I kid, I kid. If only it were that easy.

In all seriousness though. This is what we all strive for right? We want to be successful filmmakers. The good news is that while not a comprehensive or exhaustive list these 5 easy steps can be applied to almost any area of your life.

1) Determine what being a “successful filmmaker” means to YOU.
This may be the most important, yet most often overlooked, step of all. If you spend your time chasing someone else’s idea of what a “successful filmmaker” is supposed to be you will find your resources drained, your creativity zapped, and a general unhappiness that will just be a roadblock to your further development. Does your personal measure of success come in the form of financial security? Do you need accolades and awards? Are you just as content to know that you produced a quality film that tells a great story? You need to set a goal first, only then can you take the necessary steps towards achieving it.

2) Find YOUR Voice.
The key is to find your voice and your own style. Figure out what kind of a filmmaker you want to be. If you are not passionate about your subject matter your work will in turn suffer. There is nothing wrong with studying other peoples work and adapting techniques to fit your own style. The key here is to not just copy what someone else is doing. Try to push yourself. The most unique thing about you is that you see things in a way that no one else on the face of the planet does. We all have an inner monologue going on that no one else does. Everything that has happened to you in your life, the good, the bad and the ugly, has shaped you into a unique individual with a distinctive view of the world-at-large. It would be foolish not to tap into your greatest resource. Yourself.

3) Show Up.
The biggest difference between people who are successful and those that fail is simply showing up and trying.
It seems stupid to say but unless you have the best luck in the world no one is going to come knocking down your door throwing piles of money at you. You have to get out there and do it.

4) Accept Criticism.
You don’t have to agree with it. Take it all with a grain of salt but be receptive. Don’t get defensive, just think about it and see if there is any validity to it. If you don’t agree by all means stick to your guns but don’t do it in a stubborn and blind manner.

5) Never Stop Learning.
If you think you know it all you are probably wrong. Devote yourself to being a life-long student. Only a foolish person thinks there is nothing they can improve. If you are constantly learning and trying new things you will be on the right path. In order to evolve we need new information. We need to shake up the status quo. Education is our greatest weapon and information is our best ammunition.

Have your own tips on how to be successful? Leave us some nuggets below.

Lesson #1
The best thing about DSLR’s has nothing to do with technology.
For me, the best part of the entire tour was the meet-ups afterwards. Meeting so many like-minded people was inspiring and reinvigorating. The whole “civil war” that goes on, via Twitter and forums, about what camera is best, and why people with DSLR’s are inferior, etc. is a useless self-mastabatory exercise, that I want nothing to do with. Seriously, I wish people stopped wasting their time being negative, and got out more and created something great. There are no more acceptable excuses. The only thing stopping you… is YOU. That being said, there is a contingent of amazing talented people from the nations capitol of D.C. to the dusty streets of Albuquerque. Local DSLR groups were sprouting up behind us like Fight Clubs as we weaved our way across the country. That made the whole trip worthwhile. So seek out fellow filmmakers in your area and get to it. People are our greatest resource not technology.

Lesson 2
Don’t ask what, ask why?
Philip Bloom made this point and it is a great one. If you ask someone what camera they shot something on, follow it up with “Why?” Why someone chose a camera or lens is more important then what camera or lens.

Lesson 3
42 days is a long time to be away from home.
That may seem like an obvious thing but my point is that sometimes until something is taken away from you, you never fully appreciate it. So, if you have a roof over your head, friends, and loved ones at home, don’t take them for granted. I’m really trying to be more thankful for all that I have in life. Also, if you have a bulldog named Bruiser, he may get so excited when you finally do get back that he pees all over the kitchen floor, so have some 409 and paper towels handy.

Lesson 4
Don’t ever let your ego get too big. Always stay humble.
Philip Bloom has a huge following. He was the headliner of the tour, but when the bags had to get loaded up, and equipment had to get schlepped around. He was right there with us. That’s how it should be.
Someone came up to me at one of the events and said, ” I’m really glad you guys are so down to earth. Don’t take this the wrong way but, I kind of thought you might be dicks.” I was taken aback at first, but then he went on to explain how he had been to other events and some people get a following on the internet and then treat other people like they are better then them. He told me I was “famous on Twitter.” I laughed and said, “I do the same things everyone else does. I eat, sleep and put my pants on one leg at a time.” The minute you start to think you are better then everyone else, even if you are super talented, is the minute you start to lose respect from people when they actually meet you. Plus it’s just a dick move, so let’s keep it classy.

Lesson 5
No matter what the show must go on.
The show can be anything. Work. Life. Whatever you happen to be doing. There will always be snafus, snags, and pitfalls. You just have to keep your head down and keep it moving forward. Whether it was technical problems at venues, delayed flights, or getting sick, we just kept going. You can’t just throw your hands in the air, and say, “This problem is too big. I give up!” The biggest difference between people who are successful, and people who fail in life is just showing up. Talent is obviously important, but persistence is imperative.

Lesson 6
No matter how big the idea, if you put your mind to it and work hard, you can do it.
When we finished the workshop at the last stop in L.A. it was bittersweet. However, I have never been as proud in my life. Philip obviously worked extremely hard on the presentations,helping lug around gear, promoting the event, and we never could have done it without him. That being said: the team behind the logistics of the tour: answering emails from potential attendees, designing the website, contacting sponsors, booking hotels and flights, finding venues, finding meet-up venues, buying all the necessary cables/projection equipment, contacting local video associations, promoting, and countless other tasks we didn’t foresee consisted of Cristina and myself. It was a process that spanned 6 months and consumed countless hours of our lives. It had it’s ups and downs. At the end of the tour, though, we did it. We successfully pulled it off. We made up our mind that we were going to do it, and we saw it through. If the two of us were able to do that, it is proof that if set your mind to it, and are determined, you can do anything you want.

Anyway, that’s a few lessons we learned on the road. Hope it didn’t come off as self-important, it is just a few things I needed to remind myself of, as much as anything. If you happened to attend any of the #CFLive workshops, we’d love to hear what you learned. If you didn’t attend the workshops, we’d still love to hear what you think, so leave a comment and let’s keep the conversation going.

Clarification:
What I am referring to here is that the frame rate in your Capture Settings, not Log and Transfer, needs to match the frame rate of your footage and your Sequence Settings.

So, we’ve received tons of questions about how to setup and use your Glidecam so we decided to put this together. We’re planning on doing another video that will go more into specific techniques so please let us know if you’d like to see anything else or if you have any questions. By no means do I claim to be an expert on this subject so any comments are welcome

Enjoy.

From Go Pro’s website:

One Button Mode simplifies recording video and photos with your HD HERO. With One Button Mode, your camera will start recording video or photos automatically when you power the camera ‘ON’ and will only stop recording when you power the camera ‘OFF’. The shutter button is deactivated in One Button Mode. You can only turn the camera on and off, making it the perfect setting for loaning the it to friends or newbies.

Now you can take videos and photos with the camera mounted upside down without having to rotate the files later. In UPd, all videos and photos will be saved to your SD card right-side up.

Display live feed SD or HD video and audio straight out of the camera to a TV, handheld viewer, or video transmitter. Allows viewing a live video signal during preview, recording, and playback of saved files.

Display battery life, camera mode, and recording status icons on your live feed video signal with ‘On Screen Display’ turned on, or turn it off to transmit only the video without any status icons.

If you live in a PAL region (most regions outside of North America) you can now record in the PAL broadcast standard of 25 / 50 fps in the following resolutions:

r1 WVGA 50fps
r2 1280×720 25fps
r3 1280×720 50fps
r4 1280×960 25fps
r5 1920×1080 25fps

Go Pro firmware update