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How to make movies
Film making - Learn the
basics to becoming a film maker
Benefits of these insider movie making tips:
1) You will be able to go from Pre-production to Post once
you read Indy Insider Tips.
You will have the information you need to go from concept to screenplay and from
the shoot to Post-production. You will discover how easy it is to make your own
film with info on how to make your film look as professional as possible.
2) Promotion, Film Festivals and Distribution.
Once your film is finished you will get the tips on how to promote it. You will
learn the value of film festivals in the filmmaking process. All the info
written in this E-book will assist you in getting to distribution.
Here is what you will learn inside this movie making guide:
· How to develop a concept
· How to write a professional screenplay.
· How to purchase and operate the camera.
· How to light your scenes professionally.
· Audio for your film.
· Finding a location.
· How to make a production schedule.
· A list of equipment you will need.
· How to promote your film
Start With a Good Story
To begin with, in a nutshell, filmmaking is
broken down into three parts. Pre-production, Production, and Post-production.
Distribution is the last part, way down on the timeline and doesn’t come into
play until everything is in the can. However, if you are ever going to get to
distribution you will need to spend a great deal of time in the Pre-production
phase. There are times when you don’t have that luxury, especially if you are
shooting on the fly, but more often than not a film can take years to make. This
can keep it in the Pre-production process much longer.
If I was to write about filmmaking, and I am (wink), I guess I would have to
start with the script, story, or concept. Screenwriting is usually split into
three different styles. They are: narrative (linear), non-linear, and
documentary. Narrative stories follow a timeline taking the story from beginning
and moving chronologically to the end.
Non-linear is the opposite of chronological. An example of a non-linear is the
movie “Momento” or “Pulp Fiction”. These directors chopped up time and used time
sequencing to throw the viewer off balance. While non-linear has gained
popularity, it seems that the narrative film is the more enduring style. It is
much more difficult for folks to figure out what is going on in the non-linear
format, that may be one of the reasons it is used.
The third format would simply be, documentary. This is a real-time reality
presentation letting the facts present themselves with little or no direction or
editing. Documentary is different from Narrative in that the director works to
keep from manipulating the production as little as possible. Narrative film is
all about the director manipulating a scene to illicit certain reactions from
the viewer, therein lies the difference between the two.
Depending on the story you are telling, you will choose the best format to use.
While the narrative and linear may have traditional scripting, you may have to
refer to an interview script in the documentary format. This may simply be a
list of questions to be asked, usually by an off camera interviewer, allowing
the subject/talent to drive the dialog.
Many times there is no real dialog to script except for the questions an
interviewer will ask. Much of documentary film is done by showing up and filming
things as they are happening with some narration to explain to the viewer what
they are watching.
There was a type of documentary films referred to Cinema Veritέ. This means
“cinema truth” in French and of course was made popular by the French in the
1950’s. This was done as an effort to remove artifice from film to allow a more
truthful depiction of a story.
In Veritέ the camera is to be merely set up and turned on. Additionally there is
to be as little editing as possible. The theory being that even the act of
editing a film is manipulating the true representation of what is really
(truthfully) happening. Hey, these guys would have loved Reality TV, but at the
time (1950’s) Veritέ was considered cutting edge.
So now you need an idea, a concept, an inspiration. If you want to make film you
have to have a story or two in you, so if you don’t already have a story itching
to get out, then you need to brainstorm. The word brainstorm means that your
brain puts out, literally, a storm of energy with all the ideas pouring out like
swollen rain gutters.
This will happen somewhere after your first cup of coffee on a Sunday morning or
in the shower, maybe even on a street corner. You got into the idea of
filmmaking because to some extent you must be a creative person. So, I recommend
lots of caffeine and your favourite conditions for daydreaming.
Your most comfortable chair, and a good computer are always good, but
inspiration can come at inconvenient times when you are away from the comfort of
your own computer and desk. Always have something to write with and a piece of
paper handy in case of the “writing rapture” or sudden inspiration.
Another way to handle this is to have a small tape recorder or a voice
recognition software. There are several inexpensive MP3 players that play/store
music as well as letting you record. These will have a small Microphone already
in the device. Use this to get your ideas down.
When you are in the grocery store or just crossing the street it is a good idea
to be able to get it (your inspired ideas) down before it leaks back out of your
ear. I swear from the crosswalk to the car I can forget an idea, that is how
scattered my brain is. If however, all you are left to write down your ideas
with is a purple crayon and an old piece of paper, well then, just go with it.
It is always nice to have a partner in the writing process. Actually, it is good
to have a partner through the whole production process. Ben Affleck and Matt
Damon are the most notable partnership that comes to mind. Having each other to
bounce ideas off of can make things happen quicker and it is a hell of a lot
more fun.
Dialog is not done in a vacuum. Someone has to write it and someone has to say
it, then someone has to hear it. This is a symbiotic relationship, each part
depending on the other, hence the need for a partnership of some sort to use as
a sounding board.
The most exciting time for me in the whole screenwriting process is to have
taken a class in writing screenplays and to have a panel reading in that class.
Everyone in the class has to pick a scene from their screenplay and have a panel
of people read it aloud to an audience consisting of the rest of the class.
All participants in the class have an opportunity to be the author, the actor
and the audience each in their own turn. After the reading, each student’s
script is discussed. This has got to be one of the best experiences in writing I
have ever had especially for writing comedy.
In comedy, you know immediately if you’ve got winning dialog just by whether you
get the laugh or not. Not everyone can achieve this so don’t be discouraged if
you don’t get a laugh. That is what your group can help you figure out
afterward, this is where the brainstorming comes in. Comedy is difficult to
write. You have to have a good sense of timing. It seems with comedy, you either
have a gift for it or you don’t.
The trick here is to do these group readings regularly with a line of
progression happening in the film writing process. The idea is to have a whole
screenplay at the end of it all. It doesn’t matter if it is two people or a
whole group of people, but do meet with your partners, meet regularly and do
your writing in between. At the end of a few months you will have something to
show for your efforts.
It’s all in the rewrite. Rewriting will be the Bain of your existence as a
writer but you will eventually find out that it is a process that pays off
greatly in the end. Additionally, you will want to save your drafts from each
rewrite because you may want to refer to them later, so try to keep each version
complete. I suggest making files expressly for your different drafts and you may
want to keep these and all your writing in a safe place. Make back-up copies on
a Thumb drive or disk and keep that in a safe place in case something happens,
like your computer crashing.
Once you have it on paper, tell your story to you parents, your wife, your kids,
your sister or brother, your best friend and just about anybody that knows you
intimately. Observe their reactions. If they are negative don’t worry, move onto
telling a friend or someone else that may be more objective.
Be careful how you tell your story because you are not in the business of giving
away your ideas for free however, do tell it or parts of it and see how people
react. You do not tell stories or write screenplays in a vacuum. You must want
at some level to please the public, therefore you must have some sort of an
arena for you to gage how effective your story is.
I wrote a screenplay for class and I felt very passionate about it. I was very
excited to hear what would happen after it was read by a panel of students in my
class. The reaction to the reading was a split, one half of the class loved it
and the other half had a big reaction to it. It made them uncomfortable and they
didn’t like it. They all had loud opinions about the script.
At first I was very worried but then the teacher finally had his word with the
class on their split opinion. He told them that my screenplay was effective. Not
necessarily because everyone liked it, but because it had people on both sides
of the issue reacting and talking, this caused them to engage in a dialog about
the issues that the film brought out.
The teacher told the class that it didn’t matter what they said, at least they
were all talking. I thought it sounded a bit like “all press it good, even bad
press”, but he seemed to think that this was a good indicator of how my script
would be received. After I thought about it I saw that he had a point.
When the movie “Monster’s Ball” came out I heard what people said around me
about it. There were those that just did not like it and there were those that
thought the sex in the movie was just gross, yada, yada, yada. I, however, saw
the sex as an integral part of the film. While the act of Hallie Barry having
sex right after the death of her son was considered an irreverent and
inappropriate one, it was also seen by other’s as very honest and very human and
life affirming.
Most importantly, it had people talking and you can’t ask for better press that
that. Hallie Barry needed this vehicle to punch her through to the success she
gained in being the first Black Woman to win an Oscar. She would not have made
it through with a role that was written limp-wristed. It had to have an edge to
it. The old Hollywood formula of screenwriting has changed.
There are some that still prefer a good conflict neatly resolved at the end of
the story but there is now an equal share of the market going to those that
write about stories that do not have nice neat resolutions to them. These are
the movies that are meant to be unsettling and make you ask “now what did they
mean by that?” So whatever you story happens to be, just tell it.
When you are out observing people at someplace like the mall, notice their
movements and expressions. If they are talking, listen shamelessly to what they
are saying. If it is interesting you won’t be able to help yourself. Use it in
your screenplay. This type of observing can help you to make your sketches for
the characters in your script.
There can be several triggers to get the script out on the page. Do character
development borrowing from you own environment. Your story can spring up from a
well-developed character sketch, or perhaps a story can be found in the
location. Certainly location can drive many things in the script. Time period
can also drive a screenplay. While many a script is written in the present,
there are those that are written in the past or even in the future. This can
determine many different factors in your story.
All of these elements of story development are used when creating your
character’s back-story. The back-story consists of the details of life prior to
your character in the here and now. The back-story can make your character more
three dimensional, more real. The back-story provides the character’s
motivations as well.
You might think writing a back-story to be a waste of time, but you will find
yourself referring to it again and again. While this may not prove to be useful
for the present film you are working on, many a sequel has been built off of the
back-story to the original film. You will also refer to the back-story because
it may give you motivations and keep you consistent with your “facts” so the
continuity of the script is not compromised.
Scriptwriters for screen and television have very specific formats for their
scripts. This is something that you should study before you actually submit a
completed script. If you are working off of your own script for production you
generally don’t have to worry about the form being perfect, but if you submit it
to the studio or their representatives then keep as close to the expected format
as you can.
I hate the red pen. They even call it “red-lining” a script. If you are
fortunate to shop your film and get it picked up by a studio then you may have
to deal with the red pen used to hack your original story into more of what the
studio thinks it should be. This is the main reason that Independent film has
grown like wildfire. The artist can maintain the integrity of his screenplay
with no major changes to the script.
It is important to remember that there is a distinct difference between writing
for film and writing for television. Television, although it has expanded, it
still in the box and on the small screen. Television is dialog driven while film
is not. It is not necessary to have dialog in a film for a story to be told. So
when writing for Film, understand that there is a difference.
It has been said that the test of a good film is to watch it with the sound
turned off. You should be able to follow the story just by the movement of the
film. None of that talking head stuff works in film the way it does in TV. One
can easily write for both Film and Television but you have to keep in mind that
they are 2 very different mediums.
If you are used to watching TV or you have written for TV you will be expecting
dialog rich scripting, but with film be careful with your use of dialog. When
writing for film, remember not to write too many stage directions as this is the
director’s job and they get a little fussy about that.
There are many sound elements to write from. Some of these are: the ambient
sound in the film environment, the musical soundtrack, the character dialog, or
voice over narration. These are all elements that can be written into the script
like dialog. They tell the story just as effectively as straight dialog.
There is screenwriting software available with the templates already in place
for you to plug in your script. Shop and see what is out there, but at the least
try to get a book on how this is done. Upon further research I found a site to
help out. Lester Crombie from the Queensland School of Film and Television has
kindly made available a simple template for download.
Put “Lester Crombie ” in Google or the search engine of your choice and he has
for download a very simple template for screenwriting and also a download for a
manual in PDF file format. There are software packages out there that are
costly… about $100 but this one should get you started. Personally I feel you
don’t need all the bells and whistles, just a basic template that you can use to
plug your screenplay into.
One of the things that can drive you crazy is worrying about getting “it” just
right. Writing dialog can be challenging in that a natural flow will need to
happen. Audiences will be turned off by stiff and phony sounding dialog. While
that is the ultimate goal, you may have to rewrite a line several times to
achieve this.
It is ironic that you have to work so hard to make it sound natural but this is
important. However, that can all be changed and reworked later, first just get
what comes out of your mind down on paper. If you sit and look at a computer
screen for hours and type nothing you will never start.
There are a few simple things that all full-length screenplays have in common.
They will all have the same length. The Hollywood movie has gone with the same
formula for many years and it is still the standard by which most screenwriters
all write.
A typical screenplay will have 120 pages. It will consist of 3 acts separated
into 30 pages for each act. Each page of scripting represents about 1 minute of
screen time with the majority of films running between 90 and 120 minutes.
As a first film it may be easier for you to write a short film. There are many
short films that have really wonderful stories that can’t be told in 90 minutes.
This gives the short film a chance to be made. This is a great opportunity for
you to make your first film. Short films can be good for the first time
filmmaker for a number of reasons.
The first reason in favour of producing a short film is that you have a greater
chance of having your film being completed. A short film is manageable on a low
budget and the financing of your film will assuredly be the biggest stumbling
block. Producing a 60 second Public Service Announcement seemed like it should
be easy, but you have no idea how long 60 seconds can be. I do because I had to
produce a 60 PSA for a station I once worked for. My advice is to try the short
film first, as a matter of fact, do a couple before moving on to a feature
length.
Also in the beginning you will have to depend on the good graces of your actors
and crew. A short film is a good way to have your actors in and out quickly so
they don’t get peevish about their time spent. You never know when you might
need them for the next film. The most important thing you need to remember to
budget is food service. You must feed your people or they will revolt. The one
thing you want is to keep your talent and crew happy.
When you have, for the most part, finished your script and wish to share it with
others it is recommended that you write a treatment. A treatment is a short
description of your screenplay outlining what the story is about. Treatments
consist of 3 or 4 pages and each page represents one act of your screenplay.
They can be a bit longer but no more than an extra page or two.
The treatment has to be the best of your screenplay and it must be written in a
very clever way. This is what you show around to garner interest in your
screenplay. Show the treatment to your mom and dad, your sister and brother,
your best friend, and maybe even your instructor at school. While they are
offering advice you have a chance to gage their
reactions, and decide if these responses are what you want from your viewing
audience. Listen to their feedback and make whatever necessary script changes
that may come to your attention.
Call this group of people that you share with your “Core Group”. This group has
to be people your trust. Not necessarily your mom or dad, but people that you
are sure of in your trust of them. It is a difficult thing to have to discuss
and while it would be nicer to pretend it doesn’t happen, there are those people
out there that will steal your work. Read up on how to protect your ideas before
you put them out there on Front Street.
Look up copyrighting your work on the Internet. You will probably find an
example of the “Poor Man’s Copyright” as one of the ways of protecting your
work. Maybe one of your classmates suggested you use this method, but I would
advise against it. Instead register your screenplay with the Writer’s Guild of
America.
Next send away for a copy of the application for copyright (Application Form PA)
at the following address:
Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20559
Don’t be foolish and let this one go unchecked. It doesn’t cost much to at least
register copyright on your screenplay. As you move forward with your production
you may need to revise your copyright to extend to other aspects of the
production but at least register it with the Copyright Office and the Writer’s
Guild in the beginning.
Once you have done this you can move forward with shopping your script if that
is what you want to do. One thing that you must remember though is that once you
sell your screenplay or enter negotiations to do so, it might be necessary for
you to compromise. If the producer and director decide to, they can cut your
film or rewrite it to the point that it may not even resemble what you
originally wrote. Avoid the red pen by making your own film any way you can.
Let’s Take a Meeting
If you are making your film yourself
without the benefit of traditional backing you will probably find yourself
writing, producing and acting in your own film. But that is not to say that you
won’t need help. You will have to be completely active in all phases of the
production. Such are the joys of the independent filmmaker. However, you will
need help. You will need other actors, sound people (someone has to hold that
boom), camera operators, and so on.
If you are in school studying film you have a perfect group of people to draw
from to get your film made. It is a “you scratch my back, I scratch yours”
situation. Students help each other to get their films made. Each of us has a
specific talent and we can contribute that to the production at hand. If you are
not in school you may have to convince your friends to help you with your film.
It shouldn’t be too difficult because it is exciting to be involved with making
a film.
Of course you can’t get all the help you need from you friends and family. You
will have to go with associates that have the same desire to make film that you
do. This means you have to find social events that allow you to network with
others that have a similar interest in film. Networking is going to be important
from start to finish with the production of you film. It would be wise to make a
business card with your contact information on it, maybe even make your own
website.
Make contact lists of people you might be able to gain assistance from in the
various fields of expertise. It doesn’t matter if this is you first film or you
21st. You may begin to use the same people as you learn whom you work best with.
Some of the disciplines you may need are: electricians, carpenters, camera
operators, audio engineers, make-up artists, set designers, locations scouts,
script supervisors, costumers, publicists, and finally craft people for your
food service.
Once you make a list of these contacts remember to keep careful track of them.
Make copies of contact lists stored in a number of places. It will make you
crazy if your computer crashes and all the info for your crew is on it, so make
back up contact lists.
You may learn to live without some of these positions on the production of your
film, but chances are you will be picking up the slack for that position. You
may find yourself directing a film and doing make-up or wardrobe at the same
time. Multi-tasking is the name of the game and you get better at it as you go
along.
Many new filmmakers are actually in film school and they use what and who they
have available to them. This means working with people that may be a little
flaky in their punctuality. However, each filmmaker has their own film that they
want to make and they will give you good work with the expectation that they
will get it in return on their film.
Again, one thing you might consider is this; if you are not in film school
perhaps you should go. In film school you have the equipment and facilities made
available to you as long as you are a matriculated student. My school had a
$900,000 per year budget for equipment for students to use. We had sound mixing
booths and editing suites available to us 24/7.
Once you have people that have agreed to work with you on your film you can set
up production meetings in order to plan for the actual production or shoot. The
success of your shooting schedule will depend on how effectively you have
planned the shoot in your production meetings. Make notes prior to your meeting
to make sure all necessary business is covered. Try to make the meeting stay
focused on the business at hand instead of visiting and shooting the breeze with
everyone attending the meeting.
If you have people working for you and they are doing this out of the goodness
of their hearts, it is always necessary to keep them fed and watered. It is the
least you can do for another artist so make sure you always have food and
beverages available for your crew at meetings and during the production.
It is advisable that you keep liquor out of these meetings as it undermines the
professionalism of your group and impedes the flow of work. This is not to say
that the group may not ever celebrate by having a drink or two together, but it
is hard to keep the crew focused if drinking is allowed during shooting. On
studio shoots it is absolutely forbidden due to Union rules and insurance
requirements for continued coverage.
Once you have a crew assembled then post your first production meeting. In your
meeting, tell your group what your vision of the film is and open a discussion
about how they can help to make that happen. Assign crew positions and make a
shooting schedule. Then split your group into 2 separate groups, crew and
actors. Schedule readings of the script so everyone gets to run through their
lines and so you can give them your direction.
The actors must have an opportunity to meet with the director to determine what
is expected from them once the camera is rolling. This will help your actors to
arrive prepared and ready to work without you having to stop them as much for
direction. Next a separate meeting should be made with your crew. You will need
to discuss equipment, location, set design, sound, lighting, and any other
production issues that may come up.
You will need story boards and a shot list sheets to hand out. Have your crew
study them with enough time available before the shoot to bring up any obstacles
that need to be cleared for the shoot. Schedule enough time on rehearsals and
fittings to be approved by the director prior to the shoot.
Whoever has worked on scouting the location needs to speak to everyone about the
logistics of the location you will be shooting the film at. The location will
need to be accessible prior to the shoot so that light readings can be taken and
electrical requirements can be determined.
There are books out there that are written that could be used as guides for
picking the right location. Refer to them please as this is an area that is
going to be totally foreign to you if you are in any way creative. You have to
make sure details are arranged like, parking being arranged, access to unload
equipment, restroom access, food craft area set-up, signed releases, maintenance
of the location, location clean-up etc.
In my case I had a group of buildings that were houses from the 40’s that were
abandoned and in a state of complete disrepair. They were cool and very spooky
looking. I didn’t want to go in them I just wanted to shoot on the street in
front of them. I procrastinated and they tore them down. Boy was I upset about
that.
Do You Have a Good Eye?
My first experiences with production
school, was with a fully manual camera. What a dinosaur that was, but oh, the
pictures I could take. I learned how to used depth of field and how to push and
pull focus. These are terms you should make note of and study. Using a manual
lens taught me just what I could do with a camera. Now I have a very expensive
digital camera but my roots are definitely in film.
We have grown accustomed to the digital crispness of the image we get with
digital and find film to be hazy and lacking focus. Film can create amazing
shadows, especially in black and white but the cost of film and processing is
absolutely impossible for a film maker just starting out, to get a film
completed. If you have the luxury of using film you can play around with it but
eventually it will be transferred to digital so you can edit your sound and
image
I have shot on film and I have shot on tape and I have to report that both have
their merits. In the end the project will dictate which you will use. In film
school I used a funky little Super 8 camera and shot on black and white reversal
film. Basically it was like shooting to a positive instead of a negative. The
quality was bad and the lighting was a challenge but I managed to make a really
decent abstract film journal.
The processing was terribly expensive yet once I got the footage back I was
excited beyond belief. I used a funky little viewing box with a hand crank and
made lists where I wanted my cuts in the celluloid. I wrote them down and hung
them up in the order I was going to edit. The next thing you do is, splice the
pieces together with tape. Then you put the splice with the tape on it, in a
small machine that that punches neat holes in the splice where the holes are on
the side of their film.
Editing real film, as in celluloid, is a great experience and I will always
value it, but I have since learned how much easier it is to just shoot and edit
in digital. Believe me, I was a die hard film user until I got tired of all the
money it cost, and shooting digital is so immediate. There are a number of
reasonable priced video cameras on the market that you can use when you start
shooting.
Equipment List
The following is a basic list of equipment
you will need. This is a bare minimum list but this should get you started.
Camera
1 digital camera
Extra Battery or Power Source
25 ft. & 50 ft. Power Cords
Monitor with headphones
Small Dry Marker Board to Use As Scene Marker
Sound
Headphones (2 or 3)
DAT – (Digital Audio Tape)
Microphones:
2 Lapel Microphones (Lavaliers)
1 Shotgun
1 Omni
1 Battery Operated Reporter’s Microphone
1 Directional Microphone with Pedestal (for narration)
Boom (2)
Windshield (for boom and Microphone)
Gaffer’s Tape – 1 or 2 rolls
Lighting
3 Lights – 1 large, 2 small
3 Light Stands
25 ft. & 50 ft. Power Cords
White Bounce Cords
Gauzy Material for Diffuser
Binder Clips – Small, Medium, & Large
Stands For Diffuser
One thing is certain, in the list of equipment you will need, the camera is the
most important. A very durable camera that has been recommended is the Samsung
VP X220L camcorder with an external lens. This camera was used on the Jack Ass
Movie and you know how physical the shooting got on that film. You should be
able to get this camera for $800. I only found one of these for sale from a UK
website, but there are many other cameras to be had.
The best thing to do is to go shopping and try out cameras. Try them out to see
what kind of picture you get. See if the zoom is as strong as you need. Once you
find one that you like and can get a decent price on it, check and see what kind
of warrantees there are on the camera. If purchased from a camera shop there are
protection plans that will replace the camera if damaged and give regular
cleanings for your equipment. It is important to keep all your paperwork on file
for this, as with all your equipment.
In 15 years of using cameras I have seen the technology change vastly. A camera
that you buy today will be archaic by next year. The top cameras coming out now
are amazing. The Grass Valley Viper Film Stream Camera TM shoots completely
without videotape, or compression. Your images are recorded directly to a
removable hard drive that goes from the camera to the computer. Talk about cool!
This camera was used in the film Zodiac and the clarity of image is amazing.
This film is technical genius and you must see it. David Finchner is the
director of the film and he worked with the creators of this camera to shoot the
first film done entirely with the Viper. This image is so clear you can see how
many pores are on the guy’s face.
This is the future in cameras and while it is too rich for our pockets now,
there are perfectly acceptable cameras you can use in the meantime. Try out any
camera before you buy it. Handle it in the store and take test footage. Make the
salesman work for his pay cheque and ask him a million questions if you have to.
When you start shooting you will have to be familiar with the various types of
shots. The following is a list of the shots and the abbreviations that are used
on shot sheets.
EWS – Extreme Wide Shot
Shot so wide the subject can’t even be seen. This is also used as an
establishing shot which is used in the beginning of every film..
VWS – Very Wide Shot
Subject or object can barely be seen but is still placed in the frame.
WS – Wide Shot
The subject fills full frame, much the same as a long shot. Takes in the whole
person from the bottom to the top of the frame.
MS - Mid-shot
Subject is closer with more detail but frame still has the whole subject. The
subject will fill the frame with this shot.
MCU – Medium Close-Up
Midway shot between Mid-shot and close-up.
CU – Close-Up
Face of actor fills the frame.
ECU – Extreme Close-Up
Shot gets in and shows extreme detail.
CA – Cutaway
Shot other than the subject, away from the main action.
CI – Cut-In
This is a view of some part of the subject in detail. Example: CU of hands
shaking and wringing in anxiety and worry.
Two-Shot
An easy shot of two people framed equally in a mid-shot.
OSS – Over the Shoulder Shot (or Cross-Shot)
Shot taken over the shoulder of someone aimed at the subject.
POV – Point of View Shot
Show the subjects view or perspective. Example: POV shot of hands on a computer
keyboard.
There are also terms for camera movement and there are just a few that are used
repeatedly. They are as follows:
Pan
This is a horizontal camera move across the screen. Also used is the term Swish
Pan.
This is a camera movement that is a pan done so quickly that the picture blurs
until it stops and stabilizes. Frequently a swish pan is used to hide the cut in
the editing process. In a comedy film the swish pan comes with it’s own sound,
which has been used in shows like “Malcolm in the Middle”.
Dolly
A dolly is a cart on wheels that has mounts for the camera. Track is laid down
to the specifications of the shot and the camera is dollied down the track for
the shot. A dolly shot refers to movement in and out of the frame moving closer
or further away from an object in the frame.
Tracking
Refers to a dolly movement that crosses the screen.
Tilt
A camera tilt is simply what it says. It is a panning movement but instead of
across the screen it will be an up and down movement.
This should account for most of your camera directions. You will see these terms
used in screenplays and you will use these terms in writing your own script.
When you have access to your camera you should practice all these moves in order
to be familiar with them when you are filming.
Once you have your camera purchased and you are ready to start shooting, you
will need a few other pieces of equipment to get you going. While you will want
to “carry” your camera when you shoot, it is advisable to use a tri-pod for most
of your work.
One thing you will want to do is assign someone to carry a camera and take the
production stills. Shooting production photos can be done by anyone in the crew.
These shots are a sort of tradition on the set and it is a good idea to get
production shots. They do have practical uses though, the photos show the crew
at their jobs with the actors and sometimes they are helpful to recall the way a
shot was set up.
Most cameras out there at this time have great stabilization already built in,
but the fact of the matter is that when zooming in for a close-up and then
holding the shot, shake can happen. Not using a tripod allows for a great deal
of “shake” with the camera. This will compromise the quality of your shots.
You can avoid blurry, jumpy, static shots by using the tri-pod. They are
frequently referred to as “sticks”. For your filming purposes you will need to
get a tri-pod that has a “fluid head”. This is a head on the top of the tri-pod
where you mount the camera, and its purpose is to make panning and trucking
shots smooth and in focus.
When you purchase your tri-pod you should find sticks that have sturdy legs, not
too thin or too long. Bogun tri-pods are the standard in the industry so if I
were to recommend a brand, Bogun gets my vote.
Before we move on from the discussion of cameras and shooting I need to talk
about composition in the frame. You know how “film people” walk around with
their hands up liking they are framing things, it’s so annoying when they do
that. However, that is how we see things, in the frame. Where are you placing he
objects and the people in your frame? Is it a boring or compelling composition?
Something that all beginning photographers learn is about the rule of thirds.
This is where you place the subject on the third of the frame as opposed to
constantly centering the subject in the middle of the frame. You also need to
get a sense of what is proper “head room” in a frame. You can create intimacy or
tension and alienation in how you compose the shot. Practice looking at art and
film to see how the artist places the subject in the frame.
Turn Up the Volume
I am not into doing sound. I am a Camera
Person and find the whole sound mixing process to be a big mystery. I know
enough to get the initial capture but if I were to make my own film I would find
someone to perform this function for me. What you need is a sound person
otherwise known as an audiophile. This person will hold a boom for hours of
dialog and will know the channel on the board during the final mix.
Advertise on Craig’s list or in the local Entertainment paper. I would find this
person and get a commitment early on in the Pre-production phase but you will
need them right until you are through Post-production as well. Needless to say
when hiring for any position for a production, make sure you check references.
You will want to hire someone that has a proven history of finishing projects.
Every camera that you will shoot with will have a Microphone that comes with the
camera and while it might work in a pinch, it simply does not supply adequate
sound. You will need a way of recording that is in sync with your image. In
order to do this you will need a DAT (Digital Audio Tape) recorder and a good
selection of Microphones.
While I have a hard time with the mechanics as a whole, I appreciate good sound
when I experience it. You will want good sound on your film so there are some
basic things you will need to know. These are the types of Microphone available
to you.
Any or all of these are good for you to have in your sound kit.
Omni Directional Microphone
Omni Microphones record sound from the front, back, and sides of the Microphone,
in other words, 360º around the Microphone. These are good if you want to record
your talent delivering lines and get the ambient sounds on the backside of the
Microphone. In the most perfect of situations the background sound and dialog
will be recorded on separate tracks.
Once you bring them back to the studio for the final mix you will be able to
adjust the ambient sound track slightly lower and the dialog track a bit higher.
This will make it so the dialog is heard clearly while having the ambient sound
is there as well.
Directional Microphone
This is pretty much self-explanatory. A directional Microphone records
specifically in one direction and that is the direction of the speaker. These
are used for reporting or interviewing and can be hand held or clip-on.
Shotgun Microphone
A Shotgun Microphone or a gun Microphone, is a Microphone that picks up sound
from a distance. While these are great if you are a private detective and want
to get private conversations, but they are especially effective on the end of a
boom used in production.
Lavalier or Lapel Microphones
This is a Microphone that is clipped onto a shirt lapel or collar and is usually
an Omni directional Microphone. This Microphone is good for interviews and
commentary reporting but beyond that they are limiting because the rustle of
clothing interferes with a clean recording
If you are actually recording dialog you will probably do one of two things. You
will do voice over recording in the studio or you will use a live Microphone.
Recording live would require the use of a directional Microphone on the end of a
boom. If it is on location outside you may need to use a shotgun Microphone on a
boom with a windshield (made of furry or foam material) that fits over the
Microphone to block out the interference of wind blowing on the Microphone.
Once again, a school equipment loan program is going to have most of these items
so you can use this resource if it is available to you. Otherwise it will be a
good idea for you to purchase some or all of the equipment I have mentioned
here.
I just want to have a word about holding a boom during shooting. It is harder
than it sounds. You have to have strong arms and concentration. You will have to
roll the boom back an forth at times to pick up cross dialog. Make sure you feed
the Boom Operator and keep them happy. It is a valuable job and is very tedious.
I know because I have done it.
It would be a very bland movie if there were no sound effects or soundtrack in
the film. When I lived in Venice, California I had a neighbour that was a horror
movie soundtrack composer. That man had the spookiest and weirdest sounds coming
out of his house. He did the soundtrack for the Howling…. the original one, not
any of the sequels.
He had a sound studio in his home that he worked out of and I didn’t hear much
of what he did for the most part. Every now and then there would be a scream or
a crash and I knew he was doing his thing.
Another sound element you may want to consider is Foley work. Foley work is done
in the studio to produce sound effects that will enhance the scene. A squeaking
door, the squelching sound of wet shoes walking through the mud, tinkling
glasses and silverware in a restaurant, and the sound of a fist hitting flesh,
these are all sounds that could be produced in a Foley environment.
For this type of sound to make an impact in the film it has to be a bit larger
than life. These Foley sounds will be recorded on a track that will be laid down
with the other tracks. Then you can fade it in or out as you see the need in the
scene. It might be a good idea to keep a Foley library of sounds to use, just as
you have an image library to use.
If you are going to have a soundtrack, and you will want one, I encourage you to
use all original scores and lyrics. You don’t want to enter into any copyright
battles. This is where networking comes into play. Find a music student that is
looking for a project. Once again, I have to say, try Craig’s List.
One last item that you will need to acquire for the shoot is some sort of remote
2-way radio. Nextel offers a good product so you can consider them. There may be
some other company that offers a similar service for a better price so look
around but do get a 2-way radio, actually get as many as you feel you need for
your crew.
A Little Light on the Subject
Lighting is always a key issue. While it is
not hard to learn, you must learn to see lighting issues right away. Lighting
for film was always very tricky and in film it is absolutely necessary to use a
light meter. With film there is a question of the colour of the light as well.
With video, the problems with shadow, glare, and colour temperature, become much
easier to deal with. I do not want to throw you off trying actual film, when
film is lit and shot properly it is heaven, but in the beginning it will be more
realistic to use a digital video camera.
While you may have areas that don’t have enough light, it is also a problem to
have areas with too much light. These areas are termed “hot” and some sort of
diffusion material is used to take the glare off the subject. These are the
major lighting problems you will be dealing with.
It will make your life a lot easier if you have a monitor set up on the scene
location. You should have a fairly good one that gives you a true representation
of what you are taping. While shooting in film you needed a Light Meter and a
Colour Temperature Meter, in digital recording you can use the monitor to tell
you what you need to know. You will see the areas that have lighting problems
that need to be fixed.
By looking at the monitor you can see problems of light and dark and fix them
easily. The other lighting issue that exists is the colour of the light in your
picture. Different types of lighting will have different colours.
Household Tungsten lights have a yellow glow. If you want that yellow colour in
the picture that is fine, but if not, you can colour correct with digital
filters during the edit process.
Fluorescent lighting can be a real disaster depending on how bright it is and
how close it is on the subject. Fluorescent lighting throws off a greenish cast
and can be very unflattering to the subject. The whole pea soup complexion thing
tends to really make the talent look bad. I hate fluorescent lighting…. just
turn them off.
Outdoor Sunlit lighting will sometimes be a problem but refer to your monitor.
Outside daylight gives off a blue cast. This will be especially evident when
shooting into the shade. If there is any grass or foliage in the picture the
blue cast will be very strong.
Halogen lights are reputed to have a pink glow to them. Halogen lighting is not
as prevalent but might come into play during outdoor night shooting as Halogen
is used for night outdoor lighting.
Lighting will be used as a signifier to what time of day it is. We will know if
the sun is setting or if it is raining outside by the lighting. Be aware of the
conditions in the actual story that will demand certain types of lighting. A
flashlight in the dark or headlights will telegraph things about to happen. You
will be able to create tension and suspense with your lighting. You will also be
able to transmit a romantic atmosphere or an office or working environment all
by how you light the scene.
It should be determined what lighting is needed for a shot(s), and then
accomplish that lighting set up for the duration of shooting in order for the
lighting quality of the film to be consistent. This means that it is important
to make note of the colour of the light when you begin the shoot and to keep
everything consistent through the shooting of your piece
This will keep you from having to fix inconsistencies in post-production, which
is sometimes impossible to prevent, but if you are really good that won’t
happen. Have I mentioned how important Pre-production is? You will find as you
make a few short films that, it is important to keep things like lighting and
the lighting colour temperature marked down in your production notes. It will be
a real pain if you are editing and you have lighting colour that jumps from edit
to edit. It will be a glaring mistake of continuity in your film.
If there is an over all problem with the colour of the light in your production,
then your digital software may have colour correction filters and that can be
taken care of at the time of post production editing. Previously, when shooting
with film, filters had to be used over the lens at the time of shooting and it
was much harder to accomplish what we now achieve with digital editing.
Three Point Lighting
Three-point lighting is the standard
lighting setup and is used in all film and television production. It is always
better to have good natural lighting, but if you do not have good natural light
available then this is where you start.
Three-point lighting consists of the following:
Key Light
Your key light is the main light shining on your subject. Be careful not to have
it too close to the subject as it may create hot areas and glare.
Fill Light
Your Key light usually creates a harsh light that makes a distinct shadow. The
best way to get rid of that shadow is to use your Fill light.
Kicker Light
The Kicker light is used behind the subject to fill in the shadows there. Using
the kicker light can give the subject dimension.
When purchasing supplies for your light kit, these are the main lights you will
need. You will also need a way to use diffusion material. Look at the lighting
outside with your screen door open. Do you see how bright and vivid it is? Then
shut the screen and look at how the lighting is naturally diffused and it
becomes darker. This is what you are doing when you are using lighting diffusers
in a scene.
There are a number of ways to achieve this, and in most light kits it is useful
to have a gauzy material like, cheesecloth, muslin, or a material that is white
and gauzy to shine the light through. You will achieve this by using binder
clips and makeshift scrim stands. (Scrim is another word for diffuser.) I have
used old 3-legged music stands and binder clips to create a scrim stand for the
light to pass through.
Shooting in natural lighting is always good but presents difficulties of its
own. From 11:00AM to 3:00PM in the afternoon, the sun will create harsh shadows
under the eyes and nose of the subject. This can be remedied by using a fill
light under the subjects face. This will correct the problem
The best natural lighting is the lighting that comes at the end of the day, a
couple of hours before sunset. This lighting will be a golden caramel coloured
glow, that give everything a halo. This light will fall directly on the
subject’s face so this is a perfect angle for the sun to be in for shooting.
Sunset lighting is really good for portraying moments of sentimentality or
romance. I have to warn you her though, shoot fast because once the sun starts
to set there isn’t much time to get your shots finished so you have to have
everything ready in anticipation of the sunset lighting.
Lighting is one of those situations in filming where you have to come up with
creative ideas of how to solve your problems. Taking a trip to the hardware
store will sometimes help you to fix your lighting problems. Lighting is
something you have to practice. If you arrive the day of the shoot and expect to
just have it all down, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. You must work with
your lights first and take test shots.
**It is crucial that you check the electrical requirements for your lights.
Lights take an incredible amount of so make sure you won’t be shorting out the
system an the entire block as well. Check with an electrician about this.
REMEMBER! These lights are hot. Protect yourself and others. You may have an
occasional bulb pop and spray glass everywhere. This seldom happens, but be
cautious.
You must do everything that you can to be safe. There are going to be cords
everywhere on the ground or floor during the shoot. You will have people running
everywhere so secure down all your cords firmly and make people aware of where
they are located.
You can use gaffer’s tape on the electrical cords to keep them in place.
Gaffer’s tape is more expensive and doesn’t leave marks on walls on floors. You
can use duct tape in a pinch but gaffer’s tape is best.
Prior to your first day of shooting you need to gather all of your talent and
crew together and do a run through of a few scenes. This is called blocking the
scene. Have each actor stand at his or her marks and read their parts and get
sound levels on them, also test your lighting and see how it looks on the
monitor. You will want to make this a full dress rehearsal if you need to see
wardrobe and make-up for a final check.
This is the time to determine what works and what doesn’t, not the day of the
shoot. Make any adjustments that are needed and make note of where your settings
are set at this time. These are to be your settings for the duration of the
production. It is very important to do this in order to maintain continuity and
believability of your film.
Later when you have a few films behind your belt you can mess around with the
placement of the lights and the volume control, but when you are still new at
this it is best to establish your settings and keep them consistent throughout
the rest of the film.
In most cases on film production the Scrip Supervisor is the person that is
responsible for maintaining the continuity from scene to scene in your film.
This position makes sure that the lighting is the same, all the furniture in a
room is in the same place, the actors have the same clothing, and make-up, and
say the same lines.
It is important that you arrange all your shot sheets so that you shoot
economically. If you are going to be in the farmhouse one day shooting then you
have shoot all scenes that are in your script for the farmhouse. You don’t need
to shoot each scene in sequence, that will have you running all over town. Shoot
all scenes at location by location.
If you are making your film yourself without the benefit of backing then you
will have to do your own continuity supervision. Maintaining continuity is
important if you want your film to look professional.
Once it gets down to the shoot it becomes all about the actors and the director.
Both are committed to the telling of the story. Any given film is as much about
the actors and director as much as it is the story on paper.
There has to almost be a chemistry between the actors and director. A director
needs to be all things to the actors, friend, mother/father, counsellor, priest,
or nurse. You name it, you got to be it. The one constant is the actor’s need to
be able to trust the director.
A director has to be a “Big Picture kind of person. Reining in all the elements
of a film is like conducting an orchestra, everything needs to blend together to
make the film. Solving problems on a daily basis is the norm so problem solving
skills are very necessary.
It has been said that you can tell how good a film is by watching it with the
sound off. If you can follow the film easily by watching without the sound then
the director has done his or her job. This clearly illustrates that film is not
driven by the dialog itself, it is the action that drives the film.
When It’s In the Can, It’s a Wrap
So the production is done and your last
pick-up shots are in the can. Now you can begin the edit. So you gather up your
footage, your sound and anything else that needs to added in the edit and get
ready to hunker down until it is all finally edited. Maybe it’s time for more
caffeine and a shower, time for sleep later.
Now you get to go through hours of footage to construct your edit. You will now
begin the tedious job of going through footage to put together your edited
material. Mark your in and out points on your edit sheet with a description of
the cut. Your in and out points will be the time codes that the edit points are
at. The codes will be marked in hours, minutes, seconds, and 10th’s of seconds.
It will look like this 01:15:03:20.
Now that you have your edit on paper, it is time to sit down with all of your
elements and go to the edit. You may do this all on your own and you may have
someone edit it while you direct the edit. Either way, this is the most fun a
person can have. The edit means you are near being done.
I found editing to be wonderful and I got so into it that I lost all notion of
time. I went in for a couple of hours and ended up staying to do the edit for 8
hours. I don’t even think I had anything to eat. I came out of the edit bay
feeling like I had been drinking coffee all day, well actually I had, but I was
so energized. It is great to see the story that you have been working on for the
last year, come together in a few evenings of editing.
Once you have put together all your cuts you can lay down you music and
soundtracks you will be ready to do your credits. The credits are very important
to the little people that worked on your film… probably for beer and pizza. This
is there proof that they have worked on the film and it is like their resume for
other paying gigs, so make sure you spell everybody’s name right. Once these are
done, you have finished and you are ready to promote you film and find someone
that will pick up your film in distribution.
Now it is time for the Wrap party. If you don’t have the money to put on a big
bash for your cast and crew get your Mama to cook and put the drinks on your
credit card because these folks deserve a good time.
Time to Toot Your Horn
If you haven’t been talking about your film
to people, now is the time to start. Now is the time to get a logo designed and
make a website to promote your film. There are at least a couple websites that
help you to build free websites. It does take a few days of work to make the
website but it is actually quite fun. You learn a great deal by making your own
site.
Once the site is made find someone to host it, Yahoo and Google are good. Start
a blog about the film and publish it on your website. Offer promotional items
for sale with your logo on them from the website. Cross promote other artists on
your website. Use some of your production shots for the site.
After you have built your own site make a Myspace page. Then go shopping for
friends and gather a fan base in Myspace. Many musicians and other artists have
used Myspace to promote themselves and it has been quite an asset to building an
audience for artists in music and film. I have a couple of musicians that send
me clips of their music regularly. It is interesting to see how the musicians
have built their “friend” list and kept everyone abreast of their new music when
it happens.
Of course there is always the idea of putting clips of your film on YouTube. Get
your fans and friends from Myspace to download them. You can even put your
YouTube on your Myspace page. It would be good to cross-reference your website
and Myspace page, one linking to the other.
Make eye-catching flyers to post in community centres and bulletin boards. If
you go to college or know anyone that goes to college, post your film flyers on
the community bulletin board. Find someplace in school to show your film to
students. Every student wants to do something on a Friday night and has no money
to got out. Free is better that cheap I always say! Let them see your film for
free.
Get a couple of other Indy filmmakers and show your films together. Have your
own mini Film Festival at your house, or at school, or anywhere you can get a
group of people together. Get Mom to do that cooking thing again that she does
so well. This endeavour will only be successful if you badger people into
coming. Make them promise that they will show. Give out free promotional items
with the Film logo on them like hats, t-shirts, and coffee cups.
I guess we didn’t talk about naming the film, yet, did we. Think carefully on
what is going to be catchy and make a good logo. Wild, controversial titles are
things that people want to see on things like t-shirts and baseball caps. For
instance, you decided to a space version of the Wizard of Oz and we’ll call it
…. “Space Monkeys”. Well that’s a catchy name, weird but catchy and it will look
great on a t-shirt. Whatever you do come up with a name that the public can grab
on to.
All of these promotional ideas mentioned up until now are free or darned cheap.
Perhaps you can use some of the proceeds of selling your hats and t-shirts to
fund some of the ways you promote your film. There will be costs so it is a good
idea to let the film pay for itself.
Finally, you should have a Media or Press Kit made up for the public. A Press
kit contains a letter of introduction, info on the film, photos, a disk with a
sample trailer, and perhaps a few of those promotional t-shirts and hats you had
made up. Once that is done it is time to find a publicist. If someone buys the
option for your film you will really have the need for a publicist.
One of the most effective ways to market your film is to enter it into a film
festival. One of the things your have in your favour is that Independent films
have made it big in the last 15-20 years. The Hollywood formula for filmmaking
became predictable and boring and with the expansion of television the film
viewing audiences became much more sophisticated than they were before. You
can’t pull anything over on us.
Indy film has become the driving force in the industry and that has been good
news for the small Indy filmmaker. Film festivals all over the country show
Independent films, and this has become a standard in the industry. Sundance Film
Festival was started to showcase otherwise unknown filmmakers. Now there are
film festivals in every state and cities, large and small.
This doesn’t mean that these festivals are easy to get into. Be prepared for a
certain amount of rejection letters. The most important and well known film
festivals to get into are the Toronto, Tribeca, and Sundance festivals. However
there are hundreds of other smaller film festivals that you can get into.
I just Googled film festivals and got 19,900,000 hits in .07 seconds. You have
more than enough to pick from. So what Sundance sent you a rejections letter,
submit to another festival. The trick will be getting past the rejection
letters. One of the biggest reasons rejection letters are given out is that
there were too many films submitted. If the film reviewing committee gets 1,000
submissions and can only take 100 films that is a lot of rejections they have to
send out.
Once you go to the festival website and download the application there will be
listed the dates of submission. The best way to avoid rejection is to make sure
that your film is submitted the first day into accepting films. Some films that
are perfectly good entertainment never get seen because there were just too many
submitted and they ran out of time to view them all. Get your film and
application in as soon as possible.
Film Festivals usually have a entrance fee and when I checked I found them all
to be reasonable, between $25 and $50. Still, that can add up as you send out
applications. Perhaps some of the money made off of selling promotional items
will help pay the fees. After you fill out your first application form and send
in your first film, you will get the application process down.
Another thing to remember, which is quite obvious, is that your film may not be
appropriate for some festivals. You would now enter a steamy thriller with sex
scenes, into a Young Adult Film Festival. I am sure the young adults would love
it but the adults in charge will reject it with a thud. So submit where it is
appropriate.
Since I have suggested you start out with a short film as you first attempt at
filmmaking, I have to caution you about the length of your film. Find out the
maximum length of films or short films. Then your entry is too long if at all
possible trim your film. Films are frequently rejected for coming in over the
time limit. Make sure you read all the requirements before submitting your film
for consideration.
An interesting phenomenon is film festivals borne of films that have been
rejected. The Sundance Film Festival is held in Park City, Utah. The same
weekend the Slam Dance Film Festival is held and it shows films that were
rejected by Sundance. The Slamdance is in its 13th year and it has expanded to a
festival in New York.
Sundance, although it still owes its success to Indy film, has become quite
commercial and takes entries that are considered the best. Slamdance came along
at a time when there was a need for an alternative to Sundance. Festival
creators tout Slamdance as “by filmmakers, for filmmakers”. Films that were
passed on by Sundance and picked up by Slamdance are, Memento, Monster’s Ball,
Napoleon Dynamite, The Woodsman, and Maria Full of Grace.
The 2008 Slamdance festival is being held from January 17th to January 25 in
Park City Utah. For any readers interested in entering Slamdance the early
deadline for the 2008 festival is August 27th. The deadline for the teleplay
competition is August 20th, 2007. I encourage you to check out their website.
There are many other festivals for you to check out. I encourage you to attend
festivals in as a film enthusiast first and then later as a competing filmmaker.
I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon. Chris Gore wrote a book
titled “The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide”. It has information that
would be useful in what to do when submitting a film for approval into a
festival.
The largest film festival in the country is the Seattle International Film
Festival. They show over 300 films and short films in a month’s time in May and
June. Offered at SIFF are an excellent group of filmmaker forums. A few of the
offerings this year were: “Encoding Your Film For Internet Streaming”, “The
Producer School Series” (Parts 1 & 2), “Introduction to Motion”, and “Advanced
Techniques in Final Cut Pro”. I have attended these forums and they are
invaluable to filmmakers.
One of the functions at SIFF is “Fly Filmmaking”. Fly Filmmaking is a
competition for filmmakers, that takes place 3 to 4 weeks before the festival.
The completed films (usually 3) are shown during the festival and at the end of
the festival the judges pick the winner.
Guerrilla Filmmaking has many similarities to Fly Filmmaking except that
Guerrilla Filmmaking is a bit more aggressive and the budget is leaner (if that
is possible). This year (2007) the filmmakers were given 5 days to shoot and 5
days to edit a 10 minute film. These are incredibly difficult conditions to film
under and the results are amazing.
Fly Filmmaking was started a little over 10 years ago and since then many other
venues have “borrowed” its format for their own Film contests. Seattle has the
corner on this market though, they are the creators of Fly Filmmaking. They
really produce amazing results with a handful of crew, actors and a camera.
It seems to me as a new filmmaker this formula might work for you. It will show
you how to work with deadlines and how to work on a shoestring budget. No doubt
you know all about tight budgets and can excel at this but working on this sort
of deadline will force you to be resourceful, and after all Indy film is all
about being resourceful.
Of course you won’t have help that SIFF gives their Fly Filmmakers but this will
teach you many things. You will be able to see your mistakes and correct them in
future film ventures. I see this working for the beginning filmmaker as a
learning tool so this may be a perfect way to challenge yourself in order to
learn the process before you are working on a film that really matters to you.
Film school is a perfect place for you to start any plan to be a filmmaker. You
have endless opportunities to work with other artists, and have the availability
of the equipment loan programs. This will give you all the “stuff” you need to
make your films.
It will also put you in a situation where you have others to give you feedback
on your work. This is a very necessary part of the process.
Everyone wants to attend USC, UCLA, Columbia University, or NYU, but sometimes
that is not possible. That does not mean that there aren’t other film schools
out there. In the end it is the body of work that you have achieved that
commends you to the position of filmmaker. What have you done? What is your
experience? If you don’t have any experience you may need to work on other
people’s films for a while and gather up some experience to put on your resume.
To make the claim that you are a filmmaker says many things. It says that you
have a great deal of energy and you are good at enlisting people to work with
you on the development of your vision. These people trust that you are going to
direct them so that they produce a masterpiece. Okay, maybe not a masterpiece
but defiantly something noteworthy.
My very last piece of advice is this. Get another job in something that you are
good at and that makes decent money. Filmmaking will not make you money
overnight. You will need to pay bills and at times you may need to finance your
films so get used to working 2 jobs. Also learn to sleep less and love caffeine.
It won’t matter once you catch the fever of being in the middle of a production.
Good luck and happy filmmaking.
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