🎬 Cinematographer Here | Mumbai Based

If you're looking for a Cinematographer without a camera package, I'm available!

With 7+ years of on-set experience, I may not bring my own camera, but I'll definitely bring my skills, experience, creativity, dedication, and 100% effort to your project.

I believe good cinematography isn't about expensive gear. It's about understanding the story, working with available resources, and making every frame meaningful.

But one thing matters — your vision, or your director's vision, should be practical, realistic, and achievable within the available budget and resources.

I'm always ready to experiment, collaborate, and push creative boundaries, but creativity works best when ambition meets practicality!

I bring the skills. You bring the vision. Let's create something worth watching! 🎥

Feel free to DM for projects or collaborations!

Gear insurance. Finance needs a receipt. Idk what to do lol. I’m very unprofessional.

I did a project where I didn’t know how much insurance would be and now in order to get another invoice approved I need to prove that I paid for insurance.

I used to think the camera body was the main expense when shooting high-speed stuff, but once you factor everything else in, the gear is only half the battle.

Lighting ends up costing way more than expected because high frame rates demand massive amounts of light, and a lot of standard lights will flicker right on camera. Storage is another headache since high-speed clips fill up drives instantly, meaning you need serious backup solutions and proxies. Plus, set resets take forever—a splash or a shattering object takes two seconds to film and twenty minutes to clean up.

Out of everything, what usually eats up the budget the most on a high-speed shoot for you: the camera package, lighting, storage, time on set, or post production?

Hi everyone, I'm 25, a military veteran, and I'm determined to see my name in the end credits of a film one day.

I'm hardworking, ambitious, and coachable, and I'm ready to put in the effort. Right now I'm trying to break into the industry, but I don't have a portfolio yet, and I don't know anyone in film to create with. I've been learning from podcasts and interviews, but I know that can only take me so far.

I'm looking for:

• A mentor willing to guide me  
• A creative person or team who'd let me join and learn on set or on projects  
• Any advice on where to start

If you're open to taking on a mentee, or you know of groups, programs, or communities I should check out, please comment or message me. You're also welcome to share an email or other contact info.

I'm serious about this and respect your time as much as I hope you'll respect mine. Thank you, and God bless you all.

📍Atlanta, GA

I directed this. It's a clip from my 13 minute documentary, "Dreams Are For Suckers." Three independent artists talking about failure, money, and making the work anyway.

The artists' own voices drive the film, over interview audio and B-roll.

Here, Ricky Salinas is talking about creative burnout. He says it "kills your soul, like you feel it die." From behind the camera, I ask, "You mean literally?"

The bulb dies as he touches the cord. He laughs in the dark.

I build the full edit around moments like this, trying to put the audience in a trance.

Cut in Kdenlive on Linux Mint. Mostly, I wanted to see where open-source editing stands on stability and workflow. Honestly, I was surprised. Kdenlive held up on Linux, and I was able to do basic color correction on the old YouTube footage.

That part took care. The original files from 2018 were lost in my move to Texas and back, so I worked from what survived on YouTube, shot on an even older camera with the Nikon D7200.

Happy to talk about the workflow if anyone wants.

I want to make a short film (my first) and I have to decide wether to use the camera on my samsung a25 or an old(er) Nikon D5100 with a 55-200 mm lens or a 18-55 mm lens (I have both lying around). This camera was bought by my parents in 2011. I am mostly gonna make close up shots of my hands (writing, typing) and my computer screens. I dont have any great options for lighting other than my home lights and some desk lamps.

Advice is very apprectiated, I'm very very new to this.

I'm an aspiring actor and a complete beginner looking for ways to enter the film industry.

I'm interested in Hindi and Marathi films, short films, web series, and independent productions. I don't have professional acting experience or industry connections yet, but I'm serious about learning and improving.

I'm currently looking for remote opportunities, including self-tape auditions, online casting calls, and independent projects where I can audition from home.

I'd love to connect with independent filmmakers, directors, writers, and student filmmakers who are working on projects that might suit a beginner.

If you have any advice on getting started, finding legitimate auditions, or building experience without industry connections, I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to connect with some creative people here!

I’m in the position of having to decide which professional name to use as a filmmaker, specifically as a writer/director.
My options are:
Evan Broussard-Everett (full name)
Evan Broussard
Evan Everett
What’d you guys think sounds the most fitting for a filmmaker.

I’m an independent filmmaker in Los Angeles, working on an interview project. The first episode is finished, and the second is in production. I already have a technical team, but I’m looking for creative people to work with me on developing ideas, brainstorming, exploring new concepts and formats, and figuring out how to turn ambitious ideas into successful projects. I’m interested in people with a creative producer mindset — people who are ambitious, proactive, full of ideas, and willing to put in the hard work to build something meaningful. My long-term interests include documentaries, science and educational content, and TV-style shows. The challenge is that I have a very limited budget. How can I attract people like this at an early stage? Is it realistic to find people who share the ambition and want to build something together before there’s much money involved? And what are some fair ways to compensate creative collaborators when the budget is minimal? I’d appreciate advice from people with experience in independent filmmaking, creative producing, or building media projects. I’m also open to connecting with like-minded people in LA who are excited about creating something ambitious together.

Hi Filmmaker Friendz,

I posted on here in the past, but my name is Jeff Ryan. I'm a filmmaker based in New York City. I've made four feature films, and I love making movies, but it can be years of your life that you're not on set practicing what you do. I personally miss going into the woods with a camera and making something... So, that is what this post is about!

This is the first video of me trying to challenge myself for an afternoon to write, direct, and act in a short film. I hope you all like it. It's by no means perfect, but I'm thinking about doing this as a series and trying to post the process a little bit. If you like it, let me know, and I appreciate your time.

Hi all,

I've been an actor, comedian, writer for 21 years (I've written on a few shows and acted in dozens), so I have a good overall understanding of the industry. I've written and directed quite a few short films and the hardest part is always getting a crew together...

So I wrote a short film with one location, 3 actors, and I want to just shoot it myself on my iPhone. I'd like to point out that I have a deep respect for the craft of DPing, but due to not having much income and wanting to create more content, the idea of just saying screw it and shooting it myself has gone from a half joke to "why not?". I don't plan on making this short film my masterpiece or expecting to win an academy award...

With all of this said, I have no knowledge of the technical part of cinematography. Does anyone have a resource for beginners? Like a youtube channel, an online course, etc. where I can learn the basics from aperture settings, to f/stops, and beyond?

I plan on using whatever budget I have on paying for audio, post, location, and meals.

Any other tips or pitfalls you can help me avoid would also be welcomed!

Thank you in advance.

In 1 year, I went from making $0 passion projects to getting paid to make videos I love. In this YouTube video I talk about how I did it. No silver bullets, no quick tricks- just 3 proven strategies that paid off. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxcABXzAw2o

After one year, it's finally out. I directed this music video August of last year to DRKMTS' track Promises. A class little song that's been sitting awaiting a label to release it. The video is starring scottish actor Doug Russell (Adolescence, The Batman, Knights of the Seven Kingdom).

I knew immediately I didn't want somone who was young or slick to be in the video, but an unusual protagonist. So I reached out to Doug who was nearing 60 and had no previous dance experience. When I approached him, he was super down to give it a shot, depsite never danced or been in a vide like this in his life.

We had half a day with choreographer Hannah Collins to work out the dance, then 2 shoot days on location. The intention was to make the movement feel personal to him, and to the story of his character, with room for it to be imperfect. He’s playing a man caught up in memories and repeating a ritual beneath the city, so the performance needed to feel like something he was doing for himself

We shot in an underpass in Glasgow. I prioritised one location so we could concentrate on the performance, choreography and how the camera moved around him - Shoutout to DoP Alan C Mclaughlin

Glad to finally be able to share it. Would be interested to hear what you make of the casting and how the performance comes across. Happy to talk through the shoot as well.

Cheers!

Hey y'all, I'm a new filmmaker, I just got into my city's local film communities and just started directing stuff this year, but I want to turn it into a career. One thing I can see helping with that is if I increase my online presence, so I want to build a portfolio website.

But, I kinda want my website to look different. Anybody my age (late 20s) remembers how old websites used to look back in the early days of internet accessibility. I think it would be really funny and on-brand if I make my portfolio look like a 10-year-old kid made it 25 years ago. It'll make me stand out, y'know.

But I have no idea how to get into this really. I don't want my website to look super cookie-cutter like it was obviously made in wix or something, so that would require some knowledge of coding beyond my days as a wiki editor lol. And so this is an open inquiry to the world. If you know how to code websites and you're a funny & cool guy who would get my humor, then DM me let's talk

Is there a term for when Scene A shows characters speculating about a suspect, and right after in Scene B, they show a random character doing something totally normal and even though it’s not explicitly stated yet, you just know it’s the culprit?

I used to think it was just a coincidence, but it happens in so many shows and movies, i find it so satisfying 😭

(It’s even better when you know for sure who is the suspect 😋)

23M, I’m looking for someone who’s at least 20 and just obsessed with cinema, all I need. Maybe you are that guy or know someone who is.
I have a crazy movie-related plan, but I'll tell about it once we know each other a little better.

You’re in?

I was DP/shooting a short film shoot in a restaurant and no meal break was scheduled or accounted for. All I could think of was getting some food in me after 9 hours of working my ass off for a friend's project. I guess prod assumed we would eat once wrapped, but we went long.

It was the first time I had filled 2 cards on a shoot with my Pyxis 12k, and wasn't paying close attention after I hit record to realize . My AC was also burned out and hadn't eaten in over 10 hours, since he had to travel.

By the time the shoot ended, the kitchen was closed, so dir/producer said sorry and gave us each extra 20 to buy our own food once we were wrapped.

Obviously I should have been paying closer attention,and learned a lesson, but at the time all I could think about was getting some food in me. I barely took time to even drink during the day.

Production saw the footage and emailed to ask where the missing insert setup was and I defended my mistake by saying we hadn't been fed and didn't realize the cards filled.

Obviously it was my error, one I won't make again, but should I feel bad about loosing an important insert shot?

I believe the restaurant will let us shoot it again, since it's a closeup on an object, or can be shot in another location. Should I still charge something for the pickup, or do it for free since it was my mistake? I provided all my camera, lighting and sound, for a rate that I would charge with no gear.

Behind the scenes of our latest 48 film 'Possession'

Recently directed a 48 hour film project in Cleveland using the ARRI Mini and a Ronin 4D! Always amazing what our team can accomplish in such a short time.

If the mods allow, I'll be happy to post the final film after it premieres on the 28th 😁

I had a genre short screen at a festival last week that wasn’t genre-centric and we ended up in a totally chaotic screening block that was a mix of experimental, drama, horror and comedy.

There was absolutely no flow from one film to the next - it went from a drama about grief to a splatter film and I was just sat there laughing at the continual mood whiplash.

It was an interesting experience as I’m programmed in genre blocks 99% of the time, but from a curation perspective I found it totally baffling. Would love to hear others’ experiences like this.

As a film director what was the worst thing your actor said to you that still hurts you to this very day?

I posted on here about 3 years ago when I was previously "about to make a feature". As many here probably know, things happen, money didn't happen, and that project fell apart.

Well, I'm back, and this time it's ACTUALLY happening. We start shooting in 1 week!

I got tired of trying to convince investors to fund a project, so I pooled a micro budget from my savings along with support from my wife and a close friend to make my first feature film, which stars Whitney Moore and Laura Bailey of Critical Role! I am directing it from an original script that I wrote.

It's a contained horror film called "The Devil Downstairs". Logline: A struggling artist rents out her basement to an elderly tenant for quick cash—but after the tenant’s sudden death, she starts to believe something else has moved in.

Follow the link(s) to find our film's Instagram page and follow us to stay up to date with our journey to create this cool, creepy movie!

This is a completely independent film. It is self-funded and crewed by my friends and colleagues whom I've worked with over the past 20 years. We've built a profit-sharing system within the project's layout so that if it's a success, everyone involved wins. We start filming in Los Angeles at the end of the month and will be wrapped by Thanksgiving (15 days total in that stretch). We'll be submitting to festivals next year and, from there, figuring out how to get this project out for the world to see!

I'll come back to post on here as often as I can, but for the quickest updates, please follow our Instagram Page.

Hit me with any questions or comments along the way!

I'm thrilled to finally be doing this. I have an incredible support system in my crew and cast, and we're all psyched to be putting something awesome out into the world. Can't wait to share it with you all!

As of now all of the books that I own on filmmaking are:

Film Directing Shot by Shot (Steven D. Katz)
The Filmmaker's Eye: Rules of Cinematic Composition (Gustavo Mercado)
The Visual Story (Bruce Block)
Story (Robert Mckee)
The Complete Guide to Photorealism (Erin Dinur)
Setting Up Your Shots: Great Camera Moves Every Filmmaker Should Know
The Fucked Up Art of Filmmaking in a Third World country without failing (Juan Manuel Mendez)

but I would love more recommendations because I know that especially with directing a lot of hats have to be worn. It doesn't matter if the books are about something general or they focus on some aspect in particular like lighting or editing. I am still a beginner at all of these even if I am starting to learn theory from these reads.

Hi,

I have a question that has been bugging me, before DCPs and digital post production, how did films reuse shots?

I’m watching an old miniseries called Centennial, it’s very good, I usually watch it alongside Deadwood. The series was made in the 70s, so shot and presumably edited on film, but often the same footage is repeated. Each episode begins with a recap and then some episodes have extended flashbacks.

My understanding is, editors would work on a copy of the negative, cut it, then once all of the decisions were made, the negative would be cut in a clean room.
However if a shot is repeated, there is still only one physical occurrence of it on the negative. So how was that duplicated?

I’d know a copy can be made at the lab, but that causes generational loss, I’m not noticing that here.

I know some of the Star Trek films reused the same shots. Mostly special effects, so probably a larger neg like vista vision and they’d just go back to the source, but I think a few stunts were reused also so there would only be the 35mm copy that was used previously.

Also, how did TV show openings handle this? I remember the opening credits of MASH always looked rather worn (and once I’m sure I saw writing as if someone had used a chinagraph pencil on the film), but other shows don’t seem to have this (Star Trek for example).

How was this sort of thing managed?