Producing Your Own Film

Ok, so you want to be a filmmaker. It’s not quite as easy as just grabbing your camcorder and pressing the record button, a lot goes into making a half-decent piece of video. We’ll take this from the very beginning and discuss the creative process of making your own movie.

To be able to make a film, you obviously need some basic equipment. Specifically, some of the key items we need are a computer system capable of capturing video, video editing software, sound editing software, image editing software, and finally a video camera. You may need a few other pieces, but these are the key components.

Now that you have your equipment, it’s time to get on to the fun part.

• The Story Line – Your film has to be about something, so come up with some type of interesting idea for a story line.
• The Script – You have your basic idea for a story line, now is the time to actually layout the plot, sub-plots, characters, and all the other details of the film.
• The Re-Write – You have completed you script, now pick it apart and find problems with planning, logistics, budgets to do certain things, scenery, and anything that could be made better or pose a problem during production. Deal with any of these problems immediately.
• The Shooting Script – After you have finished your script and it’s been re-written, you need to come up with a shooting script. This script is similar to the regular script but includes details on camera angles, lighting, scenery, special effects, and production aspects.
• Storyboard – Hand draw storyboards for the production of the film that show scenes and camera angles. This helps you realize your creative vision of the film. It also makes sure what you want shot is actually being shot.
• Get Your Resources – Now that all of this pre-planning is done, arrange for costumes, locations, actors, food for the actors, production assistants, and anything that is needed during the filming. You should also set timeframes for shoots. If you haven’t shot video before, then you may not understand the time factors involved. If you think you can just set up, film the scenes and get done in one day you are sorely mistaken. Do not plan on everything going smooth. As a rule of thumb, triple the length you currently think it will take to set up, film, and breakdown. Plan on everyone involved being at least 30 minutes late and plan on adding time in for mistakes and delays. An excellent thing is to get the production principles to come to a meeting ahead of time to discuss times and details of what everyone needs to do.
• Deal With The Talent – Now that most of the logistical details have been dealt with, you need to deal with the actors and actresses. After you have selected them and discussed the film with them, meet with them as a group. They should understand the shooting schedules and what is expected from them. Gather all of them together to explain your vision of the film as a whole. Write a summary of each character and what that character’s beliefs, personality, quirks, history, and attitude is like. This allows them to get into that character’s role. You should also have rehearsals with all the actors and go over lines and scenes before the filming begins. This allows them a few rehearsals and a good timeframe to go over the script and learn lines.

You’ve made it this far without going crazy! Keep it up! Now comes the fun part…and the headaches.

• Get Your Stuff Ready – It’s about a week before shooting begins. Verify commitments and go over all your plans and scripts with your cast and crew. You can’t call your cast and crew enough ahead of time saying "now I’ll see you at 7:30 AM on Saturday Morning the 5^th of July, right?" This avoids confusion and the forgetfulness of others. You should also try and make contact with everyone involved the day before you get together just to check in with them.
• Get The Crew Ready – It’s now the day of the shoot. Have your crew get to the site a few hours before the cast. This gives set up and planning time at the physical site.
• Start Shooting – Begin the filming process. Take your time and do it right. Get those extra camera angles, even though you may never use them. Remember, it’s easier to take 20 minutes to film that extra camera angle then to go into post production and say, "Crap the scene just doesn’t work we need to re-film it." That will waste a hundred times more time than the extra few minutes it took to shoot it when you have all of your resources in place.
• Rap It Up – Congratulations! You have finished filming of the movie, you’re done! Actually, not quite. While your cast and crew have finished their work, your work has only begun.

It’s time now to spend endless hours cutting video into segments, adding sound, titles, music and special effect.

• Make An Analysis – Ok, you’ve seen the script and all the video you have shot. It’s time to start cutting apart the film in to usable scenes and sequences. Grab extra and start putting it together, see what works and doesn’t work.
• Add filters and special effects to the rough film. This is where all that fancy video editing and processing software you bought comes into play. Add filters, change color saturations, balances, and contrasts.
• Add Sound – Now that you have the visual part done, it’s time to add sounds, sound effects, voiceovers, and music.
• Beginning and ending sequences – Now that you are done the actual video work, it’s time to create and add logos, credits, titles, and other things not actually part of the film itself.
• Sit back and Relax – Here’s to a job well done. You’ve successfully made your first film. Invite everyone over and have a premier party!

Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed this basic primer on creating a film. This is just a basic layout of the filmmaking process and your actual situation may vary. The only step left is to mail your film off to FlickerTube.Com!