How to Make Your First Short Film: A Crash Course
Summary
TLDRIn this crash course, filmmaker Kent Lane offers a step-by-step guide for beginners to create their first short film, emphasizing the importance of storytelling over technical aspects. He advises focusing on a specific audience, using available resources, and keeping the film under five minutes. Lane covers writing, pre-production, shooting, and post-production, including tips for audio quality and editing. The goal is to produce a short, engaging film that leaves viewers wanting more.
Takeaways
- 😀 Focus on creating a film that entertains yourself or a close friend to ensure personal investment and specificity.
- 🎬 Use available resources and settings to inform your story idea, like a barn owned by a relative or a friend with a big personality.
- ⏰ Keep your film short, ideally five minutes or less, to simplify the production process and maintain viewer engagement.
- 📝 Write a simple outline of your story with a clear beginning, middle, and end to guide your scriptwriting.
- 📱 Use whatever equipment you have available, like a smartphone, to shoot your film, prioritizing storytelling over cinematic quality.
- 🔊 Pay close attention to audio quality, as poor sound can significantly detract from your film, using off-screen microphones or creative solutions.
- 🎞️ Edit your film ruthlessly, cutting out any dead moments and ensuring the story flows smoothly and engagingly.
- 🎵 Incorporate sound effects and music to enhance the mood and atmosphere of your film, using free resources where possible.
- 👥 Collaborate with a small, dedicated team and involve them in the planning and shooting process to maintain focus and efficiency.
- 🔄 Be prepared to iterate on your film based on feedback, making necessary edits and even reshoots to improve the final product.
Q & A
What is the main focus when writing a short film script according to the video?
-The main focus when writing a short film script should be on entertaining yourself or a really close friend, making the audience very specific to create a more specific film.
Why is it important to keep the film simple and small for a first-time filmmaker?
-Keeping the film simple and small is important for a first-time filmmaker because it makes the production process easier and less overwhelming, and it's more manageable for a beginner.
What is the recommended maximum length for a first short film?
-The recommended maximum length for a first short film is five minutes or less, as it's easier to manage and ensures the story remains engaging without being too long.
How can one utilize personal resources when brainstorming ideas for a short film?
-One can reverse engineer their story idea based on things they already have access to, like a barn for a horror film or a friend with a big personality for a comedic role.
What is the significance of having a specific shooting day for a short film project?
-Having a specific shooting day is significant as it sets a clear timeline and commitment for the project, ensuring that all involved parties are prepared and available on that day.
Why is audio quality considered more important than cinematography for a first short film?
-Audio quality is considered more important than cinematography for a first short film because bad audio can significantly detract from the viewer's experience, whereas storytelling and content can still engage the audience even with less polished visuals.
What is the advice for handling audio during the shooting of a short film?
-The advice for handling audio is to use a friend with a microphone off-screen, or have actors hold their phones to record audio if no microphone is available. If neither option is possible, record wild audio after the take to match the scene.
How does the video suggest improving the editing process for a beginner?
-The video suggests that beginners can improve their editing process by watching tutorials on YouTube to learn the basics, using free editing software like iMovie or DaVinci Resolve, and focusing on cutting out dead moments to keep the film engaging.
What is the role of feedback in the post-production process of a short film?
-Feedback plays a crucial role in the post-production process by providing insights into what engages viewers and what doesn't, allowing the filmmaker to make adjustments and improve the film based on trusted opinions.
Why is it recommended to keep the final film under five minutes?
-It is recommended to keep the final film under five minutes to ensure the story remains concise and impactful, leaving the audience wanting more and avoiding the risk of losing their interest due to a longer runtime.
Outlines
🎬 Introduction to Making Your First Short Film
The speaker introduces a crash course on creating a short film, emphasizing the importance of starting small and focusing on entertainment. They share their experience in filmmaking since the age of 11 and suggest that beginners should aim for a five-minute film to keep the project manageable. The speaker advises focusing on a specific audience, using available resources, and keeping the story simple. They provide an example of a short film script and encourage the audience to write their own, focusing on a compelling narrative that can be visualized within the time constraint. The importance of getting feedback and being prepared for production is also highlighted.
🎥 Audio and Post-Production Tips for New Filmmakers
In this paragraph, the focus shifts to the technical aspects of filmmaking, particularly audio quality. The speaker stresses the importance of good audio over cinematography for first-time filmmakers and provides creative solutions for capturing clear sound, such as using a friend's help with a microphone or hiding a phone in the scene. They also discuss the use of 'wild audio' for recording sound effects and dialogue after the initial take. The speaker then moves on to post-production, suggesting free editing software options and emphasizing the need to cut out any dull moments. They advise on using sound effects and music to enhance the film and recommend getting feedback to improve the final cut. The paragraph concludes with encouragement to export the finished film, share it, and objectively analyze it for future improvement.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Short Film
💡Originality
💡Reverse Engineering
💡Pre-Production
💡Storyboarding
💡Cinematography
💡Audio
💡Post-Production
💡Feedback
💡Exporting
Highlights
The course aims to teach making a short film, even for beginners with no prior experience beyond casual video recording.
The instructor has been making films since age 11 and has produced around 50 short films.
Emphasizes focusing on entertaining oneself or a close friend rather than aiming for originality.
Advises making the film's audience very specific to avoid creating a boring and clichéd product.
Suggests reverse engineering a story idea based on available resources, such as locations or personalities.
Recommends keeping the film simple, short, and within five minutes for beginners.
Advocates for smaller-scale films as they are easier to manage for first-time filmmakers.
Provides an example of a short film story that is simple yet emotionally engaging.
Instructs to write out the story's beginning, middle, and end in simple sentences.
Encourages expanding the simple story into a more detailed script without worrying about format initially.
Highlights the importance of reading the script out loud to ensure it fits within a four-minute timeframe.
Stresses the value of collaboration and getting feedback from trusted friends on the script.
Advises planning the shooting day and assembling a minimal crew to maintain focus.
Instructs on marking up the script with director's notes for visualization and organization.
Suggests shooting in the most logical order and having a plan for each shot.
Warns against over-focusing on cinematography and instead prioritizes storytelling in the first film.
Stresses the importance of good audio quality and provides tips for achieving it without professional equipment.
Recommends using free editing software like iMovie or DaVinci Resolve for post-production.
Advises cutting out dead moments and focusing on engaging storytelling in the editing process.
Encourages seeking feedback on the rough cut to identify areas for improvement.
Suggests being prepared to remove favorite parts of the film if they do not serve the story.
Reminds to keep the final film under five minutes and to export it for sharing.
Encourages objective self-assessment of the first film to identify weaknesses for future improvement.
Transcripts
going to give you a full crash course on
how to make your first short film even
if the only thing you've ever shot
before is funny videos of your cat
i'm going to do it in only 5. so we
better get started fast a little bit
about me been making films since i was
11. i've probably made like 50 short
films for a while i was doing one every
month on my youtube channel i've made a
couple of no budget features about a
couple of things go viral so i
definitely know how to get my hands
dirty get a film made and help you make
yours so let's begin
writing this may sound a little
counter-intuitive but rather than
originality when you're writing your
short film i want you to focus on
entertaining yourself or a really close
friend of yours
make your audience really specific so
that you can make your film more
specific if you try to be
everything to everyone you're gonna end
up with something that's really boring
and flat and probably really cliched
maybe you already have an idea for your
short film but if you don't try to
reverse engineer your story idea based
on things that you already have access
to let's say your uncle has a barn maybe
you can do a cool horror film out there
maybe you have a friend or a family
member that has a really big personality
that would be great in a movie and you
convince them to be in it very important
point make your film
simple and small you want this thing to
be five minutes or less
do not make your film longer than five
minutes if you've never made a movie
it's probably not going to be good
enough to justify being longer than five
minutes also every aspect
of making this movie is gonna be so much
easier when you keep the runtime low as
a beginner the smaller the scale of your
film the better it's gonna end up being
think about it would you feel more
comfortable making a short film about
storming omaha beach on d-day or
a short film about a guy who
accidentally super glues himself to his
own toilet seat one of them is going to
be a lot easier to pull off that's all
i'm saying go ahead and write out the
beginning
the middle and the end just a few simple
sentences it'll basically just be your
whole story in a paragraph and if it's
not an interesting paragraph then you
might want to go back to the drawing
board here's an example for a short film
that i wrote and never ended up actually
making a little girl is crying because
her dad isn't home on her birthday her
mom plays a vhs tape that he made him
apologizing and wishing her the best
birthday he has a bad cough in the video
but he's goofy and heartwarming and by
the end of the tape the girl is happy
again the mom
puts the tape away but she starts crying
herself we then see that the stack of
tapes is other birthday tapes labeled up
to age 18
and realized that the dad has actually
already died and he made these tapes in
advance for his daughter
so you got a beginning that's setting up
things you got a middle that's
obstacles and the journey towards the
ending and that ending is going to be
something that's a little surprising but
definitely satisfying and definitely
makes me feel good about having just
watched the other four minutes of your
short film so now you got this paragraph
time to write it out just expand it
don't worry about proper script format
yet just write out what happens
where it happens and who says what in a
format that makes sense to you if you do
want to learn proper script format it'll
probably only add an extra hour to your
life and then you can go the link in the
description for some free screenwriting
websites and use that to make your
script
take that written out story and you're
gonna read it through in your head
visualizing it as you do
try to do it in real time as much as
possible as if you were watching the
final film you're gonna run a stop watch
while you do that and make sure that you
end up around four minutes i say four
not
five because inevitably the final film
is gonna end up being longer than what
you picture in your head if possible
take the story and get some feedback
from some friends some people that you
trust
collaboration is so key with film two or
three or four heads is always going to
be better than one
and you're going to have a lot of blind
spots especially when you're first
starting out as to what you think is
interesting or how a certain thing is
going to read to another person
versus how it actually comes off
congratulations you're out of writing
and you're into pre-production you're
going to go to the calendar you're going
to find a day that makes sense and
you're going to mark that day that's
going to be your shooting day from now
on when you tell people you're making
your movie you're saying i'm shooting it
on this day
go find the bare minimum number of
people that you can to actually make
this movie and you're going to tell them
hey we're shooting on this day
can you do it it's going to be really
fun i'm going to give you some free food
bare minimum number of people on the set
you don't want other people just hanging
around it's going to distract you you
need to stay focused on the film get
your props your wardrobe any other
special things that you need to actually
make your movie you're going to take
your script print it out
start making handwritten notes all over
it about how you envision the scene how
the actors might perform it what the
pacing is going to be like what the
energy of the scene is going to be like
specific
shots that you're thinking of anything
that comes to mind just mark that script
up if you know how to draw that's great
i highly recommend making storyboards
they don't have to be fancy or cool just
use stick figures if you can't even do
stick figures then just do little shot
descriptions but it's important to be
organized and prepared for your shoot
day especially when you're starting out
now take all the shots figure out what
the most logical order to shoot them in
is if it's possible definitely try to
shoot them in order chronologically
according to the script but if that's
not possible a lot of people like to
shoot the wider shots first and then
shoot all the shots pointing in one
direction and then shoot all the shots
pointing in another direction that way
any lighting changes or whatever your
shots just stay more consistent write it
all down
that's going to be your instructions for
the day so no matter what comes at you
on shooting day i can follow my
instructions and i will get to the end
of this film now let's get down to
actual production
if you have a camera great use it if you
don't use your phone if you have a
camera but you're not really comfortable
with it
use your phone the point is don't focus
too much on cinematography for your
first short film no matter how much
attention and time you spend on it it's
not going to be the revenant and it's
not going to be what keeps people tuned
into your film it's going to be the
storytelling so focus on that
more important than that cinematography
you need to be worried about the audio
bad audio is going to hurt your film so
much more than bad cinematography for
example how long would you watch this
video if it all sounded like this
get a friend to help out with a
microphone off screen don't have a
microphone these are great and just be
strategic
about it and be creative if you're
getting a close-up like let's say i
punched in like this your actors are
holding their phones like this you're
going to get really nice audio if the
shot's too wide for your actor to hold
the phone then just
hide it in the scene i'm going to get
great audio but you're not going to see
it if none of those are options then
what you're going to want to do is do
the take
and then go back maybe immediately after
you did the take
and record wild audio which is audio
that's recorded after the actual shot to
try to match what you just recorded so
play back the video so your actor can
try to match exactly the way that they
set the line and get your phone or mic
right up on them so you get some really
clean audio and then you can match it up
in editing and then you can match it up
in editing and then you can match it up
in editing do the same thing for sound
effects remember movie sound effects are
just a lot larger than life now follow
your instructions go through each shot
make sure that you have all the puzzle
pieces you need to assemble this
together later in editing finish that
shoot day be very gracious to all the
people that helped you out give them
some food take your footage take your
audio dump it on the computer make
two copies put it on a hard drive put it
somewhere else there's nothing more
depressing
than losing an entire day's footage or
audio congratulations that was probably
the hardest part you're already moving
on to post production now if you don't
know how to edit that's okay you spend
about an
hour on youtube watching tutorials you
can get up to speed enough to start
cutting your film just get the basics
down how do you bring the clips in how
do you cut them and you'll figure it out
as you go
i recommend imovie if you're on a mac
it's free it's really
intuitive and easy to learn if you don't
have a mac i'd recommend davinci resolve
it's free it's a little more complicated
but it's a very powerful program
number one principle you'll need to
abide by is to cut out
any dead moments
it's not entertaining or engaging to the
viewer get rid of it throw in those
sound effects that you recorded on the
day or if you don't have enough go to
freesound.org there are links in the
description you can get a bunch of free
sound effects for your project or you
can go make your own now you can use
music from the youtube audio library
i'll link to it my description it's all
free tracks that you can use to score
your film or if you want to have fun and
you don't care about copyright just
throw a bruce springsteen track in there
and have a ball focus on that audio try
to clean it up do a little cross
dissolves between cuts and the audio
just to get rid of any distracting
changes in background noise now finish
that rough cut
get to a point where you feel like it's
pretty good and then show a couple of
friends that you trust
watch them watch your film see where
they're engaged see where they're bored
and then get their feedback after see if
they have any opinions about how you can
improve it or things you could cut out
or things that weren't clear didn't make
sense don't take any of this stuff
personally this is all
really valuable information it's going
to make your film so much better take
that information adjust your edit
accordingly if you need to do it and
you're able to do it go out and do
reshoots go back and pick up shots that
are going to clarify your story or make
something more emotional or just work
better be prepared to kill some darlings
some of your favorite parts of the film
might just be the most indulgent parts
of the movie and would actually be
better left on the cutting room floor
keep your movie short and sweet and
leave people wanting a little bit more
you kept it under five minutes right
now export your movie put it on youtube
send a link to everybody that helped you
along with your sincere thanks
pat yourself on the back congratulations
you made your first short film now look
objectively at this first short film
there's going to be a lot of problems
with it analyze it figure out what your
real weaknesses were on the project and
then do a bunch of research go to
youtube i'm going to be uploading videos
every week that'll help you i hope but
there's also
tons of other creators out there that'll
have all kinds of advice for your
specific weaknesses i know it can be
scary and overwhelming to go out and
make your first film even if you've been
thinking about it for a long time i
guarantee you that the feeling of
satisfaction that you're going to get is
going to make it all worthwhile
i'm kent lane from standard story
company tune in next week for more
unsolicited filmmaking advice i'll go
make a short film
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