How to become a documentary filmmaker?

Are there any possibilities to become a good filmmaker after engineering?

• how to become a filmmaker after engineering and does any of the skills help in film making?

• Answer:

  Perhaps the most famous career switch in the history of cinema was Edward Yang, the great Taiwanese New Wave director. He was electrical engineering major and worked as one for several years. After getting tired of self doubt for years, he mustered enough courage to apply to USC film school. However, some silly lards gave him lousy advice and he quit. He went back to his former career and everything went well until he saw Werner Herzog's masterpiece, Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). The rest was history. He went back to Taiwan and wrote screenplays and slowly morphed into one of the most important Chinese directors of 1980s-1990s. A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Yi Yi (2000) Yang's biography is quite inspiring. He was a humble little guy. As an engineer, he tended to break film process into components. People with science background tend to see film as a formal issue. There is nothing wrong with that. It does help one to understand rhythm and pace of the film. In this respect, one could have a better feel for editing, too. Look at Sergei Eisenstein's films. He is a technical wizard. He understands rhythm like no one in history. Watch Alexander Nevsky. It is an amazing feat of editing. The film has a flow from beginning to end. Nicolas Roeg and Alan Resnais are great formal directors. Here are some directors with science background: Paul Verhoeven: mathematics. Brian De Palma: physics.