Yesterday, I told you how Listening to ’so called’ experts could destroy your film career before it even starts. Today I’m going to share with you the few principles you really need to know. If you’ve ever dreamed about being a director, then this post is a must read for you.
The 9 things you need to do if you really want to be a film maker.
- Shoot the damn thing – Stop obsessing over what gear you need, stop worrying about raising money, stop obsessing over every little detail. If you can’t raise the money you need, then figure out how to do it with less money. If you can’t find the location you need, rewrite the script for a new location. Rewrite until you have a movie you can actually do right now then do it right now!
- Three takes and go – Ok, so its digital video. You can have as many takes as you want right? No! Shoot three takes and move on just like you were shooting 35mm film. Only on the really really important scenes, or really short shots are you allowed to go up to five takes, but after that move on. The actors aren’t going to do it any better. Deal with it.
- Get coverage first, then do the fancy stuff – Do a wide establishing shot, do a medium close up of each character, then do some inserts. If you are positive the scene will edit together, then you can start doing some more fancy stuff. But even then…if that “fancy stuff” you want to do doesn’t add to the film, maybe you should just move on to the next scene.
- Get good sound or learn to ADR – It’s imperative you get excellent sound. If you can’t do it while shooting, then you will have to ADR. This can be very expensive, if you don’t have access to a post production audio suite. Try to capture the best sound you can during production, but be sure to budget and plan to do a little ADR as well. It’s probably a good idea for you to start trying to figure out how to ADR dialog right now. It is a skill you will definitely use later.
- Learn to edit – Regardless of whether or not you intend to edit your film yourself, you need to learn how to edit. If you don’t know how to edit, then you’ll never know if your movie will cut together at all. Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, you’ll shoot way more coverage than you could possible use and your editor will have to sift through hours of pointless footage. This is also a bad thing because if the editor gets bored while sifting through useless footage, he is more likely to half ass his way through the edit. If you’ve directed the thing right, the edit should naturally evolve from the footage itself.
- Finish the film – Above all finish the film. If its your first film, it will probably suck. Deal with it. But you have to realize that no matter how bad, a a finished film has value but an unfinished film is worthless. Go to best buy and search for some of the action or horror four packs and watch them. It will likely be the best $7.99 you ever spend. Many of these movies aren’t just bad…they are laughably horrendous. Everything is out of focus, the story makes no sense, and fifteen year olds pretend to be mob bosses. It’s utterly ridiculous…but they have one thing going for them: They were finished. Not only that…they were sold. There are distributors who make it their business to pick up extremely terrible movies and sell them in retail stores like best buy. Typically, a producer of these types of movies can make between $5000 to $10,000 selling 100% rights on one of these masterpieces. Not going to put you sipping Champagne in Beverly Hills…but at the very least you can say you’ve sold a movie. The reality is very few people can actually finish a film. It’s a difficult, if not nearly impossible task to do even when you have millions to spend. But if you’ve finished a film, you can approach real investors and pitch yourself as a real producer. Let the entire movie fall to pieces, frame every shot poorly, stay out of focus the entire time…but finish it. Your career has to start somewhere. It starts here…with one crappy (yet finished) film.
- Nail one aspect – Hopefully I’ve convinced you by now that you are not going to make the next big hit movie shooting DV with your friends and editing on your iMac. And also, I hope that I’ve convinced you that its still worth doing regardless of the fact that you aren’t hitting theatres anytime soon. How do you go about making sure you build the most momentum towards achieving your real goals in your filmmaking career? Well, as I’ve said, the persuit of a perfect film is a fools errand…but that doesn’t mean you can’t be perfect in one regard. Make at least one aspect of your film really stand out. Ok, so maybe it doesn’t have the best acting…but maybe you have the skills to make the cinematography really wow the audience. Maybe you know someone with an epically beautiful location that you can use to make your little movie seem larger than life. Maybe you and your friends are black belts in karate and you can put together a killer fight scene. The idea is that you want at least some aspect of your film to really stand out. Lets say you do put together that killer fight scene. Maybe you will never make another film again, but you and your friends are noticed at your film festival premiere by a producer looking for a stunt team for his next action flick. Two years down the road you are now a professional stunt and action choreography team. Maybe not the goal you were chasing in the beginning, but certainly not a bad result.
- Nail one scene – Make at least one scene in your film really highlight the one aspect that you want to show off. Maybe you need to expand the fight scene and make it more epic. Maybe you can do one scene as a single continuous take to show off the skill of your actors and your direction. Above all you need one really solid scene that you can use to show off your talent in the future.
- Make a badass trailer -Without a great trailer no one will want to see your film. The secret to a great trailer is to build curiosity…and on that note, stay tuned for my upcoming article: Thirty seconds to a successful film: How to make a good movie trailer.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
this is generic, bland advice. Don’t “learn editing” don’t follow a blanket “three shots and move forward” priniciple. This is all useless junk that shouldn’t be applied. FIlm making is personal! Make it a personal Journey, STUDY the classics, you learn more from watching Stanley Kubrick and Frank Capra films than you do from following someone’s guideline on how to compete against awful movies.
FIND a team! Understand becoming a relevant, employed film maker is a LONG TERM COMMITMENT! find people who are BETTER than you at different jobs, IE: Camera operators, Editors, electricians, make=up/costume. These people are out there and want to help. Find YOUR niche and PRACTICE, don’t try to be a jack of all trades. and don’t waste peoples time! write the script! Do your homework! Prepare!! Being a film maker isn’t about being the best at every job, it’s about unifying other peoples visions into one coherent whole. Keep that in mind as your approaching each project. And just for a frame of reference. I directed a 35mm feature film. I was ON set working for 18 days. I worked on the film for over 800 days. Film making is more about being a businessman, a motivational speaker, and a used car salesmen more than it is about sitting in a chair and designing “cool shots”.
I say this to you as the recipient of four international Film festival awards for a 700,000 dollar feature film That I produced, Directed, Co-wrote, and Starred in when I was 22 years old. goto http://www.apple/com/trailers/independent/perfectsport to see the trailer for it/ buy it on itunes if you feel inclined.
Sincerely,
Anthony O’Brien
I’m not sure exactly what part you find so offensive. Are you saying don’t learn how to edit? I’ve always felt that knowing how to edit is an invaluable skill.
How many takes do you think you should take of a shot before you decide its good enough? I don’t know what kind of budgets you work with, but for most of us getting just 10% behind by being overly picky can mean the difference between finishing the film and not finishing it. And the way I see it, someone who finishes a crappy film is more of a director than someone who has a half finished film in their garage.
The link you supplied didn’t work, but I found the trailer of your film. It looks pretty good.
I suppose this is accurate, if you’re not really looking for any success as a filmmaker. But let’s be honest, yes? A successful filmmaker needs a grounded understanding of film theory and film analysis before they can expect anything to come of their shit. I agree with this post to a very large extent, but it’s because of posts like this that horrendous, insubstantial, cliche, brainless films are being pumped out by the gallon these days. I want people to understand and appreciate film. If your goal is to make a film, then yes, it’s important to follow these rules. If you’re interested in becoming a director of any merit, please look around you, make some sort of interested observation on the world around you, write about it in an intelligent way, then become the maverick filmmaker the internet wants you to be. Just please, please, please… have something to say.
You kind of go back and forth there. So if I understand you correctly, you agree with my post, but also think it is the root cause of horrendous, insubstantial, cliche films. And as much of a contradiction as that sounds, you’re absolutely right.
But as I’ve said continuously, a crappy finished film is better for your career than an unfinished film no one ever sees. I know far too many “directors” who are so concerned with being “somebody” or, as you say, a “director of merit” that they pass up opportunities because it doesn’t gel with their vision. I say screw that. I just like making movies.
I’ve been getting alot of quasi-negative posts lately along this same vein. It seems my site has had a sudden influx of people who seem to think I’m advising people to make crappy movies. The truth is I’m not. Make the best movie you can. But personally, I’m not afraid to make a crappy movie. I don’t care. I just love making movies.
I don’t really want to direct, and I usually only do it if I have a script and a director I like isn’t available. I just like to DP and edit. But I direct if I have to do it. I don’t have a “vision”. I don’t have “something to say”. I just like to make a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
a finished film has value but an unfinished film is worthless
i think that is a good advice though.
One advice a can give you regarding audio post production to get the ADR right: Definitely record the wild tracks and then use a nifty little plug in called Vocal Line to sync up your replaced dialogue… This saves a tremendous amount of time and is brilliantly precise. Doesn’t cost much either and is really handy if you are on a tight schedule.
Also check out http://www.psmedia.com.au/postscript/ under film sound… there are some nice tips and tricks regarding audio post production.
‘Film making is more about being a businessman … more than it is about sitting in a chair and designing “cool shots”‘
“A successful filmmaker needs … I want people to understand and appreciate film”
Do this! Don’t do this! Do it my way! That way’s wrong! My idea of what success is what counts! Listen to me!
Wow. Elitist much? You see, the wonderful thing about art is that there are no rules, however hard fools like you two try to impose them on others.
Great post, by the way.
“But personally, I’m not afraid to make a crappy movie. I don’t care. I just love making movies.”
Amen to that.
Thanks for this post. And to Anthony O’Brien:
You are highly critical of someone who offers advice that was
A) Supposed to be “bland.” The whole point is it is to cut throught the vague “journey” bullshit and shed light on the basics of what has to be done.
And
B)Offers counsel to those people who havn’t made one film yet and have no idea how to really go about beginning.
This wasn’t a post for people who are well accomplished and can pay to go to school for years to learn about theories and emotions.
This was a post for people who watch films, dream, and want some help to get started.
You’ve missed the point.
I visited this blog while I was searching for some additional content which can improvise my upcoming Film Making Workshop in Sept.
I was surprised to see the comments just for one reason and that is, how come we as a film maker use different camera angles to show a single dialougue but are so critical to read different point of views on various aspects of Film Making?
Keep writing Matt!
Thanks a lot as I got something invaluable from your advises as they resonate with my 16 years experience as an editor.
With best wishes!
I think posts like these just help in selling more people to the process of filmaking, not making films. It just increases the amount of noise out their and makes it harder and harder for people to get in, leaving more filmakers, especially good ones, out and ignored.
So why post this information? Because you want to be a teacher of the craft. I don’t post info about movie making so a producer hires me to direct a film, I do it to teach others and get hired to teach others how to make films. It leads to teaching, not filmaking; but hey, anything to get a job in the current market, right?
Not enough people ever say “Shoot the damn thing” – thanks for the inspiration!
Wow, it seems like I’ve really hit on a hot button issue here somehow. Sorry if I can’t get to all of your comments individually. I’m currently swamped with editing a short I just finished last weekend, while at the same time I keep getting calls to shoot on other projects.
I’ll try to touch on some of the things all of you have said, but first I’d just like to thank all the people who are supporting me. Most of the time it’s only the negative people who post comments. It makes me feel pretty good that so many of you would take the time to defend me.
I doubt my little article is responsible for all of that. That is probably a little more to do with the huge drops in cost of both production and distribution due to digital technology. But I’ll be glad to take the credit.
For those that say my philosophy of production lowers the quality of content, and will cause a huge an influx of low grade material…I would like to point out the films of the 1970s and 1980s. It doesn’t take much digging around in an old video store to find piles of absolutely terrible movies all of which were shot on budgets of $250,000 or more on film. There really isn’t all that much greater amount of crappy films these days than there were then…you just probably have a confirmation bias because now that you are interested in film, you’ve been exposed to more crappy films recently.
In all honesty, a friend and I have batted around the idea of making a DVD training series. No idea if I’ll ever do it though…truth is I’m too busy. So…no….I don’t post on this site to get a “job”. I work as a camera operator, grip, and editor professionally. I do freelance television work, documentaries, and feature films. Before that, I was an engineer. I quit that job because I love doing film work. I also love talking/teaching filmmaking.
So why do I really post this information? Mostly because I get really aggravated working for people who don’t know this stuff already. I get alot of jobs from people who go on and on about nebulous “film theory” concepts. Those are usually the jobs that turn into 18 hour days, go over budget, run out of money, and I get short changed.
Those are the jobs where the AD and Script Supervisor stop the whole production for 4 hours because they aren’t sure that the layout of the beer bottles on the table matches the last scene .
Those are the people who feel like a $1000 leather coat is the only way to express the lead characters personality (but sorry, we had to blow the catering budget for the next two days to buy it).
Those people are the “noise” you are talking about…it’s the noise I’m trying to get rid of.
I probably have half a dozen films that I can’t put on my resume. They’ve never been finished. They’ve all went so over budget, they went into post and never came out.
On the other hand….television and commercial are a dream to work with. They always finish the project. Maybe there is a hard shadow on the wall in a shot or two, or the lighting color temp is a little off. But at the end of the day there is a finished product.
For digital filmmakers on low budgets, thinking like a “filmmaker” when it comes to production is only going to lead to failure. My goal is to get people to think more like a commercial producer. Do the best you can, but nothing is sacred except the budget and the deadline.
I disagree with the scene takes. Of course, it’s difficult if you don’t have a lot of money, but acting is important and actors should be willing to push themselves. Directors shouldn’t have to “deal with it” if actors can’t act.
That aside, something that might help is practicing the scene before starting to film and telling the actor what’s good and what’s not.
But good pointers! Especially the just-get-it-done and finish-it points, because that’s important for anything you want to do, really.
Oh, and the editing point too! Which is much more specific to film-making and similar endeavors, but still bloody important.
Mostly good advice here, especially “Shoot the damn thing.” I’ve been making shorts for about six years, and this year I’d fallen into the “I’m going to get around to it” laziness trap. A few weeks ago I finally got off my butt and wrote a script, composed and recorded music, shot, and edited a five-minute short. All in all it took about five evenings.
Is it good? No. Of course not. But it was fun to make, and I hope it’ll be fun to watch; it should play a local festival in October. And moreover, it feels REALLY GOOD to have finished a project after so much downtime.
This article was both entertaining and informative. Artist tend to have phenomenal egos that are supposed to be reserved for politicians and businessmen. Free advice (of any value) is hard to find and the very fact that the writer of this post didn’t charge a God Dam@#d thing is worthy of merit in and of itself. Truth be told, there are so many crappy (over budgeted ) Hollywood releases sitting on the shelves of Blockbuster that it’s puke invoking! If an artist values his or her art and work, then he or she will bust ass, even with a small butt tight budget, and come out of the deal with more than expected.
Incidentally, artist and businessmen have nothing in common. A businessmen wouldn’t recognize art if it were a butt naked porn star. That’s the problem with Hollywood now….all business and very little talent, skill or creativity!
Did I forget to mention how much I like this well written article? Thanks a thousand times…can’t wait to read the next one!
Wow, I can’t agree more with “Stop obsessing over what gear you need, stop worrying about raising money”
There will be more movies to make with better cameras later. In fact you can remake the current production later with a better cam if you want.
A filmmaking career isn’t about attaining a certain level of stature, status or skill and just staying there… it’s about the struggle to get better and never stop. This should be reflected in your work.
So many directors that are no revered made weak first films. Be it crappy equipment or substandard acting, they used it as a springboard, got better, and made the next movie a step above.
that’s not half bad, go for the gold
Very good article and some good posts.
I was looking around for some last minute tidbits of advice as we are less than 2 weeks away from beginning production on the first half of our first film titled “Victor James”. I found this article to be very entertaining and informative at the same time.
I too am sick of the “this is how you do it” crowd. I don’t understand (and never have) why there “has to be” certain ways to make a film. We have experienced actors cast and we have basic equipment – we are trying to tell a story. We aren’t looking to make cinematic history, but we are confident that even though it’s our first try, we can be successful.
We have a shoe-string budget (as in, less than what you may think) and we’re looking good 13 days away from Day One. We’re shooting on a beach, in a condo, and around the city of Little River, South Carolina. We’ve done our homework, and despite a few setbacks and continuing rewrites (we’ve had to switch locations and actors once or twice), we’re really looking forward to it.
I wrote the script (I did have had help from 3-4 professionals in the industry to get it “just right”), I’m going to direct, produce, and edit (with some help) the film. Am I the best at all these things? No! But I have a support team around me that has helped me tremendously, and a cast that I would think any director would be happy to have.
Great, simple advice Matt. I’m going to print it out and reference it to keep myself on the ball.
Thomas Gidlow
SKYWARD CINEMA
Matt, great article and great advice. A few years back I moved from studio pics into the indie realm and I gotta tell ya the biggest surprise I had was coming in contact with a huge amount of neck up film makers. They’re the ones who sit around and talk about the need to finance, and secure distrib prior to ever shooting their first frame. That’s not what it’s about. To be a film maker you have to write, and shoot and cut. THEN you worry about getting is seen. The biggest difference that I can see between experienced film makers and novices is the willingness to try and fail as opposed to never trying at all with is failure personified. Thanx for the great post and advice.
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