Ken Carpenter: Important Skills for Aspiring Filmmakers
Ken Carpenter was one of our favorite speakers at last year’s Filmmaker’s Academy and he has not disappointed so far in his first session. A 20-year veteran of the film industry, a father of eight children, with a heart for God and genuine humility, Mr. Carpenter is well-qualified to speak to aspiring Christian filmmakers.
In this session, Step-by-Step Production Process, Mr. Carpenter summarized and previewed several of the many productions he has been involved in, showing many examples of film budgets, storyboards, and video clips. It was well-presented and full of practical advice for Christians who want to be involved in filmmaking.
Near the beginning of his session, Mr. Carpenter presented what he insists are the two most important skills for aspiring filmmakers to develop. Curious? Listen up.
Learn basic accounting. Learn to budget projects, carefully, and stick to them. “Whatever you’re doing, you need to know the financial parameters of your project,” Mr. Carpenter said. He emphasized the need for filmmakers to know what questions to ask about size of crew, number of filming days, format of video, etc…
Learn to write. This is not just for scriptwriters. Mr. Carpenter said that in his experience, more jobs have been lost because of poorly written presentations, emails, and descriptions than because of lack of experience or technical skill.
“The most valuable skill you can learn as a filmmaker is to craft a good sentence,” said Mr. Carpenter, in rough paraphrase. “More than film school, more than great technique, more than any other thing, develop your writing skills.”
October 17th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Okay, pray for me, I am still breaking 10th commandment! Looks like your learning a lot! Wish I was there! But thank-you for sharing all your good information.
I do have a brag note myself…
A local photographer has offered me to come to her studio and teach me some tricks of the trade!!!
I also discovered I want to get Adobe Acrobat Photo Shop…It’s really a great program! However, it only cost a $1200… Oy!
Of course the Professional Digital Camara I want only cost a few thousand dollars. Oy, oy!!
Well, glad you guys are being blessed and were able to go and that you are gracious enough to share what you are learning. It’s kind of sort of like being there. I will continue to strive not to be in sin and covet…
Your Sister in Christ, who is in sin,
Erin
October 17th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
You know, a lot of people complain about Hollywood, how wicked it is… how hopeless it is. I am so thankful that there are people actually DOING something to reach others through filmmaking because they know that no matter how “hopeless” a situation is for man, nothing is too great for God. Thank you so much for sharing what has gone on this week at the Academy- it=s proof that “with God, all things are possible”. What would we do without Him!
October 19th, 2006 at 9:08 am
And get a Mac laptop! (See photo.)
Great advice. Unfortunately, the skills that make a good writer are exactly opposite those that make a good accountant. The answer might be to have a spouse or partner that can handle the accounting. I have a friend who’s a painter, and if it weren’t for his wife’s organizational and accounting skills, he couldn’t do it. They make a great team.
Waitsel
October 19th, 2006 at 9:42 am
[...] Ken Carpenter: Important Skills for Aspiring Filmmakers [...]
January 17th, 2010 at 1:37 am
Definitely worth the read