Action films, like the one I'm creating right now, involve extensive choreography, as demonstrated here in this picture of a fight scene in the Dark Knight rises. There are a number of good classes in Chicago for action choreography. Even if you don't live in Chicago, you're likely to find one nearby. If not, go to a martial arts class; you'll learn something.

I've also found that listening to certain film soundtracks can really get you in the right mindset to come up with plot lines, screenwrite, edit, or think about your film. If you download Spotify, you can listen to basically any music for free, and the only cost is a short add after every six/eight songs or so. I listened to the Dark Knight soundtrack while writing my current action film.

Now Software. The thing is with film software, it really all depends on how much money you have to work with. Film editing software really ranges from $0 to tens of thousands of dollars. Some people in the industry have their own custom software built specifically for their company.

I started with iMovie. It is a nice kick-off point if you've never done anything with film before, but you don't want to use if for a real movie. I then switched over to Final Cut Pro 7. At the time it was used by most independents, being not too expensive but solid. True Grit was actually edited on Final Cut. Apple then released the new edition, Final Cut Pro X. Frankly, it was probably the biggest waste of money I've made in my entire life (with the possible exception of this one Playmobil pirate ship...). People who make movies professionally either switched to a new software or didn't upgrade. Pro X is basically a slightly glorified version of iMovie; it's not a professional editing software.

Recently, Adobe has been taking this market. Adobe Premiere Pro can basically do anything Final Cut can, and has a couple other nice options (and personally I prefer the GUI). I think Premiere Pro CS5.5 (what I use) is excellent, and I hear CS6 (which I will upgrading to pretty soon) is even better. The nice thing about Premiere is you can use it easily with Adobe After Effects, which is the best cheap special effects software out there. I can color correct excellently, make cool 3d text effects, create realistic explosions coming out of buildings, muzzle flashes and blood for action films, all sorts of stuff. It's great.

If you get really into special effects, you're going to want to start using a 3d modelling software. Blender is nice because it is free, and there are a lot of good tutorials out there for it, but it has a terrible renderer (it's just slow). Supposedly 3d Studio Max is the industry standard; I've used it and it does work well. I downloaded the free student version of Maya 2012 from the Autodesk.com website, however, and I can create 3d models and animate them perfectly fine. If you get really good at this sort of thing, you can implement these models into live footage, and then have flying CGI helicopters in you're movie, which is awesome.

For implementing 3d models into live footage, you need a camera tracker. Originally the only ones out there were like boujou, which is around ten thousand dollars. Now, however, Video Copilot sells a $250 3d camera tracker that you can use with After Effects. You can then 3d motion track your footage, send the tracking information to your 3d software (like Maya or Blender) and then export the 3d content with the tracking info as a video alpha channel. You then import that into After Effects, and you have a 3d model to work with in your footage. After Effects CS6 has a 3d camera tracker built into it; I don't actually know how heavy duty it is, but will be testing it for these purposes later this week.

If you want to do sound effects or score your film and have some music composing ability like me, there are a couple programs you can use. Garage Band is free, but I'm honestly not a huge fan. I think studios use Pro Tools, but I didn't want to spend that much. For $200 I downloaded Logic Pro 9, and I can literally import mov files into the program and write music right over them. The software has a nice variety of synths, and with my Zebra II plugin, I find that I can create pretty neat soundtracks. Just recently I finished a drum-heavy track for an action scene that turned out great using the "Drum of Mordor" instrument in Zebra II.

I'm sure that there are plenty of other awesome film software programs, but these are the ones I use and I find that they take care of my need quite well. Feel more than free to experiment though.

If you are interested in film (either watching or making) let me inform you of some online resources you might find helpful.

They say the two most important aspects of a good film are good story and good actors. We'll address these two first. Imsdb.com is a brilliant website because it gives you access to basically every script for major films ever made. Read one or two of these a day and you will be inspired with all sorts of material for your own awesome original story. Or maybe you'll just copy off one of the pros... not a bad idea either.

The second site would be Chicagoartistsresource.com. This is really only usable in Chicago, but most cities/areas have their own version of this; whatever it is, find it. It basically allows you to post ideas you have for art projects that can be viewed by anyone in your local art community. This is crucial for getting good, cheap local actors. There are often many people with some acting talent who just want exposure or experience and will work for little or nothing (depending on the budget of your film; obviously you should pay them if you can); good acting makes the difference between good films and crappy ones. Just being frank.

The third is definitely Film Riot. It is a youtube channel that makes 2 episodes a week, run by Ryan Connely and supported by his brother Josh and then a crew of others. It's pretty awesome; they explore Hollywood effects, while using them in skits that are often quite comical. Plus you learn stuff. And apparently, "learning is half the battle."

The fourth is Video Copilot. It is a website (videocopilot.net) run by an Andrew Kramer; it is pretty much the greatest free Adobe After Effects tutorial site you'll ever find (it's better than the stuff you have to pay money for). The reason it is important is because Adobe After Effects is basically essential if you want to do special effects in your film and you're not in the industry or have waaay too much money. I use it all the time and I'm 16 (and I'm not the smartest 16-year-old or anything) so anyone can use it. Video Copilot features 10 basic training videos, then 125 free in-depth tutorials for advanced effects.

The fifth is Lynda. Lynda.com is a great site because it basically teaches you everything you need to know about any software, and I'll tell you today more than ever before (and this isn't going to change), software plays a huge role in filmmaking, from special effects to color correction to audio to scoring... the whole shibang. Unfortunately, it does cost money ($25 a month for the tutorial videos only, $37.50 for downloadable files to practice on), but I would say it is worth it, and will allow you to really expand your knowledge concerning the software you choose to explore.

Withoutabox.com is a helpful resource if you're interested in film festivals (particularly entering them) because it sends you a little email every time any film festival happens. Yes, most are in random places you've never heard of, but if you want to enter them, it's a good site.

If you're working on a bigger project and need funds you don't have, kickstarter.com is a good place to go to. You just put up an ad, some stuff you've done before, and then say how much money you need and what you need it for. If you have good stuff to show and a solid idea, you'd be surprised how much money you can get for your project.

I'll post more resources as I think of them, but these are a good place to start out.

Hello all,

My name is Noah Evans, and like many others, I am interested in film. Watching and making. When I grow up, I'm going to be a film director at Legendary Pictures. My connection at Legendary says it's basically impossible, but screw him. I'm gonna be a director.

On this blog, I will track my progress and projects as I move toward this goal. Phase 1 includes doing an internship at Hollywood and Phase 2 involves creating my own professional, adult-cast action film. Phase 1 commences this Saturday and Phase 2 started several weeks ago (only in the conceptualizing stage, however).

Hopefully you will find this to some degree interesting, likely to a greater degree if you are likewise interested in film; worst case scenario is that either film gets boring and I switch to something cooler, or I fail and then you all will have a good idea of what not to do, when trying to do what I'm trying to do.