Every aspiring filmmaker has his/her own story of how they fell in love with Inspirational Movies and planned to enter this field. That one particular moment of inspiration can come from anywhere, from watching a casual advertisement to seeing a short film on a phone or by Inspirational Movies. But it mostly involves sitting down in a dark movie theater, eyes jammed on the big screen, completely struck by the muse. Inspirational Movies are meant for every filmmaker to watch.

Sometimes, these movies that induce inspiration in the mind of budding filmmakers are themselves the very start of a groundbreaking career where the initial filmmakers have only a few resources and a firm voice. This chain of passing inspiration continues with every generation, leaving a mark on cinematic history. Here are some examples of some best and memorable movies to learn filmmaking:

1. The Shining

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, based on the bestselling novel of Stephen King is a movie that every aspiring filmmaker or a normal human has seen. Other than its extremely complex and horror-generating genre, what makes this film stand out is its subtle cinematography. Be it the use of symmetrical shots of the hallway and doors to match our attention to the little kid’s character who has encountered the twin girls or his using real lamps to give real-like visual effects, the movie delivers all.

2. Inception

Till this date, Inception stands out from the crowd for its mind-boggling concept of a dream within a dream sequence. Apart from the very unique and confusing plot, what makes inception worth remembering are its visual effects. Christopher Nolan’s use of imagery such as street folding over Paris or characters creating architecture out of air was larger than life.

3. Avatar

One of the highest-grossing films of all time, Avatar was one of the most groundbreaking movies that inspired filmmakers on a big level. Due to the revolutionizing use of 3D and CGI, while mixing the real footage and the live motion-captured CGI i.e. image-based facial performance, the technology was out of time.

4. Jurassic Park (1994)

Unlike many others on this list, Spielberg didn’t rely on CGI as his go-to tool. Why the dinosaurs looked so authentic and nerve-wracking was because only 4-5 minutes of the total 15 minutes of dinosaurs’ scenes were computer-generated or were made by using machines, using jet sounds as T-rex sound. The rest was done through practical visual effects to make the dinosaurs’ illusion photo realistic.

5. Contact

A movie that tricks your brain and leaves you wondering is one of the best kinds and that’s exactly what Contact is. Who can ever forget that tricky mirror shot with seamless visual effects, where one might think he/she is following the character up front, only to find out it was the reflection in the mirror all along.

6. Birdman

Freaking fantastic! The sole idea of the film appearing in a “single-shot” was brilliant, let alone its beautiful execution. To submerge us, the spectators into an inescapable reality of life, which has no edits, Alejandro used several extended shots to take us with him.

7. 12 Angry Men

Talk about effect! This movie, apart from its opening and the closing sequence was shot all in a single jury room! The trial of a young man and the decision of death sentence in that single room was enough to grip the audience in suspense while inducing an aura of claustrophobia.

8. Lord of the Rings/Hobbit

One of the most-watched and celebrated movies of all time, LOTR used some of the most intriguing forced perspective techniques to make wonderful optical illusions, such as making our Frodo Baggins so much smaller than Gandalf.

9. Hardcore Henry

Can anyone name the best first-person POV movie which strikes the fine balance between the unrelenting and nausea-inducing scene? No one can! With hundreds of stabilization tests run, attachments of custom-built camera rigs, and a dozen stuntmen, the scene with the Go Pro fully immerses us, daring us to even catch our breaths!

10. 1917

Another trick for the eyes! While many of us thought that the very shot of Corporal running through a destroyed town and jumping off in a river was all one long, continuous take, it wasn’t. With some clever shooting and editing, they were just extremely long shots connected all together to give it a feeling of one long take! 

These were some of our best inspirational movie picks that will help to start a career in filmmaking. It’ll help you to get out there and get your creative juices flowing. Pick, learn and start creating your very own journey and face all the challenges a filmmaker faces as a beginner only to find your movie on the Billboard one day.