May 15 / Christian Bull

Picasso learned to draw before he broke the rules.

The first film that I ever worked on as a supervisor was John Carter, a Disney film that was at the time the most expensive film ever made (and this was after Avatar). It's actually a good film, directed by world class director Andrew Stanton (of Wall-E and Finding Nemo fame), but I'm guessing you haven't seen it. It totally bombed at the box office.

In an interview with a UK film critic, Stanton defended his approach saying that big budget was just what he did, he hadn't come up through the indie scene - his first films were for Pixar on a Pixar budget.

As much as I enjoyed working on John Carter (which was for nearly 2 years of my life!), and as great as I think it looks, I know that it could've been done for a tonne less money, and that part of the spiralling costs was because Stanton was coming from an animation background, not live action.

Even though the most important aspects of film are identical whether the results are generated in camera or in 3D, the tools are different.

I see this on almost every film that I work on - if there is any area that the director and producer don't understand (VFX being a prime example), there's a huge financial cost to that ignorance. On a Hollywood budget, you can pay your way through to the other side (which normally means reshoots and/or lots of post production work). On an indie budget, it can be devastating.

God knows I talk a lot about how it's the fundamentals that matter and not the tools, but the truth is they're mutually dependent. The best tools in the world will count for nothing if you don't have any skill using them (AI slop proves that point perfectly). But mastering tools gives you significantly better control and depth of your creative output, and in film allows you to manage your cost much better.

Throughout the history of art, this has been well understood. Renaissance artists would hone their skill in workshops as apprentices, spending years learning the tools. Picasso was a master figurative painter before he moved into abstraction.

It is true that raw artistic expression will find a form regardless of tools. Rothko couldn't draw a tenth as well as Picasso, but his work still changed the art landscape - although I'd argue he did it in a screaming, primal way. Incredibly powerful, but difficult to direct.

This week's new content looks at bit depth, colour space, and scopes in Resolve. I completely understand how daunting that can be for those of you not used to technical tools, but I'm going to ask you to take a deep breath and try it. You can always reach out here or on Discord if you’ve got more questions

Filmmaking is to a large extent a technical craft, and honestly the technical parts don't excite me. I don't geek out over lenses, camera sensors, software updates. I know many people who do, but it gives me a headache. Figuring out how to teach it in a way that’s accessible to everyone keeps me up at night. And yet I spend a huge chunk of my time working on it.

Because as a filmmaker, I don't have any excuse to not understand the tools, and the time and effort it takes to overcome the technical hurdles pays off tenfold in the freedom that it gives me to create.

As the Editing in Resolve for Absolute Beginners series continues, we'll be able to unlock some breath taking creative power in the colour page - but only if you take the plunge and learn the tools!

Picasso learned to draw before he broke the rules.

Two years on the most expensive film ever made taught me why.

The $250M lesson.

The real cost of not knowing your tools

Tools and craft: not separate conversations

Which brings us to this week’s 7 NEW VIDEOS!

Picasso learned to draw before he broke the rules.

Two years on the most expensive film ever made taught me why.

The $250M lesson.

The real cost of not knowing your tools

Tools and craft: not separate conversations

Which brings us to this week’s 7 NEW VIDEOS!

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