Article Response: "5 Psychological Mistakes that Beginning Filmmakers Make, & How to Avoid Them"

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    It's very easy to make a mistake while filming a video (I would know...), and some of the biggest mistakes filmmakers make are the psychological ones. This article explains just that, and how to avoid them. Written by Robert Hardy, he explains how his friend, Simon Cade, had noticed five mistakes that he had been making while working on filming educational videos and wanted to share them with other ameteur filmmakers. 

    The list of mistakes includes working too much on the computer, instead of getting up and actually working with more hands-on activities to jumpstart your creative process. Being on the computer for too long can become distracting, and getting up and working with your hands can help you come up with bigger & better ideas. Another is worrying too much about what's popular in the film industry, when instead you should focus on what you think is creative or interesting and work from there. Originality is what made well-known films popular in the first place. The third mistake on his list is not making enough narrative content, which means people are more interested in following a story with characters with fascinating lives or things they can relate to. People need a story to follow, so it should be your top priority when making a film. 

    One of the most important mistakes on this list is stressing out about failure. The fear of failure is bound to keep you from being creative, and it's important to keep in mind that it's very difficult to make something perfect, and you should only worry about doing your best, even if you doubt yourself. In the end, you'll be happy that you at least did your best work. The very last piece of advice that Simon gives us is a quote from Ze Frank, the vice president of video at BuzzFeed, which basically says to practice humility, to be humble with what you can or can't do. 

    I definitely learned a lot from watching the video and reading this article, because it made me realize that I happen to make some of these mistakes as well. It's very easy to slip into that doubt that your film/video isn't good enough or isn't as great as other things that you've seen, and you wish that you could make something just as good or even better. But sometimes it's hard to be original when you're afraid that your idea has already been used before. In truth, you just need to trust yourself and your ideas, because you never know if your idea could become something much bigger once the final project is released. This advice is very important for ameteur filmmakers who need a little reminder that not everything they make will be perfect, and you will inevitably learn from your mistakes in time.