Interested in creating your own film or short? It is not an easy process if you want to put true effort into it. There are a lot of different aspects that you must worry about when creating a film. Directing, writing, filming, and editing are just a few essential jobs for filmmakers.

Picture this: you are in the movie theater and the film that you were just watching fades to black. After a moment, the credits begin to roll and hundreds and hundreds of names fill up the screen. All of these roles that can be seen in the credits are people that were necessary for the creation of the film.

Getting Started

It all starts with a screenplay. Once you have an idea for a script, you should write it down somewhere and hold onto it, do not let it fade away in your mind. Jot down anything that comes to mind and then you start your screenplay. The amount of pages roughly matches up with the runtime of the film. You can look up how to properly format a script online easily.

Storyboarding is an important step of the pre-production process, but I do not believe it to be essential. Storyboarding is when you sketch images to breakdown how you want a certain scene of the film. Arrows are typically used to indicate motion and each sketch is of the different shots that the scene is comprised of.

What Should You Buy?

If you did not realize already, you will need to buy a camera. More than one microphone would be preferable, but one works as well if you do not have the budget for two. You may need to buy proper lighting, but you can also work with what you already have with lighting. Tripods and gimbals can be pricy, but they are very helpful when you want a completely steady camera.

End Note

I will touch more on actual production in the future, and maybe even post-production. Let me know if there is anything that you would like me to discuss pertaining to film and filmmaking!