Beyond a commercial

[a_sower]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to take somebody's advice on here (don't remember where I read it) by starting on shorts.. like really short shorts and getting bigger and bigger with my experience. Well, one of the things that got me into wanting to make films/docs is I created some commercial type videos for my current business and they were TONS of fun. I loved being able to use some creativity and found that I had a little talent in doing them.

Well, now my problem is I can't really get past the stage of making a 2-3 minute short. I have learned how to summarize so effectively that I can't drag a story on past that. They are coming out more like commercials... hahah.

I am finding that with my limited budget it's very hard to get too deep into a story. I am curtailing my plots and such with my budget in mind on what I will be able to film and not film. Any ideas?

By the way, I'm from the old school and don't believe in begging for money to do my films, so with that in mind, does anybody have any ideas on how to get past the "making a commercial" stage and into maybe something like a 10- 20 minute short?

Oh yeah, another thing I wanted to mention is I have only written 1 script and I'm working on another. I am VERY new at this and haven't filmed anything yet. I have my own business and believe heavily in having a goal/ business plan/ then figuring out the budget I need for that, then doing it. OK, I guess I'm rambling now...

 

[directorik]

By the way, I'm from the old school and don't believe in begging for money to do my films, so with that in mind, does anybody have any ideas on how to get past the "making a commercial" stage and into maybe something like a 10- 20 minute short?

Interesting.

The “old school” people begged for money to do their films. For
anyone not independently wealthy, begging for money to make films
is just part of the whole process.

The only way I know of to get past the "making a commercial" stage
and into short films is to do it. Write a script, set a schedule and
shoot. If it isn’t what you want - do it again.

Every “Twilight Zone” episode was about 24 minutes long. Except
for the fourth season. If you want to learn good story telling
in a short, look at the excellent work of Rod Serling and Charles
Beaumont.

One or two locations, three to five actors. Two or three days of
shooting. Not expensive at all.

Watch a lot of short films. See what you like and what you don't.
If you have a story that needs two hours to tell, find another one.
Even many of the “Twilight Zone” episodes could have been cut
by a few minutes.

 

[a_sower]

Thank you sir for the info....

about the begging for money comment - I built my fairly successful business now without borrowing a dime from anybody because of how I was raised. I don't mean any disrespect to anybody, but it kind of bothers me to read posts about some kid whining that his mommy won't buy him a $3K camera and support him on his quest to be the next Spielberg.

I'm 31 years old and I've worked pretty hard for what I have and I feel like an old fogey for saying this, but kids nowadays don't know how to earn something and sacrifice and the feelings that come along with doing something yourself.

When I said I won't be begging for money for my films, I meant more along the lines of equipment. I will save my money until I can afford to buy nice stuff, or rent nice stuff. I'll work with what I have now. I don't plan on ever doing anything that will end up on the big screen, that's not why I'm here.

OK, I'm totally off of my soapbox. I'm not here to argue about that, sorry I brought it up.

Thanks again for the advice above. On the way home tonight from working I was thinking of how to stretch what I want to do into some pretty nice shorts thanks to the advice you gave about watching other shorts. I watched some and got some ideas.

 

[Filman]

Imagine a situation for you where you'd have a script that made you so excited that you felt you have to see how it turns out as you edit it...

You can get such a script. You can ask others to write it for you or take up the fight to write it yourself. But this curiosity mentioned above is a hell of a productive state of mind to be in.

 

[directorik]

OK, I'm totally off of my soapbox. I'm not here to argue about that, sorry I brought it up.

No argument intended. I found your comment interesting.