One of my more public hobbies is making short action/sci-fi videos. Every time I get a free moment or two, I’ll come knocking on my sister’s bedroom door and watch her face grimace with annoyance as I loudly explain I need her to help me record some video footage. To her credit, it isn’t glamorous work. It usually demands her standing in the middle of the street, holding my phone, as I flail around interacting with things that exist only in my head. However, she is quite good at it and is almost always the one holding the camera in all of my films. (Don’t tell her I said this, but there is absolutely no way I would be able to do any of this stuff without her help, albeit begrudging.)
Despite the truly riveting task of sword-fighting nonexistent monsters, I consider it all a formality. Once I tell my sister she’s free to go, I get to start the portion of the process that I enjoy the most; editing. I’m not entirely sure what sitting down in front of a computer for upwards of 12 hours at a time does for my physical health, but for my mental wellbeing it’s a life saver.
Reaching a point where I can easily sit down and give myself superpowers was not a fast process. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a high school class dedicated to “Advanced 3D Compositing” or, in English, “How to Make Really Cool Stuff That Doesn’t Exist.” That’s where the self-teaching came in. Countless hours of video tutorials and forum surfing took me to every corner of the internet in my search for knowledge. It was like a mystical quest, except instead of dragons and goblins hindering my path, there were viruses and pyramid schemes. And yet, in spite of the unconventional tactics and seedy websites, I learned as much as I would have in any classroom.
I discovered like-minded artists and filmmakers to inspire me. I happened upon amazing communities, with each member bringing their own style and passion for the very thing that enthralls me on a daily basis. In a sense, it was a more enriching experience than any other learning I had ever done.
To this day, I still am learning new tips, tricks, and techniques that I can incorporate into my own work. This industry is constantly changing, presenting new challenges to overcome all the time. And it is truly one of my favorite things about it all.
(My sister throwing a basketball at my head for video purposes)
You make such a valid point about the pursuing of knowledge for the joy and desire of learning it. I wish school could be more like that...
ReplyDeleteIt’s really cool that you’ve taught yourself how to make these videos all on your own. I’ve seen some of your videos on Instagram before, and I could never imagine trying to make something like that all on my own with only the Internet to guide me. They should definitely have a class in high school about “Advanced 3D Composition” and not just simply video editing.
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