How to Make A Short Film: Finding Your Team

(Left to right: Bryce Lewis, Megan Ristine, Brian Stewart,
 Rachel Kyle, Josh Simons, Taylor Pope, EC Hannah, Alex Foley,
 Hope Epperson, Jennifer Verzuh, Lara Jane, Josh Shabshis)

I wanted to make a short film but I wasn’t going to a filmmaking school.

You need a lot of help to make a really good film. Orson Welles once said, “A poet needs a pen, a painter a brush, and a director an army.” To make a short film to start on your filmmaking career you have to find a way to convince other people to join in with you. The people you have around you is going to very a lot so you need to know who’s in your circle and why they might agree to work on your project.

Orson Welles could get pretty bitter about the film industry. Later on he said: "I think I made 
essentially a mistake in staying  in movies but it’s a mistake I can’t regret because it’s like saying 
I shouldn't have stayed married to that woman but I did because I love her."

The spring of my freshman year I was talking to prospective students who might be coming next year. Everybody I was talking to wanting to go into filmmaking. Seemed to me there might be a market for someone to start a filmmaking club. We had one for theater. Why not this?

First thing I needed was to test to see if there really was interest in making short films. I came up with a story and hammered out a script. (Which became Kelly vs The Philosophers) Then I started asking around to the people I knew and people I thought might be interested

1. Theater crowd.

2. Filmmaker crowd.

3. Any Friends.

4. General advertisement to student body.

Immediately I got a lot of filmmaking interest in the general call for cast and crew, which made me very happy. I called up one of my friends who I had specifically in mind for the role of Machiavelli: Alex Foley, a guy who, if you knew him, you’d know why he was instantly the one I wanted for that role. I messaged him and he immediately and enthusiastically agreed. Another friend I had in mind to be my editor—Benjamin Capitano--I didn’t have to even ask; the minute he got wind it was happening, he jumped on it. Which I was really glad about because he was—and is—so amazingly talented.

 (Here Alex Foley is in another video series he starred in that I made--just to give you an idea.)

My filmmaking resources were the fact that I was going to a school where—although it was not a film school per-se—it was full of people who were interested in the arts and film. More than that, everyone I knew was a doer who liked to pull together a do things and do them well—whether that was to make a short film or not. So what are yours? Make a list of the ones you’ve got.

Do you have any stories about getting started on your filmmaking career or getting to make your first short film? Tell me in the comments. And stay tuned for more lessons I learned working on Kelly vs The Philosophers.

Why You Need to Learn to Film By Yourself

Robert Rodriguez once said, "If you're just creative, you'll always have to rely on technical people. If you're creative and technical, you're unstoppable." I’ve learned that lesson the hard way many, many times. Technical skills was where I was weakest for a long time, and that disqualified me from a lot of opportunities.

Basically this is my humble pie post. Or, one of my humble pie post. Well, basically this entire blog is my humble pie post. Basically my whole life is one meal of humble pie after the other. It's amazing I've kept this great figure.

There was one time I was hanging out at one of my friend’s comedy shows. A comedian friend of his walked in and talked about how she needed someone to film one of her shows for a reel. My friend told her that I was good at filming and recommended me. It was a paying gig and she offered it to me if she could see my stuff.

I showed her the stuff I did, but she wasn’t sure she should take me because what I shot wasn’t well lit and I wasn’t able to mic up the audience. Lighting and sound were things I wasn’t very good at at the time and I knew it. We talked about it but I told her she should probably find someone else. I felt bad, not just for myself, but for my friend Robert, because he had recommended me.

Why was I weak at this stuff? Partly, I was too busy, I was at an academically strenuous college, was running the filmmaking club, and dealing with family stuff. And technical stuff is not something I am naturally gifted at. It was easier to specialize in the creative side and the organizing side of film and outsource the technical side to most of my projects.

But the problem is nobody needs somebody else creative or with ideas. They have ideas. They need editors, cinematographers to bring their ideas to life. That is what you will get paid for and that is what is going to get your foot in the door with people who can help you later.

The other problem is that—until you pay people—you can’t always get people to do stuff for you. On my first film I had to be cinematographer some days because my other guys didn’t show up. You need to be able to do that yourself when you have to in a pinch. I have had the worst time finding editors who could make the deadlines I needed. That’s nobody’s fault. They had opportunities to do actual paying work and had to put that stuff first. But I wasn’t able to pick up that slack.

Bottom line: learn to do stuff your freaking self. Don’t give yourself excuses. There is a thing called youtube that has tutorial videos. It is a beautiful thing. Use it. Love it. Live it.

Six Things You Need to Make Your First Movie

So you want to be a filmmaker. You were born with a camera in your hand yelling "action" when you wanted your parents to feed you (which may explain why they never supported your dream) You have the talent and the will, but where do you start? What stuff do you need in your utility belt before you can put together your film?

I was once where you are. I had next to no experience in film and little to no connection to the industry. I had to make do with what I had and fumble along until I came to a reasonable place. I haven't made it yet. (I have still have not won my first Oscar. Yet, if Leo can, there's hope.) But I've come a long way and I want to share with you the benefits of my experience.

Ready to go on the journey with me?

For those going on the journey to the Mordor that is the independent film industry, here is the checklist of indispensable things you need to bring on your way. They won't make the journey easy. But without them, it won't even be possible.


1. A CAMERA

If there is one thing that you need by definition to make a film, it is a video camera. A movie without moving images is simply not a movie. It's a photograph or a radio show or the sound of one hand clapping. Now, this doesn't have to be an expensive one. If you let an old-timey filmmaker or film nut talk long enough they will talk about how "everyone can make movies on their phone now"--which to me is basically endorsing the use of phones to make your first movies. Now, the better your camera, the better your movie will look. But if you're just starting out and all you have is an iPhone 6, don't let that keep the world from experiencing your life-changing work. (I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, here.)

The beautiful thing is, if you've got a camera, and you go out and shoot footage, you are a filmmaker. You have found a way of looking at the world that no one else has and found a way to show it to others.

Well done. Now keep reading.

2. EDITING SOFTWARE

Unless the movie you are making is one long take with no cuts, you need some way to edit your different shots together. Again, the better the software the better your work will be. But until you can afford to buy Adobe Premiere (or unless you want to go old school and cut and paste actual film), feel free to start small. If you're doing simple, short videos for quick upload to the internet, "KnowMe" is a great video editing App. If you have no other options, I will allow you to use iMovie or Windows Media Player. Just don't let anyone know you used them.

Ever.

Trust me.

Lie, if you have to.

It's not worth it.

3. INCOME



Real talk: you will not be making money on your movies right away. Probably never. But I don't want to take away all your hope. Because then you might stop reading my blog. And, anyway, if I'm deluding myself that I can make it it's not fair for me to not delude you too.

Regardless, at first you will not be making money off of it. So you will need some other source of money. Whether it is your parents while you're in school (Thanks, Mom! :) ) or a day job when you graduate, your your parents after you get fired, you will need food and shelter until somebody discovers your brilliant work at Sundace. So be sure you find a good job or good parents until that happens.

4. THE INTERNET



The internet is where you find how to properly format your script. It's where you can do research for you story. It's where you can get educated in filmmaking techniques without going to school. It's where you can share your movies on youtube or submit it to festivals. It's where you download software. Basically, unless you know people who can teach you, give you stuff, and show your film to others, you need the internet.

5. FRIENDS



You can't pay people yet. So who's going to be in your films? Yup, your buddies who like you enough to stand around for hours in a silly looking outfit while you frame the right shot. These are the people who will--if, God willing, they get into the film industry later--will give you the opportunities you need to get in yourself. They will be doing it because they like you. Does nobody like you? Find people to like you. And it will only work if they like you before you need something from them. Every great opportunity I had was because of someone who liked me and wanted to help me out. Because I needed a lot of it.

But that's another blog post.


6. LOVE



But the most important thing you need is love. You need to love making films; you need to be unable to imagine not making them. If you love it that much you'll find a way to get the other things.

Making movies is a hard business. You have to be willing to work long and hard. You have to be willing to embarrass yourself and call in favors and let other people laugh at you. When you've organized everything and then everything falls apart and everyone blames you and thinks badly of you, you have to think it was worth it. When you are spending your weekends on getting that last shot because it will make the movie that much better instead of sleeping in and hanging with your friends, you have to think it was worth it.

Here are two things every filmmaker knows: making movies sucks. And it's totally worth it.

If you guys are still here, congrats. You might just be filmmakers. Follow me. Mordor isn't going to conquer itself.