Inspiration.

[Bryan Mitchell]

I was just wondering what movie, actor, director, or anything else, inspired everyone here at dvinfo, to the point at which they wanted to make movies in some form or another.

Quentin Tarantino is my favorite director now. I saw his first movie, only two years ago, when I was 16. The biggest inpiration, for me, was when I first saw Reservoir Dogs. The first time I watched this, not only did it jump into my top ten list, but it changed the way I looked at movies.

Reservoir Dogs interested me in making movies. It was not just the movie, but the story behind it with the director that intrigued me. It was the idea of the little movie succeeding that inspired me.

Reservoir Dogs really brought me into the idea of making movies. I have always loved movies, but now I love the idea of making them, and I enjoy watching them in a new way.


If there's anything that inspired you to try to get into the bussiness, or take up film/video as a hobby, please tell us here.

-Thanks

[Mike Rehmus]

Going on vacation with a good still camera and coming back to realize that the stills did not capture the flavor of the trip.

I then joined a few film clubs, then spent money, then joined prosumer clubs, then spent money, then did a training video, then spent money, then took some college courses, then spent some money, then got asked to do some commercial work, then spent a lot more money.

So here I am, spending more money and having more fun that anything I've ever done before.

What an ego trip!

[Chris Hurd]

I think what finally did it for me, when I realized I wanted to major in this stuff in college, was a point back in high school when I stayed up late watching "Night Flight" on the USA channel, which was fairly new back then. Several times they ran a short black-and-white film, about 15 minutes long called "Webb Wilder, Private Eye." I thought to myself, I could do something like that. It was funny and simple and made me realize, if that little thing can get on TV then the future's wide open. When I finally made it to UT Austin through a circuitous route of four other colleges and universities, I wound up sitting in a screenwriting class instructed by Steve Mims. Mims was the one who had done "Webb Wilder, Private Eye," which I had never forgotten about during the long journey to get to film school. Talk about coming around full circle, I didn't plan it that way but that's how it happened. Been a crazy ride ever since, and definitely a non-stop full-time learning experience, which keeps everything fresh.

[Adrian Douglas]

Pulling into a 6 foot closeout barrel and coming out with a dislocated shoulder. Surgery and 3 months of physio saw me on the beach shooting my friends surfing with a friends L1. I had been into photography for a while but for surfing video was soooo much fun.

[Dylan Couper]

Possibly Night Of The Living Dead.
If not that, then definitely Slumber Party Massacre.

[Bob Zimmerman]

I lose my inspiration alot. Then I read what people post on this board and it brings it back. Keep posting!!

[Rik Sanchez]

My dad gave me a still camera and a 8mm film camera when I was 13, I really got into the still photography but I never used the film camera. He knew I would eventually get in film/video(I still haven't shot any film, just shooting video).

I moved to Japan and started helping a friend video tape fashion shows and I then gave up stills to shoot only video. I finally came around to doing what my dad knew I would do. I have lots of photos of him, but the only video I have of him is towards the end of his life. At least I was able to make a record of the last year he was alive, I also filmed his funeral and the making of his deathmask, video that will one day be shown to his grandchildren. It's been the hardest and most important video I've ever shot. That's why I have ChorizoSmells under my name, that was a name he made up to poke fun of the title of one of his books. It's also my video making moniker.

I also saw Pulp Fiction around the time I first shot video of my dad, so Quentin has a special place for me also.

[K. Forman]

I took Graphics and Design, wanting to learn more about web design. Having to assist the "instructor" with the html exercises, I decided I wasn't going to learn anything new. But one of the segments was video editing, which boiled down to little more than- "This is Premiere. This is how you capture video. Now make a 60 second project..." Another dissapointment, but it sort of stuck.

Shortly afterwards, my friend taped my wedding- which was a 3 day medievel camp out and feast. When I got the tape, I thought it was very cool... and verrrrry long. So, I sat down and edited it down to a more watchable 20 minutes. And that is when I got hooked! I got in with a website that was into surfing and music, and would tape events. I talked them into letting me edit, and I was in heaven! But, that dried up after a year, and I was forced to have to start my own video business, just so I could edit.

Then... Enter Kevin Smith! From convenience store clerk to writer, film maker, actor... He did it. I figure, if he could do it, why not me? I see movies on the shelves that looked like some guy grabbed a camcorder, some friends, and decided to make a movie. I'm a guy! I have a nice camera! I used to have friends, but they all moved off... But I can still make a movie! Thank you K.S., for being my inspiration!

Remember... You did ask :)

[Darrell Hinton]

I've always wanted to work in film from a very young age. When I was about 6 I wanted to be an actor just because those were the main people you associate with movies and tv shows when you are young. As I got a little older I got more interested in working behind the camera than in front of it. Now, I could be happy for the rest of my life working in any part of film: boom operator, cinematographer, editor, DP, producer, actor, director, basically anything. So as far as what/who inspired me to want to work in film, I couldn't say except for maybe a long, deep love for film. But I would definately have to say that Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith have instilled much confidence in me that it can be done. Whenever I start to think about how tough of a business to get into film is, I always think about how QT, RR, and KS started out in the same boat I am in, with no more of an advantage than I have. So I guess I would have to say that they inspire me to keep going and not give up.

[Marco Leavitt]

The first time I was even aware that there were filmmakers existing outside of the studio system was when I was about 12 or so and Nashville came on really late one night. I had never seen anything like it. There was no central story, and the characters walked around talking and talking. At first I thought it was a documentary because nobody seemed to be acting. I learned more about Robert Altman and dreamed about making movies some day, but I never really pursued it because it seemed so impossible. It wasn't until more than 10 years later in the '90s when the whole indie revolution happened that it seemed to be possible for regular people to get into it. During my college years I lived in Salt Lake City and went to Sundance every year. I actually saw Mariachi at Sundance, and was intrigued by this Robert Rodriguez guy who introduced his movie. At the time nobody realized what a pivotal film it would be, but everyone was talking about the way it got made. I had started going to Sundance just out of a love of film, and was clueless to the fact that a huge movement was springing up and getting bigger and bigger every year. Imagine, this was a time when people like Kevin Smith and Steve Buscemi would just sort of be walking around, and you had no idea who they were. I kind of wish that I had been a little more savvy about it, because who knows what kind of connections I could have made. During the early '90s Sundance still seemed a little rough around the edges, and everybody was nice to each other because you just didn't know if you were sitting next to an ordinary loser or an executive from Miramax. I also attended a panel discussion with Pete Jackson (Lord of the Rings director), who had a horror movie there that year, Dead Alive, and the cinematographer from Reservoir Dogs. Another film I saw there was Public Access, which was made by the guy who would go on to do the Usual Suspects and X-Men. I guess where I'm going with this is you never know what kind of opportunities are happening all around you. One last note, some time during this period I remember looking at a display about digital editing at Sundance and thinking, this is never going to amount to much. As I said, I was pretty clueless.

[Stacy Principle]

For me i believe the first time i wanted to be a filmmaker was the first time i saw shes gotta have it by spike lee.

A many of indie filmmakers credit spike for them visually seeing that it was possible to make a film and get backing so it could be shown and have distrubution.

Being from chicago, there was a little indie done for 2 million called LoveJones. This proved that stories that i write could be made.

From that i connected with fellow indies from Columbia downtown. And i started long form story telling.

[Marco Leavitt]

Love Jones is a great movie. It deserves a lot of credit for portraying black characters who aren't constantly talking about "the hood." We need more movies like that. Spike Lee is a personal hero too. Some people give him a bad rap because of his politics, but I admire the fact that he wants to communicate a message with his films. People who say he is preachy should spend more time making movies of their own.

[Ryan Gohlinghorst]

When I was 5 years old, I saw Halloween for the first time. It scared the shit out of me. When I watched it again at the age of 10, I knew that that's what I wanted to do. Thank you, John Carpenter!

[Alain Aguilar]

I created a Macromedia Flash presentation for my classmates in a programming class. I developed a narrative plot that included my professors and classmates. They were laughing hysterically while watching it. I obtained the best grade and begun daydreaming since then. I always loved films, since I saw my first one which was "Return of the Jedi" when I was 5.

[Keith Loh]

<<<-- Originally posted by Alain Aguilar : . I always loved films, since I saw my first one which was "Return of the Jedi" when I was 5. -->>>

You're making me feel very old. And I just turned 33.