First Short Film, any advice

M

MiniJamesW

Hey! I'm new on here, actually I've read a lot of things here on indietalk for about a year but never made an account. I'm 15 and I've made more than 150 shorts but it was all improv. Now I want to make a true short film with a script. Since I was 11 I've been learning how to shoot, edit, and direct. I've written a lot of stories but never a screenplay so now that I've written my screenplay I feel embarrassed to show it to anyone.

I live in the Dominican Republic in a small town (moved here a few years ago), so I don't really get a lot of support here. But I still try my best to make movies. So now I'm looking for any advice on how to go about making my first short film. I'm planning on making it about 5-7 minutes, the shorter the better. I think I already have enough equipment, I just need to learn how to start the process of making my film and hopefully any other advice. Thank you in advance. I hope to be a part of this wonderful community for a long time. :)
 
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If you're embarrassed to show your script, how will you ever show your movie to anyone? Show it around...get some feedback. Feedback itself never hurts...you can either take it or leave it.

Once you have a script the best you can get it, draw the movie out ahead of time, either with storyboards or lists of shots you want.

Make a shot list from those storyboards. When you shoot your movie, check off each shot once you've gotten it good. When there is nothing left to check off, you'll know you've shot enough to edit your movie.

Have fun, and make sure the people you work with have fun too! They'll respond to your attitude...if you're stressed, it'll stress them out.

Stay loose, know that it's okay to call it a day and start again the next day fresh.

Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to try new things.

And keep us posted on your progress! We love to help...especially young filmmakers who are brave enough to make movies.
 
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MiniJamesW said:
I think I already have enough equipment, I just need to learn how to start the process of making my film and hopefully any other advice. Thank you in advance. I hope to be a part of this wonderful community for a long time. :)
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Equipment is fine. Now comes the hard part, right?

My advice is to write a script you can do. Keep it simple, keep it
about kids and keep it restricted to location you can actually use.
Plan on using lights - that's the second issue with most first time
short film makers. Get good audio - that's the number one issue.
You are so used to just pointing and shooting and getting an
exposed image and audio that you may not even be thinking of
these two things.

Do NOT just point your camera and press record. Set up your shots
carefully and light them, pay attention the the background when
lighting - that's something that will make you shots stand out. Use
a mic on a boom - get that mic as close to the actors as you can to
get clean dialogue tracks.

Get coverage. Shoot a master shot of the scene and then close ups
and over the shoulder shots and two shots. Get inserts. All this take
more time than what you have been doing and it will show in your
final project. I look forward to seeing it!
 
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Thank you very much directorik, your advice is great. I did write a script and I actually showed it to a friend today and he liked it, I did keep it to just one or two locations and about teens.

Yes I have been used to just shooting things but I recently got a shotgun mic and I'm planning on using it on this short film. I've always read on this website that audio is half of the experience so I am planning to get my friend who is great at audio to help me.

I definitely need to learn about nothing, that is probably the thing I know least about making films so any advice on that would be helpful.

I hope to get as much coverage as possible, and alright I'll try my best and post it on here when I'm done. Thank you very much. :)
 
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directorik said:
Equipment is fine. Now comes the hard part, right?

My advice is to write a script you can do. Keep it simple, keep it
about kids and keep it restricted to location you can actually use.
Plan on using lights - that's the second issue with most first time
short film makers. Get good audio - that's the number one issue.
You are so used to just pointing and shooting and getting an
exposed image and audio that you may not even be thinking of
these two things.

Do NOT just point your camera and press record. Set up your shots
carefully and light them, pay attention the the background when
lighting - that's something that will make you shots stand out. Use
a mic on a boom - get that mic as close to the actors as you can to
get clean dialogue tracks.

Get coverage. Shoot a master shot of the scene and then close ups
and over the shoulder shots and two shots. Get inserts. All this take
more time than what you have been doing and it will show in your
final project. I look forward to seeing it!
Click to expand...

This.

Don't be embarrassed about showing your scripts. It's always a working process. I haven't checked out your videos yet, but will tomorrow. Judging by the amount of videos you've done though, it's impressive. You're heading in the right direction. I know a fair few people who say "I'm going to do a short" or "I wanna do film" and produce absolutely nothing. So keep working at it, dude.
 
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Sucramdoow said:
This.

Don't be embarrassed about showing your scripts. It's always a working process. I haven't checked out your videos yet, but will tomorrow. Judging by the amount of videos you've done though, it's impressive. You're heading in the right direction. I know a fair few people who say "I'm going to do a short" or "I wanna do film" and produce absolutely nothing. So keep working at it, dude.
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Thank you
 
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What the heck are plankers anyway? The video reminds me of Mike Myers and Dana Carvey (is that right?) on an snl skit.

I think the best advise you got was from Directorik. Aside from the foul laungage (but thats me and anyway I don't think you need it) the audio was the first thing I noticed. It was your simple camera mic. Once people hear audio like that they think, Johnny Lunchbucket and his camera just randomly videotaping things...
I know from my own experience and then reading here...audio is the first thing people notice (they may not even be aware of it).
Looking forward to seeing whats next. Sans the language...and still to explain what a planker is? - Clearly the key word for your age group.
 
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kari said:
What the heck are plankers anyway? The video reminds me of Mike Myers and Dana Carvey (is that right?) on an snl skit.

I think the best advise you got was from Directorik. Aside from the foul laungage (but thats me and anyway I don't think you need it) the audio was the first thing I noticed. It was your simple camera mic. Once people hear audio like that they think, Johnny Lunchbucket and his camera just randomly videotaping things...
I know from my own experience and then reading here...audio is the first thing people notice (they may not even be aware of it).
Looking forward to seeing whats next. Sans the language...and still to explain what a planker is? - Clearly the key word for your age group.
Click to expand...
haha yeah I made those Alex Shows really quickly and yes during the summer I realized I need better audio. I got a shotgun mic now, but I've been wondering like how to get the best sound on it possible. Would I have to edit a lot or do things during production to get the clearest audio possible.
Yes thank you, I realize I don't need foul language but it's all my friends like to do but I'm my next screenplay has not one bad word.
Ah and a planker is anyone who does this
http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/05/20/1226059/545089-planker.jpg
Yes people actually do that, and we made the video because we thought that planking was just plain stupid. Thank you for watching and the feedback!
 
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Yeah you'll have to do a lot of the audio editing in post. Spend some time in the equipment forum on here to learn how all that works. In fact you will have to do all of the dialogue recording on it's own, then add all (or at least as much as you can), of your background noise after.
 
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