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Amateur

Amateur films are movies, short films, and other traditional and experimental media created in a non-commercial setting.

This category contains websites about the making of amateur films. All websites must be in English.

There are subcategories for amateur filmmaking companies, titles, online venues, and help and FAQs. Please submit to the appropriate subcategory where possible.

For commercial filmmaking companies, please see Business: Industries: Arts and Entertainment: Media Production.

Filmmakers

Amateurs are people who do filmmaking purely for their own entertainment or for the purposes of learning the filmmaking process. Amateurs can be high school students, film students, or anyone else who makes films for fun.

The films are typically made on low or no budget, though this is entirely dependent on how much the filmmakers are willing to spend on their hobby. Amateur films are often made with equipment and media that are considered low quality compared with their commercial film and broadcast equivalents -- for example, 8mm film and home camcorders. However, in some cases amateurs use commercial equipment that they have obtained used, or have rented. Some of the digital formats can be low budget yet quite high quality.

This category contains sites belonging to groups of amateur filmmakers. For the most part, any production company or filmmaking group who considers themselves to be amateurs probably belongs here.

For sites offering commercial filmmaking services, please see Business: Arts and Entertainment: Media Production.

Titles

Amateur films are typically made by people for whom filmmaking is a hobby or learning experience. The films usually have little or no budget and are often made using inexpensive, readily available formats such as 8mm or home video.

This category contains sites that are about a single amateur film, not including short films. Such sites typically include stills, synopses, cast and crew information, and details about the production company or group that made it. There might also be a way to download the film for viewing online, or a way to purchase a video.

For sites that include several films by the same amateur filmmakers, see Arts: Movies: Filmmaking: Amateur: Production Companies and Groups.

For short films of any kind, please see Arts: Movies: Filmmaking: Short Films: Titles

For festival films and other independent titles that have not been commercially released, see Arts: Movies: Filmmaking: Independent: Titles.

For sites about commercially released titles, see Arts: Movies: Titles.