After spending the large majority of my teenage years jumping between various artistic mediums and exposing myself to as much art as I could I came to the realization about 8 months ago that if I was going to pursue a career in the arts I'd want it to be film, and I'd like to be a writer/director. I feel like it's a medium where I can combine all my various talent, where I can really say something meaningful and (hopefully) have it be recognized by others.
I made the same decision. Although I had started in film back when I was only 7 years old. I turned to stop-motion animation when I was 8, then stopped cold turkey to pursue drawing and illustration along with sculpture for a year or two, before turning back to live-action film and animation about half the time. These days, I try to do all three. But along with them, I've learned to become a voice actor and hopefully a mildly entertaining on-screen actor due to my numerous films where I was my only talent.
Film is definitely a place where one can make use of writing, drawing, designing, photography, acting, and other arts and crafts, to create a unified whole. So your decision is an understandable one.
However, what counts most if you are to become a filmmaker is your understanding and your skills to tell a story with a moving image.
Anyways, jump forward a while and I started writing a script for a short film. I had an idea I was satisfied with that I felt conveyed a certain experience I feel is important and I was feeling confident in it. As I went I added more and more onto it as I started to develop new ideas and fully realize each of my characters. So I kept working on it for about 6 months and eventually I'd written enough for it that if I made it it would be the size of a feature length.
This will happen to a lot of people who work hard on their stories, especially if they just can't stop themselves and are engrossed in the process. And it's almost always a good thing to just let things flow and get out all that you can, because it can be creatively liberating and a healthy outlet.
But your enthusiasm about your story mirrors the many instances where I had created an idea for numerous projects, mulled over them and added to them for weeks or months, only to realize that I just didn't have the know-how or will power to pursue a full feature. Of course I was also 9, 12, 14, 15, and 17 years old at those times; so my ignorance of the process and my underdeveloped skills were the main reason why I was so gung-ho at first, and then was subsequently so unprepared to go the distance. And my enthusiasm waned as I slowly re-examined each of the ideas I had, only to realize that they would all be garbage.
Now this by no means is to say that your script is bad or even unprofessional in its execution and scope. What I mean to point out by my previous paragraph is that in all cases where I had come up with a feature-length concept--even the one I was most proud of and managed to create a full animatic for for its first 7 minutes--I had to give up on because my skills, my means, and my creativity with storytelling didn't allow for them. The concepts weren't strong enough and I was not yet prepared with the accumulated knowledge I have now in order to make them happen.
And so you must ask yourself, "Even if my script is good, do I understand filmmaking well enough to bring this story to life in a way that will make visual and dramatic sense?"
Do you know what different kinds of shots are? Do you know how many there are and the general meaning behind their usage? Do you know what the different types of lenses are, and how they can create these different shots? Do you understand the golden rule of splitting the camera image up into thirds, and placing objects or actors on these grid lines for the best compositions? Do you know about the 180 degree rule, and how you are supposed to keep actors on the same side of frame, even when switching camera angles during a conversation or OTS shot? And do you know that in many cases, these and other rules can also be broken in order to create discord or a change in character or narrative dominance in order to illicit a unique and proper reaction from the audience with regards to story?
Beyond that, do you know how lighting works, and what the basic terms of Key, Fill, and Rim light refer to?
I won't bother to go beyond that in case you do know what I'm talking about. But if you don't quite know yet, then you are likely not ready to tackle a feature film in it's entirety. Tackling a small scene, or a portion of the film in the form of a shorter work might be the better direction for now.
I know this is a story I want to tell. I've gotten very very positive responses from everyone I've showed it to. If I don't make this film right now I will one day, I'm sure of it, but my question really is: how badly would I be shooting myself in the foot if my first major project was a feature length? I don't have too much experience with directing outside of various shorts I've done for digital media classes in school throughout the years and voice actor directing for a previous project. I've done some stop motion shorts too, but I really haven't done any serious work when it comes to live action stuff. I'm aware almost no one jumps right into making a feature length, but I feel like I could really make this film well and I made sure to write the screenplay within the constraints of what I could manage.
I believe a few people have jumped right in, but that has usually been because either they had enough accumulated knowledge from the people they were working with and talking with in order to make it happen, or because they had absolutely no real skill, but a lot of enthusiasm, and an equally enthusiastic group of friends around them who wanted to be movie stars.
Again, I basically did the same things you did. I made a few shorts in my TV media class during highschool, and I created a few animated shorts back when I was 9 and 10 years old. Both of which actually won prizes at a nearby international animation festival.
But I was by no means an expert at the time, and any sort of feature length project I might have made would have looked like garbage now. I would even say that at this current point in time, I'm still not quite equipped enough in my talents or understanding to tackle a feature-length film, as my means and my budget just wouldn't be able to handle it, let alone handle my level of perfectionism or standards of quality.
I may have understood a few things about lighting, camera angles, and how to tell a decent narrative with different directional choices, but only until my 3rd year of film school did I truly come to fully understand how movies were made, how they were constructed, and how all of the different aspects of production worked together in order to get the final image up on the screen.
My latest project, took me from conception to realization, with numerous ups and downs that I am so thankful I had to suffer through, because now I know just how hard it can be, especially at the indie level, even on a really short project. None-the-less, my film looks great for what it is, and the results could not be more favorable, despite the turmoil that had occurred all throughout it's development. But a feature-film during the same amount of time would've been out of the question. Not only do I not have the writing skills yet to create a full feature length script, but I don't have the social contacts or the outlets necessary to gather together a crew large enough (even a comparative skeleton crew) in order to make a feature-film feasible. And I'm not prepared to carry the brunt of the responsibilities again, unless it's another short project.
A feature film really needs a support team, and one that is committed. You definitely need a producer, you definitely need a production designer, and you definitely need a script supervisor. An assistant director is likely going to be the next important addition, as they will work with you to keep the project moving forward at the pace it needs to be. And along with that, you probably should have someone helping you on cinematography side: as trying to create the look and feel of a feature-length project is going to be a massive undertaking, and one that ought to be split amongst at least two people who know what their roles on the project are, like it's professionally done. The cinematographer will be able to deal with all of the lighting concerns based upon your conceptual thoughts, and you will be able to handle the camera work and the choreography of the actors, along with your assistant director.
I'm sure someone will say that my previous suggestions are not entirely necessary, as I'm sure a few people have managed to still make a feature without all of this help. But I personally wouldn't take on a feature, especially one that I wrote, without the help of these other five individuals, because I would not be able to physically or mentally handle the stress that would come with the scope of the project. And I would prefer to have all that extra input in order to know if the film is really going where it needs to go, and to get other opinions as to what alternate shots could be used, or what alternate directions the story could go, if something goes wrong with a location, or if an actor leaves the film.
So there are plenty of things to consider before going forward on your own full-length project.
Should I just go for it? Should I hold off until I have some more serious short films under my belt so I have more experience? Any advice would be appreciated.
With all that I have written already, I would say that you should definitely create a few shorts, but shorts that build on your current knowledge of the craft, and that challenge you to make unique and creative decisions that can help you learn more about it. Develop stories that invite creative and unorthodox camera work, but that also require tired and true angles and compositions, so that you can perhaps understand the full scope of things.
Perhaps you should study your favorite films more carefully, read up on filmmaking terminology, and break down a scene in a film into its different parts, and contemplate on how and why they work the way they do to get the best response from you as a viewer.
Then, once you're more confident that you know what the building blocks are, put them to the test with a short or two. Only then do I think it would be a reasonable time to consider producing a feature-length film.
