What every newb filmmaker should know. (My Top 5)

Wilbur Eddings

Wilbur Eddings

Well-known member
I just had a very inspiring chat with my producer and will share my top 5 thoughts on film making here while I am still excited.

Before I start, some have asked why I share these principles ("what are you trying to prove?").

Simple:

I love movies and I want to see more!

This is why we have film schools and large scale sponsorship projects.

If I can stimulate the independent film industry in any way, be it motivationally or with sound advice, I have achieved a personal objective!

Upfront: I will not be responding to trolls on this one. If I have shared these thoughts elsewhere and happen to repeat them, I obviously think they are important.


Ok. Here we go:

The technical aspects of film making are covered in minuscule detail all over these forums. These are just my 5 top thoughts on the 'other' stuff.


1) Procrastination is your worst enemy!

Movie making is a freight train! Once the wheels start moving, it is very difficult to go back and redo something you might have forgotten or applied incorrectly.

Apply the principle of excellence from the word 'go'. Do it right, do it once, do it NOW!
Synopsis, Screenplay, scheduling - these are not a joke. There is no reverse gear once you start rolling that camera. Time is NOT on your side, your story and shoot schedule need to be done BEFORE you start shooting.

Sure you'll be able to fiddle a bit here and there while you shoot, but don't even pick up that camera unless you know what you plan to shoot, where you plan to shoot it and how you will shoot it.

Do things immediately. If you feel your story is not strong enough or you do not have enough material to attract your target market, get your ass behind that computer and get typing! A mental note is not worth the paper it is written on!

While we are at it, you may as well open that script you've been avoiding and get stuck in right now!


2) Choose a Genre and get tunnel vision!

When I first started out, I read every book, article and forum I could lay my eyes on.
The 'laws' and 'rules' of writing a screenplay with tons of character development, plot mapping etc. are all very important, but they can intimidate the heck out of any new writer.

Here's all you need to know: Pick a Genre, have a good guy, a bad guy, a girl and a MacGuffin. There. You have a movie.

You can elaborate like crazy after that but first get your tunnel vision operating and turn a deaf ear to the arty farties. Critics are going to crucify you anyway, you have less than a 5% chance of a positive review so pander to the genre market, not the critics.
trying to please critics is like being married to three different partners and hoping to keep them all happen. Not a chance bub.

Write for that Genre, direct for that Genre and market to that Genre.

When I watch Aliens, I want to see running and screaming, not deep sessions of philosophical dialog! (tThe Arty Farties would severely disagree).
Save the complicated stuff for when you have the money to buy great talent and lots of time for lots of takes!
Keep it as simple and ENTERTAINING as you can.

VERY IMPORTANT: Not every great idea is a relevant idea!
Distributors want Genre specific content so keep that tunnel vision and be as stubborn as a Mule.
Everyone around you will have fantastic ideas. In the end it's YOUR name on the poster!


3) Think big but spend small!

Statistically, you have more chance at winning the Lotto than having your film be the next Blaire Witch Project.
Running around trying to get a huge amount of money from investors for your 'Epic' breakout movie is very dangerous.

Do everything in your power to shoot on the cheapest available gear with easily accessible props, sets and extras. Write your script according to the assets you have available. A late night scene at your local mall with a bunch of friends dressed in army uniforms can make your movie look like it had a lot more money than the cliche' first time film maker action shoot at the broken down factory nearby. (unless it is extremely Genre specific). Think blocking and free set design at every turn. While you write, write around great sets that you already have access to. Think BIG! Rolling green hills, Highway intersections etc. Massive production value!

Make your first goal a screening on local television stations. (They usually have a small budget for local content).

Box your movie budget into what you think the minimum income will be, not the medium or desired income, MINIMUM! Your goal is not to make one movie and never recover from the financial fallout, your goal is to be a film maker for ever!
Think long term! Do low budget, high production value movies for as long as it takes!


4) Failure is never fatal!

If your first movie sucked, so what? Call it 'Take one, Scene one' and move on to Take two!
Not every first time film maker has Peter Jackson or Jerry B. hovering in the background!
Chances of a crappy first film are very good! learn as much as you possibly can and come back swinging!
Movie making is no different to any other skill out there, failure is just another lesson; learn, grow and keep moving!


5) Be strong and decisive!

Nothing is more important than clear leadership on your project. Don't tolerate chaos, procrastination and laziness.

Plan like a madman, lock down your tunnel vision and make sure that all your crew/volunteers are 100% clear on your vision! Volunteers or not, excellence must come first! Once you finish that movie, there is no going back and tears don't change the past!


Those would be my top 5, Marketing and Distribution are entire separate monsters and I commented on that here:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?61912-Trials-and-tribulations-of-distribution.../page3
 
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Good stuff, good stuff. Great points all around, particularly #1 and #2. Genre-writing is something every filmmaker should familiarize himself/herself with. It doesn't mean you follow cliché formulas and other unoriginal bulls..t, but it does mean that you know the bleachers from the goal posts.
 
Michael Traven said:
Good stuff, good stuff. Great points all around, particularly #1 and #2. Genre-writing is something every filmmaker should familiarize himself/herself with. It doesn't mean you follow cliché formulas and other unoriginal bulls..t, but it does mean that you know the bleachers from the goal posts.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the great power of focusing on your set Genre (Target market) is that you have so much more room to be original and creative on every level.

Really get in there with that story, clever character development, nice build ups to memorable moments - All much easier when you are familiar with what your target market enjoys!
 
Great stuff.

Here's a couple more from my own experience, off the top of my head:

1. Tell your story to OTHER people

Best case scenario, your audience has payed 12 bucks and will spend two hours of their lives watching your movie.
Don't waste their time and money. You're talking to people through your film, so don't just talk to yourself for your own sake.
The main reason most low budget independent films are made but never heard from again is because the filmmaker has made this error.
It's a great way to not get distribution, or festival spots.
You're telling a story. Tell it to other people.

2. Pay your cast and crew.
Even if you can't afford to pay them much, even if it's shamefully little cash, it will save you from standing their on set after half the shoot wondering where your team is.
Film production is a messy business. There will be heated arguments. People will step on eachother's toes. Money will save the production and keep them from staying home on the couch or do other things.
It also leads me to the next point:

3. You WILL need to fire people.
Get rid of the bad eggs. If someone can't behave, and you pay that person money, that gives you the power to fire them from the production. You will need to do this. Sometimes you will need to lecture and raise your voice, but paying your crew will let you decide whether to fire somebody or just putting them in place for not doing their job or spreading a bad attitude. That power is what separates the employer from the employee.

4. Get sponsors.
Companies love to give out free stuff to show off their products and logos.

5. Know when to micro manage and when NOT to.
I hate micro managing, and I hate people who try to micro manage me.
But sometimes, in some situations, with some people, it's just necessary.
Learn when to do it and when not to, and you'll save yourself both time and money.
 
Some other thoughts:

Keep shooting shorts.
There is nothing more powerful than experience so get as much of it as you can. Shoot 3 minute shorts on your damn cell phone if you have to, but keep shooting!
Film your dog, your nephews, your birds.. whatever! Make it easy, simple and experiment your heart out.

When I started out, I used to shoot fake 30sec TVC's like crazy! A buddy would get a new car and my camera would be pointed at it for a fake TVC.
My first efforts all sucked but in the end they got good enough for me to become a real TVC director.

You don't build a team with one movie, you build it with comment interest and lots of side by side warfare so: If you want to build a great team, tackle easy, cheap 'one afternoon' projects and do one every weekend if you can!

My point?
You don't get to climb a mountain until you know how to climb a hill!
Start with a bunch of molehills and get stuck in!
 
Jawa Ex Machina said:
Great stuff.

Here's a couple more from my own experience, off the top of my head:

1. Tell your story to OTHER people

Best case scenario, your audience has payed 12 bucks and will spend two hours of their lives watching your movie.
Don't waste their time and money. You're talking to people through your film, so don't just talk to yourself for your own sake.
The main reason most low budget independent films are made but never heard from again is because the filmmaker has made this error.
It's a great way to not get distribution, or festival spots.
You're telling a story. Tell it to other people.

2. Pay your cast and crew.
Even if you can't afford to pay them much, even if it's shamefully little cash, it will save you from standing their on set after half the shoot wondering where your team is.
Film production is a messy business. There will be heated arguments. People will step on eachother's toes. Money will save the production and keep them from staying home on the couch or do other things.
It also leads me to the next point:

3. You WILL need to fire people.
Get rid of the bad eggs. If someone can't behave, and you pay that person money, that gives you the power to fire them from the production. You will need to do this. Sometimes you will need to lecture and raise your voice, but paying your crew will let you decide whether to fire somebody or just putting them in place for not doing their job or spreading a bad attitude. That power is what separates the employer from the employee.

4. Get sponsors.
Companies love to give out free stuff to show off their products and logos.

5. Know when to micro manage and when NOT to.
I hate micro managing, and I hate people who try to micro manage me.
But sometimes, in some situations, with some people, it's just necessary.
Learn when to do it and when not to, and you'll save yourself both time and money.
Click to expand...

Brilliant!
 
Wilbur Eddings said:
You don't build a team with one movie, you build it with comment interest and lots of side by side warfare so: If you want to build a great team, tackle easy, cheap 'one afternoon' projects and do one every weekend if you can!
Click to expand...

I can echo this! If you can find a good group of people who you work well with and enjoy the company of, keep at it and soon you will be able to do wonderful things.
 
This seems so wrong to me. Filmmaking shouldn't be about pleasing an audience, or tailoring your film to meet certain criteria, or even having critics on your mind. That's ridiculous. Film is an art form. Of course you hope people enjoy your work, but you don't change anything or do things a certain way so that they do enjoy it. And if you do, you're missing the point. I don't need to have made a film to say that. Your reasons for making a film shouldn't be to make money or to please an audience, it should be to get across what you want to say. If that pleases an audience and makes money for you then that's a bonus, but if that's your motivation then you're not going to make anything ground-breaking. It pisses me off when people say the most important thing in filmmaking is the story and to be creative in telling the story, and then they make their film following some sort of conventional, recognised recipe, perhaps with a few extra ingredients to make their film 'unique'. Section 2 is such bullshit.
 
This is an interesting rant:

"This seems so wrong to me. Filmmaking shouldn't be about pleasing an audience, or tailoring your film to meet certain criteria, or even having critics on your mind. That's ridiculous. Film is an art form. Of course you hope people enjoy your work, but you don't change anything or do things a certain way so that they do enjoy it. And if you do, you're missing the point. I don't need to have made a film to say that. Your reasons for making a film shouldn't be to make money or to please an audience, it should be to get across what you want to say. If that pleases an audience and makes money for you then that's a bonus, but if that's your motivation then you're not going to make anything ground-breaking. It pisses me off when people say the most important thing in filmmaking is the story and to be creative in telling the story, and then they make their film following some sort of conventional, recognised recipe, perhaps with a few extra ingredients to make their film 'unique'. Section 2 is such bulls*%t."
​

Can you say, “can of worms?”

The people making the big bucks are going to do what they’re going to do. Those at the bottom, however, enter a brave new world of cheap “film” making. It used to take an army to make a movie (Welles), but not so anymore. I think we’re seeing the results of this democratization everywhere, and are flooded with content – much too much for any mortal to watch.

I find most of it pretty unwatchable, but that’s me. I see most of the no-budget stuff as a learning exercise. Once you get into the realm of budgets and investors though, they’re going to want something recognizable for their money. They’re going to want something that can be described and communicated.

Audiences too are only going to be enticed to spend their valuable TIME, as well as money, on things they believe are going to offer something they can relate to in some way. They tend to be fickle that way. Hence, the prevalence of genres and genre conventions. Of course genre does not mean formula, but is a looser framework to operate in (some may disagree).

There is a bottom line at the end of the show, though, after the credits roll. Will those people recommend to others to watch the thing or not? A yes means success. A no means obscurity and death.

By way of confession, I am (slooooooowly) recutting my short film because the first cut did NOT win the local film festival, or even get showed, which threw me for a loop. I've decided to put the razor to it and really make some changes to the edit. Hopefully for the better, all I know for sure is that it will be different.
 
1. Don’t fall into the mythology of the field routine. If something is said it’s done certain way then simply because people can name how it’s done already belong to the past not the present - and definitely not the future. Studying the craft IS important but not as important as many (including at some point myself) would want you to believe. You have to get to the point where you are capable of following what interest you and not listen to people around.

2. Watch films to learn what NOT to do not what to do. If it has been done successfully then there is no point for you to repeat it again. Read books, go on walks, look at photographs, paintings, listen to music etc to get ideas.

3. Collection of information or learning - even if necessary step - is NOT substitution for idea creation. You have to say something important and when you say it have a point of view. You don’t need to make sense to everyone as people are at various stages of mental development. Likewise don’t attempt to make something that will interest everyone at every point in their life - it’s simply impossible as people grow, evolve, change.

4. Nobody know everything for sure. Certain patterns of “what worked in the past” can be successfully applied if you have a wealth of $ behind you otherwise your main weapon is invention and uniqueness.

5. Define success. There are many many definitions and you really don’t have to stick to the most obvious one.
 
I think it's an interesting balance of art, business, and what kind of living do you want to make at it? And maybe age has something to do with too... ;) Now that i have kids, mortgage, college tuition, etc. making a living from my art would be nice... which is why I also make a living with technology development for this industry.

But if you look at Steve Soderbergh, his "art" or personal films did not really make their money back - "Bubble" for example. But films he has made with studio backing and/or distribution, have made money and he is in the unique and enviable position to be able to do both. That's a luxery not a lot of us have.


Michael
 
> If it has been done successfully then there is no point for you to repeat it again.

eh?
 
I thought that was a brilliant line from Patryk. If it's already been done, then -- it's been done, so if you spend efforts chasing after what someone else has already done, then what's the point of that?

It's the ultimate way to avoid cliche in your work too. Basically, if you've ever seen it done before, don't do that. Try to do something different, something new, invent something new, innovate instead of imitate, and all that...
 
It takes half a lifetime to learn a craft, and a whole lifetime to have something to say.
Better start soon.
 
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