How many times have you told yourself that you don't have what it takes to make films? Films take time, money, talent, and creativity; more often than not, you feel like you just don't have any of those things. Maybe your parents have told you that it's a waste of time. Maybe you've already tried to break into the industry and failed. Maybe you haven't made anything in years because your inner child has been replaced by your inner critic who is constantly telling you that you're going to fail.

If this is you, you should watch this video by Simon Cade of DSLRguide immediately.


When I was in first grade, my teacher asked the class to draw a picture of our favorite animal. Once everyone was done, we sat in a circle so we could show everyone what we drew. When my teacher held up my picture—it was of a cheetah—a boy laughed and pointed at it, and that was the first time in my life that I ever realized that something I made could be seen as "good" or "bad." 

So many of us spend our whole lives being afraid of failure, of making a film people hate or don't care about, but until we realize that not making films is a bigger, more painful failure, we'll always be slaves to caring too much about what other people think. I really liked that cheetah picture I drew—and I actually like all of the bad films I've made, but I pretend to hate them because I assume other people hate them. If we're honest, isn't that how it usually goes?

"One day I'd like to be as carefree as a child painting a page with delight, because kids don't worry themselves with the reasons why not."

Cade really nailed it with this one. I wish I could go back to the time before that boy laughed at my drawing when I would literally throw paint at a page just to see what would happen (other than getting a referral) because I didn't care about failure, acclaim, ridicule, fame, or success. The only thing I cared about was seeing what the paint would do. I just wanted to see what would happen.

As a community, we need to throw more paint, because seriously—why not?

Source: DSLRguide