I’ve started learning cinematography.

Why? Tara and I are producing a short-form, vertical comedy series we’ve written for YouTube (in addition to the sketches we’ve been putting up) and it’s far more cost-effective if I can be the cinematographer on it.

We are finished waiting for people to give us permission to produce our writing. We’re going to do it ourselves.

And I’m super motived to learn cinematography because I’ll be putting the theory into practice in the next couple of months.

And that’s the secret to learning anything: make something and learn as you go.

P.S. Here’s our latest sketch if you want to take a look:

Make something and learn as you go.

Tara and I spent three years learning screenwriting. How did we learn? By writing two movies and three TV pilots. Just sitting down and writing — and rewriting based on producer notes — until we got better.

We learned by doing. And while we were in the thick of it, I read every book on screenwriting I could find. I learned the theory while actively applying it. That’s what worked.

So now, I’m taking the same approach to cinematography.

We’re going to shoot what we write. I’ll be behind the camera, figuring it out in real time. And when we’re not filming, I’ll be on YouTube, learning the difference between lighting a wide shot and a close-up, natural light vs. practicals, how to frame a scene so it moves the viewer emotionally.

I’m throwing myself into the fire — because that’s how you learn. Trial by lens.

What I’ve realized over time is that I don’t just want to be a writer. I want to be a filmmaker. And this is the first step in that evolution.

I know I won’t be great at first. My early footage will probably be too dark or too lit or just plain bad. That’s fine. That’s part of the process. That’s the price of getting good.

Because the only way to get good is to start.

Master one skill. Then master the next.

You can only really master one skill at a time. Writing was the first mountain.

Now we’re on to the next one: learning how to produce what we write — cheaply, efficiently, while maintaining quality

Why cinematography next? Because after writing and acting, it’s the most important part of production. It’s the thing the audience actually sees. It’s how the story gets translated into images… that hopefully move the viewer.

If writing is the blueprint, cinematography is putting up the frame.

And there’s a natural order to it all. First you learn to write. Then, when you’ve got something worth filming, you learn how to shoot.

I couldn’t have learned both at the same time. Writing demanded everything from me for a while. But now that muscle’s developed, and I’m ready to train the next one.

Master one skill. Then master the next. Stack them slowly and intentionally. Don’t stop.

Master skills that help build leverage.

Learning cinematography gives us permissionless leverage. We don’t have to hire someone to shoot for us. We can move faster from the idea in our head to the finished product on screen… and then hopefully to millions of screens around the world.

Cinematography is so important because it’s what makes your project look either professional or amateur. If you can master that skill — or even get competent at it — you can stretch a tiny budget a long way. You can make professional-looking work on an amateur’s budget.

Every skill I can master cuts our cost so we can make more stuff.  

That’s the goal. Not to do everything forever. But to know how to do it if you have to. So you’re never waiting on someone else to say yes.

Start now. And thanks for reading.

-Thomas

P.S. It’s time to…

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