a life :)

[QuietGiantProduction]

you don't have to be a prick to be a good filmmaker.

I should give that advice to my former production manager.

[FendRhodes]

Nice

[DharmaInitiative420]

fucking awesome