 Hey, what is up? My name is Rubidium. Today we are looking at the five big mistakes that first-time filmmakers make including me. So you've got your script, you've got your crew, you've got your casting, your film, and you're really excited to make your first big production. What could go wrong? Well, a couple of things. Some of them are outside your control, but some of them are definitely inside your control and you can make better decisions if you know kind of what pitfalls lie in wait. Number one, going out and buying a camera. People get excited about making a movie. The first thing they think they need is a camera. They go and buy one. Don't really know how to use it. Maybe you know YouTube. I don't know. But camera, while they're fantastic and they're a big thing that filmmakers use, they're not always the buying one isn't always the best use of your resources if you're end product is to produce a film. If you want to become a cinematographer, buying a camera is a great investment. If your goal is to produce a short film or a feature or web series or documentary, usually you'll hire a cinematographer and a lot of the time they'll come with their own camera that they know how to use and have already bought. Sometimes they'll bring that camera and associated gear with them for free if you're paying them or even if you just get them involved. If you want to buy a camera, buy a camera, but it's not the it shouldn't be the first item on your list when you want to make a film. Number two, not using the list. Now the list is a Robert Rodriguez idea of coming up with the things that you already have easy access to and then shaping a story around that. The list is a great place to start because what a lot of people do is come up with this fantastic amazing idea that they get really attached to but have none of the resources needed to bring it to fruition. They have none of those like, you know, when I shot Science City, I wanted abandoned power plants and I wanted tunnels, a whole subterranean network of tunnels. It would have been much easier had I looked around and seen what I had available and then sculpted a story around that. Mistake number three, casting beautiful people instead of actors who can act. Let's people get on sites like Backstage, put out casting notices and get responses back from a whole range of actors. Some of them will be very attractive. Some of them will be not as attractive just because some a very attractive person, maybe the most attractive person you've ever met is sitting in front of you wanting to be in your film doesn't mean that you should cast them. That's being attractive is an asset in the film industry. Having an attractive lead is an asset marketing your film, but if they can't act then you'll be fighting an uphill battle because in a short film or a first-time film it lives and dies on its performances. Hire the best actor that you can. If they're attractive, if they look good on screen, wonderful, but don't hire someone just because they're beautiful, it will end in tears. I guarantee you. Four, being amazed that the words you wrote are coming out of someone else's mouth and then thinking this is genius. I have totally fallen for this because you have an idea, you write it down, you refine it and then someone speaks it and it it seems like magic when you're first starting out. It's your job as the director to get past that sort of buzz and focus on whether or not the performance feels truthful, whether it makes sense, whether it is believable, and whether it conveys what you want the scene to convey, not just that it's amazing, the miracle of acting. The fifth and final big mistake that first-time filmmakers make is sprinting through production and not leaving any time, energy, attention or money for post-production. Now, when you're first making a film, it feels like the job is to shoot it, but shooting is really only half the picture. It's the edit, the grade, the mix, all of that stuff where the actual film is made. Ang Lee famously compared shooting a film just to shopping for ingredients and that it's actually in the edit that you realize your creative vision and a lot of filmmakers, definitely including myself, mobilized themselves and their resources to get to the last day of the shoot and then they're totally spent, they have no more money or resources left and now they're stuck with a hard drive full of footage and no way to turn that into a final film. That can be really scary. Filmmaking is definitely a marathon, not a sprint. Even a short film or a music video can take weeks, months or years, so pace yourself, leave a little in the tank and get through all the way to the end before you celebrate. Those are my top five things that new filmmakers do wrong when they make their first film. Hopefully that helps someone out there. It's definitely lessons I learned the hard way, so thanks for watching. I will see you next time.