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The best advice for student filmmakers often comes from other students who have already gone through the filmmaking process.
Screen Test is a competitive festival, but it's also a forum for young filmmakers to share ideas and gain insight into the motion picture medium.
Questions are also welcome! |
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Greetings!
OK, you have a script. It's simple but effective, short (under 10 minutes), and within your time and budget constraints. Now you have to shoot the movie. But first (sorry to say), a little homework. You must have a game plan before you pick up that camera. Below are a few tips and resources to help you maximize your efforts. After all, the difference between you making a so-so movie and a great film could be a mouse click away. |
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Web Resources |
Oodles. That's how many free online articles there are about independent filmmaking. We trolled around online and came across some very helpful words of advice:
Alex's Guide To No-Budget Filmmaking v.1Alex knows what he's talking about in his brief step-by-step guide, taking you from story idea to getting the film in the can. His scene breakdown and requirements section provides a short checklist, ensuring that you bring everything you'll need on location.
A few pointers to consider when embarking on a film project. Tip #3 recommends to cast your actors wisely. Don't play favorites -- actors are the people who tell your story. Many a good movie didn't make the cut due to weak performances.
The Film Sensei's Six Quick Tips...
Basic technical tips are listed to ratchet up the production value of your film. Key tip: SOUND. You many not be able to afford top of the line microphones, but you can still get decent sound from the camera mic if you 1) shoot close enough to your actors to pick up their voices, 2) avoid noisy environments, like heavy traffic or windy spaces, and 3) make sure the mic is on! (We're not kidding, Imagine getting home to find that your awesome footage has no sound. It happens.) A good idea is to have headphones plugged into your camera or audio recorder to make sure you're getting sound.
This site includes links to short, entertaining videos on how to make movies. |
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More Advice |
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In our last email, film and video producer Kathy Rivera stressed the importance of writing in making a good film. "And the second most important advice I give," continues Rivera, "is to always plan for the worst. Inevitably, something will go wrong in any phase of production, especially in the 'production' stage of any project. Have a plan B and a C! What I like to do is think about how a certain plan becomes disastrous, and then plan the solution. Have the solution ready to go...so when it does go wrong, you kick into that plan seamlessly."
Planning an outdoor shoot? Have an alternate location or scene ready to go if the weather gets nasty. Using a breakable prop? Have another one standing by just in case. A little foresight can prevent a shooting day from going to waste.
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A Must for All Filmmakers |
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We haven't come across this tip online, even it's one of the most important must-do's of the filmmaking process:
TAKE PRODUCTION PHOTOS.
We want to promote every Screen Test film. The best way to do that is to distribute images from your movie. Make sure you have a dedicated person assigned to shoot photographs on a decent still camera. The photographer's job is to document the student filmmaking experience. Great photos increase the likelihood of your film being promoted in print, on line, and anywhere else images could be used.
There are two kinds of photos you'll need to shoot.
1) Scenes from your film -- as if the shot was taken right from the movie. Frames grabbed from your digitized video are too low-resolution, so they're not a viable option.
2) Behind the scenes shots. Get photos of not only your crew in action, but, most importantly, of YOU, the director. The classic shot of the director looking through a camera is always cool, but let your photographer take other shots showing you in charge of production. We can't stress enough the importance production photos play in every film project. | |
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Part three of our infotainment series will focus on postproduction and promotion. In the meantime, happy filmmaking!
Sincerely,
The Screen Test Team |
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