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  "path": "/filmmakers-zines",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-20T20:29:58.000Z",
  "site": "https://nofilmschool.com",
  "tags": [
    "Creativity",
    "Zines",
    "Physical media",
    "Photography",
    "Stanley kubrick",
    "Wim wenders",
    "Creative exercise",
    "Jake Frew",
    "www.youtube.com",
    "a well-documented example of the photography-to-film pipeline",
    "13 Creative Workouts That'll Strengthen Your Cinematography",
    "Paramount/Warner merger",
    "fans of physical media",
    "Do more with less",
    "PDFImpose",
    "their next zine",
    "one from Ti West",
    "other low-stakes ways to stay creative between projects"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nThere's probably a reason so many of us love film art books or posters or even collectible figures and toys. We like to have something physical (beyond traditional physical media like Blu-rays) to show our love of the art form.\n\nThis is basically the thesis behind a recent video by Jake Frew, who proposes another way to get film and images into the world—via zines.\n\n\"One of my least favorite parts about filmmaking is that there's really no tangible output to it,\" Frew says.\n\nPhotography is obviously a good crossover activity for any filmmaker, but this isn't an activity to pull focus from your work making movies. It's about what zine-making can do for your eye, your editing instincts, and your connection to the physical world. A zine gives filmmakers something to make, hold, and trade.\n\nCheck out his video here.\n\n- YouTube www.youtube.com\n\n## Photography Works as a Collection\n\n\"Photography is so much more compelling as a collection rather than just standalone images,\" Frew says.\n\nOne photo has to carry everything by itself. A collection can distribute that weight across images, letting each one do a smaller job and build toward something cumulative. That's not so different from what editing does. You're not trying to make one perfect shot. You're building a sequence where meaning emerges from the relationship between frames.\n\nMany directors started with a still camera in their hands. Stanley Kubrick shot photojournalism for Look magazine from the age of 17, spending five years learning framing, light, and how to sequence images, building a visual grammar that would carry him to _2001_ and _The Shining_.\n\nHe's a well-documented example of the photography-to-film pipeline, but far from the only one. Tarkovsky kept a Polaroid diary throughout his career. Wim Wenders has spoken for decades about photography as his primary way of seeing.\n\nA zine makes that practice a focus. You're sequencing, making editorial decisions, and figuring out what belongs next to what and why. Every zine you make is a low-stakes rep of one of the harder skills in filmmaking.\n\n## Your Output Shapes Your Process\n\nWe talk a lot around here about knowing what your art is for. Which audience are you serving, and how can you cater to them?\n\n\"If the only place that I post photos is on Instagram, I'm probably going to cater my photographs for Instagram,\" Frew says. \"They're going to have to be attention-grabbing, and they're going to have to be incredible standalone images.\"\n\nWhen your target is a zine, you're shooting for texture, feeling, atmosphere, not likes. That's a completely different creative muscle.\n\nIf you need inspiration for where to start, check out 13 Creative Workouts That'll Strengthen Your Cinematography. Filmmakers can use these photography-based exercises to practice composition and lighting without a crew. You'll get better at composition, lighting, color—all the things you're always trying to get right on set.\n\n## Physical Media Isn't Nostalgia\n\nOkay, maybe it is, a little. My household has certainly been on a physical media kick since the announcement of the impending Paramount/Warner merger. Streaming has never felt permanent. There are movies on Netflix that I worry could disappear at any moment (please release _The Ritual_ on DVD, I beg you).\n\nDigital is where the money is, so platforms push digital. But physical demands your presence. You can't scroll past it. And it lasts. Your MySpace photos are probably gone. Instagram is another one where a single glitch can wipe everything. A printed zine in someone's hands has a better chance of staying put.\n\nWe've written about this before, so we're definitely fans of physical media. It matters enormously to filmmaking.\n\n## What a Zine Is (And What It Isn't)\n\nA zine is \"a noncommercial, often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter.\" You've probably seen them at your local music or book store.\n\nFrew says, in his case, he's not making a photo book. \"This should not be this, like, incredibly high-quality finished product.\"\n\nInstead, it should feel DIY, imperfect, and accessible. That's the point. In an age of artificial intelligence and super-high gloss, the humanity is part of the charm. Do more with less.\n\nThe format he recommends: 8.5 x 11 paper, folded in half, saddle-stitched with a long-arm stapler. Ships anywhere in the US for about $1.50.\n\nFor printing options, look at office supply stores (which are convenient, but can be inconsistent in quality across runs), or print your own. Frew moved to printing on premium matte presentation paper with a scoring board for clean folds, which gave him his best results so far.\n\nOne thing to know going in is \"print imposition.\" That's the page-ordering logic for booklet printing (which image lands on which physical page after folding). It sounds complicated, but it takes about 10 minutes of tutorial-watching to figure out. There are also online resources like PDFImpose to help you.\n\n## Make One and Trade It\n\nZines are meant to be traded and sent around. Heck, A24 is about to send out their next zine. I love getting mine in the mail every few months and trying to guess at the next theme. The one from Ti West is a personal fav.\n\nA zine fits in a 6x9 envelope. It's a physical thing you made that you can put in someone's hands. Frew admits, \"I basically just made this whole video because I just want more people to do this.\"\n\nThere's a community angle that filmmakers often miss. If the result is about swapping work, getting eyes on something small and real, and building relationships around a shared creative practice, then it might feel easier to you. It's a little lower-stakes than asking someone to read your script or watch your feature.\n\nWe spend a lot of time waiting, whether it's for the next project, the next opportunity, or the response from that person you respect. Zines are something you can make right now, with what you have.\n\nIf you need them, we've got ideas for other low-stakes ways to stay creative between projects.",
  "title": "Why Filmmakers Should Start Making Zines"
}