Are you serious about filmmaking? Then you know it’s not just a job, it’s an art. And while it’s easy to see the artistry in the work of Martin Scorsese or the Safdie brothers, it can be harder to recognize in more mainstream filmmakers like Jon Favreau or Danny McBride. But if you view filmmaking as an art form, then even your own projects, whether they’re narrative shorts or corporate videos, can be elevated to the level of the greats. So let’s take a look at some of the principles we can learn from modern films and television.
First up, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. This $160 million Netflix-produced film was an instant classic, thanks in part to the cinematography employed by Scorsese and DP Rodrigo Prieto. By using camera movement, technocrane, and CGI, they created a “heightened naturalism” that you can apply to your own cinematography style.
Next, the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems introduced mainstream audiences to their high-energy style of kinetic filmmaking. While it might not be right for every project, learning how they added urgency, suspense, and anxiety can be a valuable tool in your filmmaking style book.
Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian proved that playing with genre and different styles can make familiar franchises feel new and fresh. By turning down big-budget production pyrotechnics in favor of stagecraft, Favreau created a practical effects masterpiece.
Ridley Scott’s Alien has truly stood the test of time as the textbook example of harrowing and suspenseful filmmaking. But once you lift the veil on some of the all-time classics, you can witness just how much the filmmakers struggled and worked to find their vision.
HBO’s reimagining of Watchmen took a page from the original source’s flair in its heavy use of non-linear storytelling devices. Tracing the roots back to novelist William S. Burroughs, and through other non-linear films like Pulp Fiction and Memento, you can learn more about this storytelling and filmmaking device.
Collaborative directing styles were on display in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, where creator Danny McBride and fellow directors Jody Hill and David Gordon Green tackled an ambitious project together.
Finally, let’s not forget the importance of editing and post-production. You can learn a great deal about your own editing workflow and style from the biggest modern blockbusters, like Terminator: Dark Fate. Peek behind the scenes to see how the director, editor, associate editor, and visual effects editor all worked in collaboration, using many of the same Adobe Creative Cloud tools you’d use on your own projects.
So there you have it, some of the principles we can gather from modern films and television. Lights, camera, action!
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