Struggling with unfinished films and confidence

[Tepp]

I'm a 16-year old guy from Norway who's always wanted to be a filmmaker (director and/or screenwriter), and the past year I really got into it physically by writing and shooting two bigger short films.

My problem is that I haven't completed either of them:

The first one I didn't finish partly because I had just started an important year at school, and partly because due to short preprod I hadn't been able to get the actors I wanted, and one of them essentially couldn't act infront of a camera despite assuring me earlier.

The last one I along my crew got $2000 dollars to make, so we hired a RED camera and equipment. We shot it and everything was great! The problem is we f***ed up when we decided just to skip the slate after it broke right after a few takes. The post production turned out to be hell as we were denied to use an editing room we had been promised, so I had to try and edit 4.5K footage on my 13" MacBook Pro without too much knowledge about this. This didn't work out either as I suddenly found myself during my final exams.

This fall I'm once again trying to short a short film - this one really simple with few locations and short script. The problem is I'm dead afraid I won't finish this one either. I see other people my age doing great things (I know I musn't compare myself), but my confidence about filmmaking is kinda broken.

So what I'm doing is I'm asking you guys for advice? I really need some guidance or help, cause this has been a serious problem for me lately.

 

[WhiteOpus]

I would probably start with a much smaller budget if you've never made anything before. $2,000 is a lot of money for a 16 year old to spend, especially when the project has a high risk of failing in addition to the near guarantee that you won't be making any money off of it after production is finished. Use the rental money to get a cheapo DSLR like a canon t2i. That way you can make as many films as you want without having to worry about how much longer you've got on the rental. You'll get the experience you need to put together something more complex (and higher budget) down the road. Do you have any clips of the failed film?

 

[Alcove Audio]

K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid.

One of the "secrets" is to preproduce the hell out of your projects. An extremely thorough preproduction is an attempt to eliminate as many of the potential problems that creep up during production and post as you can, and the more thoroughly you prepare, the more problems you can avoid. It's also an opportunity for the crew and cast to "get on the same page" as the director, so you are all "speaking the same language" and share a unified vision of the project.

this one really simple, with few locations and short script.

Well there you go; KISS.

The problem is I'm dead afraid I won't finish this one either. I see other people my age doing great things (I know I musn't compare myself), but my confidence about filmmaking is kinda broken.

With that attitude, of course you'll never finish it. Why are you afraid that you won't finish it?

 

[sfoster]

I'm a 16-year old guy from Norway who's always wanted to be a filmmaker (director and/or screenwriter), and the past year I really got into it physically by writing and shooting two bigger short films.

My problem is that I haven't completed either of them:

The first one I didn't finish partly because I had just started an important year at school, and partly because due to short preprod I hadn't been able to get the actors I wanted, and one of them essentially couldn't act infront of a camera despite assuring me earlier.

The last one I along my crew got $2000 dollars to make, so we hired a RED camera and equipment. We shot it and everything was great! The problem is we f***ed up when we decided just to skip the slate after it broke right after a few takes. The post production turned out to be hell as we were denied to use an editing room we had been promised, so I had to try and edit 4.5K footage on my 13" MacBook Pro without too much knowledge about this. This didn't work out either as I suddenly found myself during my final exams.

This fall I'm once again trying to short a short film - this one really simple with few locations and short script. The problem is I'm dead afraid I won't finish this one either. I see other people my age doing great things (I know I musn't compare myself), but my confidence about filmmaking is kinda broken.

So what I'm doing is I'm asking you guys for advice? I really need some guidance or help, cause this has been a serious problem for me lately.

Sounds like your reach is far beyond your grasp.
How long are these projects? Tackle a script that is only 1 or 2 pages.

 

[beamazed]

Haha, I'm 17 and I feel exactly like you I'm guessing. Not to deviate to much from the answer, but I worked my butt off on a 45 or so page script and ended up having every single actor bail on me an hour before the shoot even after I communicated multiple times with them to make sure they were available. Anyways, the most important advice I give myself and now to you, is to keep yourself inspired. Watch your favorite films, fall in love with new ones, listen to film scores that give you goosebumps. In other words, remind yourself why you wanted to make films in the first place, and focus on that reason, and don't look back. As Winston Churchill once said "If you are going through hell (metaphorically speaking in this case), keep going."

 

[Sweetie]

My suggestion: Finish the film you already shot. Create and use lower resolution proxies to get around the low specs of your computer.

 

[Tepp]

I think I shouldn't have let these points out:

I have made other shortfilms that are small and simple (K.I.S.S.), and I felt I was ready to do bigger projects.

In Norway there's a government fund which hands out money to young filmmakers, and my DoP insisted on that we applied for $2000 to rent a RED. I myself have a Canon 60D which I used to shoot the short film mentioned first.

I know that I can edit with lower resolution on my Mac, but because we found it next to impossible to sync the audio to the visuals, something we could've avoided. We were lucky to find a guy who was willing to edit everything, but I have no guarantee for this.

I understand the advice some of you give me; to finish the last project before starting a new one, but trust me: this was shot in march, and I spent almsot all my freetime up to july trying to work it out, to no effort.

Also; I can't wait forever to try again...

I should also inform you that the last project was a science fiction short with a 15 page script and some heavy vfx. (Maybe not the easiest project...)

But hey, I've gotten a good amount of wisdom and experience, and I've figured out the stuff I'll NEVER DO AGAIN.

And last: just skip the thing I wrote about being afraid of not finishing the film - typical teenager anxiousness

 

[Sweetie]

I know that I can edit with lower resolution on my Mac, but because we found it next to impossible to sync the audio to the visuals

You definitely need to learn how to finish it. There are multiple reasons to finish this:
A). Learning the workflow. You haven't worked out how to sync yet. I'm sure there are other things you need to discover that you did wrong. Even if you don't figure it all out, at least you learn the lessons you need to learn.

B). If you fail to finish a project, you reduce some of the incentive for others to join your next project, especially on low/no pay shoots. What's the point if the project is likely to be abandoned just like the last one?

Good luck.

 

[FantasyFilmProductions]

Some might disagree with me here but....let the unfinished stuff lay in its grave. Learn what caused its death. DON'T carry those mistakes into the next shoot. DON'T beat yourself up too much. DO take just as much notice of what you did right, and DO take those lessons with you too. Everyone has their failures, everyone has successes that stem from learning from those failures, be it learning to open a tin can without cutting yourself, or going on to make good film.

You will be fine young gun, just pick yourself up, and try again.



If mountaineers beat themselves up after every slip they had in their training years, they would never go on to heights unseen by most.

 

[GuerrillaAngel]

my DoP insisted on that we applied for $2000 to rent a RED. I myself have a Canon 60D which I used to shoot the short film mentioned first.

First of all, DOPs shouldn't be insisting anything. Before you complicate your life, see if you can actually finish a film first (to film festival submission quality). Many (most?) film never reach final cut. You can complicate things when you know you have what it takes to complete things.

Good luck.