Ever wanted to be a filmmaker? I did. I attended UCLA with the intent on becoming a film-maker. The UCLA Film/Television & Digital Media was an upper division program so you had to get into school. I thought it would be a good introduction to be part of the Theater Arts program and I managed to become one of “chosen few” to get past the Theater program gates but couldn’t hack the hassles of the classes (and people) that were part of the department’s “initiation” process.
I put the film-maker dream on the back-burner and turned to writing –though not in terms of scriptwriting. Taking a step back for a global view of my life, it’s evident that I am creating films now; albeit small, short videos of strange subjects like fashion and beauty. However much of what I am doing is interviewing people who are known primarily for their work in fashion/beauty or music/tv/film worlds. While very diverse topics, it still comes down to making uber-short films. Today the difference is that the single use camcorder is easily had for less then $25 and flip-cams easily upload videos shot straight to youtube.com. There negatives with that behemoth site are mainly three things: the quality of the videos uploaded (despite HD cameras) are of middling quality at best; a small time frame and film size and a very long upload of the file. Add those up and you have frustration.
For those who seek the creative, more innovative path, that behemoth site just doesn’t cut it. Can you really tell a story in less than 10 minutes? It can be done but not as effectively as a longer video. Where can one go for a longer story or a project with more effects that require a larger file size?
Vimeo.com is the answer for just about everything that any filmmaker would want from a video-hosting site: great quality, fast upload,, and a community that welcomes discussion s with experienced and newbie videographers. If you are a newbie to video, you can ask those basic questions and get solid advice from people on the site — including Vimeo staff members like Blake Whitman, Vimeo’s Community Director and a documentary filmmaker.
