How to Make a Short Film

Making a short film is the rite of passage for many new filmmakers. If you have never made a short film, now is the time.

Seriously.

Not only are there a gazillion film festivals that offer a short movie program, but with websites like YouTube, you have the ability to reach a global audience.

This is better than the old days. Back then, making a short film meant that your work would get projected in theaters before the feature presentation.

But that trend ended. The short film was replaced by trailers and advertisements.

In the decades that followed, there wasn’t much of a market for short films. It was almost impossible to make money with a short film. As a result, finding investors to back a short was super challenging.

While I can’t say that the economics of short movie making has improved dramatically, the emergence of crowdfunding, festivals and internet based video platforms offers hope.

But regardless, you’re a filmmaker. And making a short film is a great training ground for getting your feature made, seen and sold.

Many people in Hollywood bounce around for years pretending to do work, when all they are really doing is pretending. Many of these people call themselves producers, yet they have no screen credits and have frankly failed to do anything!

Don’t do that.

If you haven’t yet made a short, my suggestion is to get started!

For your first few movies, don’t spent time worrying about lighting or special effects. Just learn how to utilize your limited resources and make something cool out of nothing.

Making A Short Film: Gear

For around two-thousand dollars, you can buy a camera that produces cinematic results. And if you can’t afford to grab a professional camera, then just utilize any camera you can get your hands on.

(Yes, this includes camera phones.)

Again, making something is better than making nothing.

In the event you cannot yet afford your own equipment, then find someone who already has gear and make friends.

Short Film Ideas

You next step is to get an idea for a short.

I suggest you focus on a story you can tell in three minutes or less.

When I was managing a film program, I noticed a lot of first-time filmmakers created dramatic stories that focused on suicide or some guy staring into a mirror and talking, or some chick shaving her head while reminiscing about apples and spiders.

These movies sucked, but they were good practice.

Your initial movies will probably suck too.

Don’t worry about it.

Just remember, the more you practice, the better you get.

And if you’re making a short film, but find yourself really low on short film ideas, then the next best thing is to create a music video… Which is essentially a short movie too.

The other things you can do is watch other short films. A while back, I stopped by the Haig Manoogian Screenings of the best short films.

The films represented the best of the best of the NYU film school and were presented by former NYU alumni Eli Roth.

Shot in film (not HDSLR video), all of the movies looked expensive and awesome. But at the same time, guess what?

…Every film was serious and dramatic.

By now, I think this is the reality of making a short film – It seems like most student filmmakers create serious and dramatic movies.

I don’t know why this happens.

So in response to a short film festival market saturated with drama, my ongoing to suggestion for making a short film is this:

“When making a short film, DO NOT do drama!”

Okay… If you think you have something dramatic you just HAVE to share, by all means, make your movie!

Keep in mind that your short film will probably end up on YouTube.

So if you can be funny and get Internet viewers to share your movie with other people who will then share your movie with other people, you will have achieved a great thing.

In addition to all the points mentioned thus far – Your audience is your business. Growing your own audience is up to you. And the process starts with making a short film, getting your movie online and exposing your work to the world.

Making A Short Film: 5 Tips For New Filmmakers

After making a few short films, you may find yourself getting bored. This is actually a good sign, because it shows you’re growing. When this happens, begin to come up with more complex short film ideas and then write a well crafted screenplay.

1. In the event you have not yet made a short movie, write one or two page scripts and then produce your story on a borrowed camcorder.
2. Edit the footage on a friend’s computer.
3. Upload the footage to video sites like YouTube. Test audience reaction. Is it good or bad? Learn from it. Then make another video… Then another… Then another.
4. Once you feel confident with short storytelling, move on to bigger and bigger projects.
5. Keep pushing yourself. Keep refining and learning!

The short movie marathon exercise described above will provide you with a fundamental understanding of how to shoot scenes for minimal cost and still make them interesting.

Making a short film will help you save time and money when you create your feature, while providing you with endurance, experience and the confidence to make movies with greater efficiency.

When you upload your work for the world to watch, audience feedback will reveal areas needing improvement. Even though you’re working with non-professional equipment and talent, if you can learn to make great movies with a small camera, you can make them with a big camera.

Theoretically, if you make one or two three-minute movies like this every weekend for six months, you will have the equivalent experience of making a feature.

Then later, when the feature filmmaker in you is ready, the feature will reveal itself.

credit: josh, Filmmakingstuff, Ages Media

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