Getting started making movies

Learn an overview of independent film and some of its requirements. For more information, check out these Amazon affiliate links:
Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
Filmmaking For Dummies
Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics

Watch the new Hartiverse video on filmmaking here: https://youtu.be/0nLj45pFen8

Have you ever planned on joining a film festival, a filmmaking contest or just simply express your natural cinematic talent? With the necessary tools and today’s technology, it’s very attainable. Whether it is a highly commercialized film with a sky-high budget or an indie film with a minimal budget, it’s always achievable.

However, filmmaking is not as simple as it looks. Although you may have all the tools you need, it’s extremely difficult to make a film on your own. Trying to be the producer, writer, director, cameraman, make-up artist and actor all in one is a maddening task. It’s one thing for TV field reporters to be a one-man band, as they call it, setting the shot and then filming themselves, but it’s quite another task to make a theater-worthy film the same way. It’s better to assemble a team of film crew members, because it makes the work flow easier. Once you have found your crew, you can start working.

One of the things you and your group need to think about is how to produce the film. Who is going to pay for the expenses? You can invest some money and produce the film yourself, or you can seek out independent producers who help launch films they see as having a lot of potential. You should also consider whether or not you would want to enter a film festival. Most young filmmakers join film festivals to be immediately recognized. It’s also a place to network for your next film.

When making a film, you cannot just place actors in front of the camera and ask them to act. They expect to read lines from a script. So unless you are making a documentary where everything is natural and nothing is scripted, don’t cast your film until you know what characters are needed. You also need to decide what type of movie you want to make. Is it a horror film, a comedy, a drama, or a thriller, for example? Once you’ve decided that, you need to come up with your “high concept” statement, which is the movie equivalent of the 30-second elevator pitch used in other types of businesses.

Once your script is complete and financing is in place, you are ready to hire actors to play the roles called for in the script. Movies are unlike stage productions where a person can take multiple roles, unless you have an actor as gifted as Eddie Murphy, who played multiple characters in the original “Coming To America.” Expect each actor to play just one part in your film. Studying, memorizing and internalizing the script are the responsibilities of each actor learning their role.

At the same time as you are picking actors, you need to be selecting your crew. If you are working on a small budget or no-budget film, you can go non-union and construct, paint, decorate and light the sets with the help of your group. Even if you are a novice filmmaker working on a meager or non-existent budget, this should not be an obstacle for you. After all, this is just the beginning of your career. As long as everyone knows upfront that this is a low-pay or no-pay gig in exchange for a copy of the film for their demo reel, it’s cool. That said, you may still want to hire an entertainment attorney and an accountant to keep you within the laws governing films. You may also need to buy permits for certain filming locations. Talk to your state’s film department for more details. Never promise money you can’t pay. Never promise a union gig and then hire non-union personnel. Mistakes like those can kill your film and possibly trigger a cease-and-desist order from the unions.

Once everything is prepared and you have your equipment, you can start filming your movie. The best thing about recent digital technology is that filmmakers do not use film rolls, hence it doesn’t matter, within reason, how many takes you make to create a perfect scene, because digital memory is easily attainable. But don’t be a perfectionist if you’re clumsy. You’ll only make your cast and crew think you’re a fool and maybe even quit the set.

After all the shooting is finished and you’ve had your wrap party, it’s time to enter post-production and edit the film. The director must be involved in the editing so that the editor has guidance on how the completed film should look.

Once everything is complete, you can then have a special showing for your cast and crew, and send your movie to independent producers for promotional financing, or you can send it directly to the film festival that you want to join, along with the application fee.

Feel free to leave a comment with your own filmmaking experience to share with the audience. You can even link to it if it’s available online.

Hopefully you got some insight into the indie filmmaking process with this video. Please subscribe to the channel and we’ll look forward to your premiere!