The merits of watching bad films

I do it all the time. I look at every movie as a learning experience. Me and a few buddies will buy some beer and stay up watching nothing but B-budget shit flicks. The knowledge you can soak up after one sitting is incredible.

Mostly though, when I see a bad movie I really study the camera shots and editing more than anything else. That way, it gives me an idea of what works on screen and what doesn't.

- Fixxxer

Absolutely.
U need to know what is bad to know what is good.
I tend to have a particular director in my head then i'll go out and rent his/her first and second movies plus their latest.
Its pretty amazing the differences in camera angles and set-ups and (in most cases)shows a true learning curve which i think is a better way of learning than say reading it from a book.

Its pretty amazing the differences in camera angles and set-ups and (in most cases)shows a true learning curve which i think is a better way of learning than say reading it from a book.[/QB][/QUOTE]

I'll agree with that 100%. Robert Rodregiez said it best when he said, "You already know how to shoot a movie...you watch movies, right?" I think he hit that on the mark, because I read and hear from Film majors say this and that, but they haven't even had any film experience themselves.

They start talking about how briliant Stanley Kubrick's camera angle is in this movie, but fuck it! You yourself knows what looks good, and what doesn't. You don't need a book or a smuck who's never directed a movie telling you what works and what doesn't. You'll know what works when you shoot it, and you might also find out that it doesn't work later down the line in editing. But you have to learn from YOUR mistakes. That's my two cents on that.

But while I'm at it, I forgot to say earlier, that I also look at the dioluge in a movie. I could be blind and know if it's a B-Budget movie, because of the word "fuck" thrown around in EVERY sentance. This works in a Tarintino movie, because it's a Tarintino movie. But I've noticed a lot of bad movies use the word "fuck" religously. Add over-acting to that word, and you've got some bad acting along with even worse dioluge.

Also when it comes to dioluge, you know it's poorly written when some British person is speaking in ebonix, or using Australian terms. I've seen so many movies, where they writer has obviously not gotten into the character's head and the character's laungue is totally misplaced in the character.

- Fixxxer

I agree with the merits of watching bad movies. In order to know what is good, you need to understand what is bad.