How do ordinary amateur young people enter the film industry?

I quit my job at the age of 31 and became a documentary film editing assistant

What I entered was not the film and television entertainment industry, but the independent documentary film industry.

As a young man from a small town, I also have a movie dream. Even if I am not a film and television major, I still have endless yearning for it. In March 2022, in Chengdu, half a year after I quit my job, I was fortunate enough to come to a film studio to participate in the post-production work of a documentary. I was responsible for sorting and organizing the materials. With me were two graduating seniors this year. born.

1. About how I found this job and why I got hired?

I accidentally saw the intern recruitment information on Douban. In my original job, I was also exposed to related work content, such as writing TVC scripts, with more than 2,000 views. When I sent my resume to the director, I wrote, "As a documentary lover, I want to become an image creator with a female perspective. If I have the opportunity to participate in film creation, I will cherish it even if I just do the simplest job." Thank you. The director gave me a chance.

2.? About the work content and work experience

This is an independent documentary that has been filmed for 4 years. It was in the post-editing stage at the time, and the amount of footage shot was huge, with 400 people. For more than 1 hour, I am mainly responsible for categorizing materials, picking up character dialogues, marking timelines and other very simple tasks that require patience and care. Simple tasks are actually very healing and calming.

Don’t rush to meet milestones and challenges, just focus on doing the things you are doing well. I am reminded of a story in "Love to Death" - "Qi Ma Lan". When watching the material, you can feel the joy, anger, sorrow and joy of the people in the film. It feels like you have participated in each other's lives, and you can see time slowly settling.

We have lunch in the studio every day, which is super rich. There are often seven or eight dishes and one soup for six people.

In the evening, I sometimes go to the cocktail bar opened by the studio director to have a drink and chat together, and learn to make cocktails. I also often meet people from the Chengdu film and music circles, such as the lead singer of the Sound Toy band.

3.? About the follow-up of this job

The film went very smoothly and was selected into many international documentary film festivals. It received a lot of praise and has been sent to Europe. A more professional editing team has taken over, and the film has entered the stage of fine editing, which may be seen by everyone next year. I also became friends with the director and other friends. In addition, I am also preparing my own micro-documentary shooting plan from a female perspective.

4.? Advice for those who want to join the documentary film circle

First of all, this is not an easy thing, especially for ordinary people. It's not an option that you can just go ahead and look back on. At least the current situation of independent films in China is not optimistic.

The industrialization level of this industry is far from mature. If a director wants to make a movie by himself, if he cannot get investment, many people have to sell their houses and borrow money. After many years, they may not achieve anything, let alone Speaking of the time and money spent before becoming a director, I think most people can't afford it, and they definitely can't do it if they only like it a little bit.

If you know the real situation and still want to give it a try, I have two suggestions:

First, join first, and then understand. Like me, find a studio or even a student crew that is recruiting people, quickly participate in it, and experience the real situation firsthand. In the process, you will understand more and know whether you really like it.

The second is to create first and then decide. And if you already have certain skills and knowledge related to film and television production, and also have the desire to create, gather your friends around you, shoot your first work at the lowest possible cost (even with a mobile phone), and let everyone See, maybe you can see the road behind clearly after this.

After all, there are many things that you may really regret if you don’t do them.