Making Films with Miller

Graves Miller posing with his film tape socks. Photo Creds: Jaxson Marsh, Watauga Publishing.

Jax Marsh, Staff Writer to The Powderhorn

Graves Miller, a junior at Watauga High School has pursued an interest in filmmaking for the past few years. He has made a variety of projects on his YouTube channel, Uncle Productions, most of which he created for the Film Studies class that he took in the fall semester of this year. He has always had an interest in filmmaking, but only recently decided to expand his portfolio.

“My dad always did video editing because he had a little YouTube thing going on,” said Miller. “That kind of started it and I wanted to make movies and so I just did everything.”

After discovering his interest in filmmaking, Miller found that he had a particular skill in media production.

“So I did some video editing for that [class] and that's when it really got cooking. That's when I really got some experience and got a lot better, when I started working on films,” said Miller. “But a few smaller YouTube projects got me familiar with it.”

Miller’s creative sense thrives when he’s making films with friends.

“The best part is working with people, because if you’re trying to do it on your own, it's just your ideas, and it can be difficult for some reason,” Miller said.

Miller believes that one of the largest challenges a filmmaker may encounter is the initial phase of starting a new project.

“Writing is the hardest part,” said Miller. “Because it never ends up good. When you first start writing something, it's like, ‘Gosh, this is terrible, this is terrible,’. But you just got to get going with it. And then once you start going out there and filmmaking, then it's awesome.”

Although Miller has many projects that he’s fond of, he finds it easy to pick out his favorite.

“I can easily pick that out. It's 'A Triple Agent.' Because that was the final [exam] for our Film Studies class,” said Miller. “We filmed more locations, more stupid jokes, and crazy stuff and all that. All of it was to the max and it was really fun.”

After gaining meaningful experience through his Film Studies class and his Youtube channel, Miller offers some helpful advice for filmmakers looking to improve.

“When I wanted to get into filmmaking, I would look at a lot of YouTube videos and interviews with directors,” said Miller. “And something that I never heard, but that I think is the most important thing I've learned, is that you can just get started and that's it. You can make a movie and become a filmmaker.”