Film-maker's Notes

Excerpt from Chapter Two of "Rant of an Accidental Film-maker"

(harsh language, viewer discretion is advised)

I woke up with body aches and survived the drive to the studio. We had other projects to focus on. Life goes on. It was a matter of time before the final cut of the music video was released. It hit television and youtube. The director was credited for her amazing vision. You know you’re doing a great job as a cinematographer when no one notices you. I think that’s the point the film industry here in Saudi Arabia is missing, as a film crew you are literally a background person. You’re not supposed to be walking around acting like a celebrity. You are supposed to make people look glamorous.

That’s the point I wanted to make here. You see, I was smoking my cigarette finishing off a script for an airline commercial when I decided to log on to facebook and seen these kids on my friends list posting about how they are the best cinematographers in the kingdom. I wasn’t going to let it bother me. I was going to be the bigger person and ignore such childish remarks but you know what, I’ve had it with this shit. This is the reason this profession isn’t taken seriously, because of people like that. Hobbyists who walk around with a DSLR hung up in their neck and shoot funny videos and add in a bunch of purchased effect plug-ins. People who are supposed to be rappers or boxers and come as a film maker instead. They think they are using the 50 cent or Muhammad Ali technique but they’re not.

There is no best. You don’t make that call, there is a skill to this whole cinematography world that needs to be learned. Days and days of hard work to gain experience, nights and nights of reading to learn different things not only about the camera you point and shoot with, what about lighting? Lighting is the most important factor of photography, without it the whole concept will not exist. What about camera movements? Composition and framing? Coloring? The right transitions? The right usage of lenses? Did you know that it’s not just about design that it actually has to be efficient enough to contribute to the way the story has to be told? Did you know you have to actually anticipate what the audience would feel and experience while watching a certain shot? Not just oooh aaahhh, check out that effects he used from Adobe’s After Effects program? Listen here, to all of you up and coming film-makers like myself, no matter what industry you’re trying to take over. Never stop learning. Don’t be those kids walking around with an attitude like they know everything, I’ve read about D.Ps who has been around longer than my fuckin’ Blue Toyota and still is trying to learn something. On top of all that, these hobbyists get recognition and is being promoted by these local public figures as one of the best. Man fuck all that. I’m not being a bitter little bitch, unlike these assholes, I was around and started off getting coffee for Photographers and carrying their bags. I bled for this profession and cried for it. I learned it. I grabbed opportunities and nailed it and carried on to the next one. No matter how less I get from it. It was all purely sacrificial for the sake of the art and progress. Actual progress. Not shoot in auto mode and fix it later on your hipster apple computers. Even till this day, and I haven’t touched the music video industry for quite some time, I have actually been doing corporate videos and wedding films and decided to move into that category for now, I’m still learning. Every day I read a thing or two about film-making. Cinematography in general. I don’t pose around social media talking about how good I am and how I am the best and fronting like this here isn’t an actual profession, man fuck you. This is what’s going to eventually kill the industry. Aside from the advancing technology and all its pretty easy-to-use shit that secretly actually limit you from achieving what the professionals do, such as high megapixel phone cameras and 4K cameras, these wannabe hobbyists purchases all those fancy techy shit along with a light weight tripod and they point and shoot. Add a bunch of plugins from their editing software. Then write their names along with Directed by at the end of the videos. There’s an editor and there’s a Director, there’s also a difference between the two. You monkeys either didn’t know that or you chose to ignore it. They get magazine covers and interviews about their work of art by another set of dumbasses doing coverage of dumbasses.

I even got one of the videos I’ve shot and directed stolen from me by the editor. Can you believe that? The editor edited my shots and wrote his name in bold letters at the end, directed by. I’m not asking anything from this field, I don’t need sympathy, or a hug or an apology. All I’m saying is, there are real professionals out there, I consider myself and my beloved team one, who work their asses off. This isn’t a hobby for us. We don’t just point and shoot and we don’t just add effects to save a rather stupid shot. We actually work and we get surgical with this shit. If you wanna be a film-maker then be one. It’s simple. But learn it like a pro then break it like an artist. Don’t be that monkey walking around social media using hashtags and self-claiming best. Work hard and increase your knowledge in it. Be like knife on butter when they ask you questions because time will come that people will test your credibility when it comes to the profession to which if you’re a dumbass wannabe DSLR necklace wearing little cunt, you will answer, “I am the best.” When asked about the technical details of your film. Also, here is a very important lesson I picked up along the way, film-making isn’t about making it to become a director. There are no levels. The director is just as equally important as the runner who gets your coffee. I’ve met film-makers who says things like, “last year I was a DP and now I got promoted to a Director.” Stupid, these two are very different. They go hand in hand but they’re very different. Supra and a Skyline. Mustang and a Camaro. Harley Davidson and a Suzuki Boulevard. Two completely different things. The above stories of the behind the scenes of Music Videos are just the small parts of my filming career, what about the corporate documentaries? The event coverage? The wedding films? The short films, the trailers and all the other stuff that my team and I have done? Music Videos are simple compared to all the other type of films we do and yet look at all the effort, hardwork and emotions put into it.

All I’m saying is don’t jump the bandwagon just because it’s a booming industry, you wanna be in it then you hold a responsibility for the next generation to learn the craft properly. It’s not about promoting yourself using self-proclaimed titles, let your work speak for you. That goes for all the platforms out there as well, if you’re hosting a radio show, a tv show, a web show or a blog that you can promote these talents then pick out the ones that deserve coverage. It’s a jungle out there. America has their Hollywood and the reason why it’s so successful is because of how proper it is. Rules are followed. Saudi Arabia’s market for digital media is expected to keep rising even by the year 2020, that means it’s a gold mine untouched. It is our responsibility, all of us that are involved to take care of it and protect it so that it grows properly. After all, this is how we put food on the table. And I don’t mean the arrogant type of protecting that you don’t let anyone in, that’s another issue I wanna touch, listen here, I don’t give a fuck and I believe everyone shouldn’t as well, if you’re trying to push someone out there just because you know that person. If the work is good then the work is good. What is this mafia ring you’re trying to implement here that you only let your relatives and your friends in the industry. I had a friend approach me once asking me to help him get into the film industry, I asked him basic questions about cinematography, when he couldn’t answer I asked him nicely to learn the basics and come back to me, I promise to walk him through it once he gets past that. He never brought up the topic again. In fact he even went as far as to tell our other friends that I disregarded his cry for help. No. Sorry buddy. But if you’re not willing to put in time, I can’t help you. If you’re not going to properly learn the craft and be one of those monkeys jumping around with a 600D in hanging around their necks and saying they are the best film maker then no I can’t help you and I won’t. Lastly, finally I’m feeling light headed from all these ranting and almost breaking the keys of my laptop, I wanna address the fact that this is not a competition of who does what FIRST. I don’t give if you were the first in Saudi Arabia to film on top of the Iskaan Towers and managed to get a shot of a pigeon shitting while extended in air by its wings. Work quality God damn it. WORK FUCKING QUALITY.