Young director - looking for any helpful tips of what to do and what not to do!

C

CineIlliterate

Member
Hey, guys, my name's Andy and I'm 16, and this is my first thread on here after being told to sign up by a friend! This site seems great and I can't wait to try and fit in with you lot more. I love film a lot, both the watching and making processes (particularly adoring the latter!).

I've been doing shorts for about three years now, just for fun and all, and I've finally decided to give a feature a go. Now, I know what you're all thinking - a feature, at 16? Is he mad? And yes, I am. But after a lot of shorts (around 20 in total!), me and my main collaborating friend decided "What the Hell", and to give it a shot, we had nothing to lose. We love to challenge ourselves and we thought that it would indeed be the greatest challenge. I wrote the script myself (it ended up at 79 pages), and because I'd been wanting to shoot this feature before writing it - I could write it making sure that it was filmmable. I've cast all of my friends in the roles (some act in drama classes, others don't), I'm just £100 off owning the Sony NEX-VG20 (the camera I've been saving up for a LONG, LONG time to buy), and I've pretty much sorted out all the locations I'm going to shoot in.

Now, whilst I've directed all those shorts I told you about - my direction is far from as good as I'd like it to be. So before I approach this big challenge, I thought I'd ask for some advice on what makes for the best direction - and what I should perhaps try to do/try not to do. I hope you'll all welcome me here and I look forward to speaking with other people as passionate about filmmaking as me. :)

Thanks guys!
 
first of all, if you haven't already, get a copy of Directing Actors by Judith Weston ASAP and devour it. There are many methods for directing actors but that seems to be the single best book out there. The absolute biggest flaw of most amateur films is bad acting (closely followed by bad sound) so knowing what to tell the actors is probably the single biggest thing that will improve the quality of your film.

Aside from that, to really give you a good answer as to what to focus on when it comes to cinematography, editing, etc., it would be useful for you to give us an example of a film you've done. If you aren't comfortable with that, perhaps give us an example of a film that resembles the style you want to emulate in your work.
 
I'm glad you're giving this a go.

All I can say is this... before you start, define what success is. Define what failure is. Most likely, "success" should just be that you finish the film, even if it's the worst film ever made. You will learn a fantastic amount from making a really bad feature film.

And then keep trying. Don't let the success or failure of this one huge project influence your ambition. Keep your head up, no matter what happens.
 
Good for you!!!!!! Plus you know how to ask questions, which is even more important.

What you should do: Find your own way, but study what others have done before you. Watch the classics, and formulate your own style.

What not to do: Give up. If you find something is not working, go over it, go around it, or go through it. And never think you have to do everything alone.
 
Welcome to DVXUSER! You say that you have cast your friends in the main roles. I am making the assumption that your friends are roughly the same age as you are. Please tell me that the script that you are wanting to make has characters that can be played by individuals that are roughly your age, or the age of the friends you are going to use in the film? It is almost a cliche in filmmaking that, "Casting is....50%, 75%, 90% or 98% of directing" (Depending on who is attributed to the quote). I am not going to discourage you at all. I think that making a long form film at your age, and FINISHING IT, will be the best filmmaking training you can get. I do have to ask, what kind of film are you going to make?

The advice I would give you is, first GO FOR IT. Then I would suggested becoming a student of film and filmmaking. Read as many posts here as possible. Read as much as can about filmmaking. The Directing Actors by Judith Weston book is very good. I also suggest Story by Robert McKee, Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen by Steven Katz, among others. I would also suggest reading a copy of Film Scheduling: Or, How Long Will It Take to Shoot Your Movie? by Ralph Singleton. It is, IMHO,the best book on the logistics of filmmaking and film production management. Get a subscription to American Cinematographer magazine and read it every month. Then, watch movies, watch movies, watch movies. Move out of your normal taste in movies and begin to study film history and the great films of the past. Use your Netflix account (You have one, right?) and start a pattern of studying films. I would suggest making a goal of watching as many of the movies on these lists:

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Picture
I would watch the winners and the nominees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palme_d%27Or

Here are some filmmaking links you may like.

http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/

http://www.moviemaker.com/

http://www.indiewire.com/

http://www.dv.com/

http://www.theasc.com/index.php

http://filmmakingcentral.com/fmc2/

http://www.dga.org/

http://www.proletariatpictures.com/r-101.html

http://www.scottspears.net/Lowbudgetinglighting.htm

http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2011/11/05/lighting-basics-going-with-what-is-available/

Well, that ought to do for a start.

The last thing I would say is trust yourself, your eye and your taste. At some point when setting up a shot, or shooting a scene, you have to just trust yourself. If it looks cool to you, then that is what you should go with. Seek constructive criticism and learn from your choices, but make sure that what you are shooting is something that you find pleasing and works for you.
 
Best advice: make some films. The first ones will be terrible, that's ok, they'll get better. Unless you're completely untalented, you'll at least become good enough to be trusted with filming family birthdays for Grandma. Hopefully you'll get much better than that :)
 
I'd recommend that you don't listen to too many people when it comes to story. Everyone has their own personal take on everything. If you ask 10 different people what they though of how you did a particular thing in your film you'll hear 10 different slants. Don't try to please people and don't change or sell your vision or ideas short by listening to others. I'm not saying that you shouldn't surround yourself with talented individuals with skill sets that exceed yours in other fields. I'm saying that film making isn't a democratic process. Story by consensus rarely works.
 
Screw all these book/films folks recommend here - its gonna take you at least a decade to absorb that stuff. Stay clear of the weston book at this point - yeah its a great book - but its dense. You seem like a smart kid - good horse sense - trust yer instincts. Trust yer feelings. Maybe watch the doc zombie girl about a 14? year old girl who made a zombie feature. its on netflix instant. Sure yer gonna make mistakes - **** kurosawa at 76 said "im just learning how to make a film now." I say go for it! Trust you have a lot heart in ya right out of the gate. Put yer money on that - in the weeks coming up you aint gonna become some great filmmaker by reading these books and watching all these films - if you have specific questions ask them here. I would look in the mirror and say "I can do it! I have something to say! I deserve to do this! and most importantly I WILL FORGIVE MYSELF FOR WHAT I DON'T KNOW! And I will forgive others!" Good luck!!!!!
 
Well, to be fair, the documentary "Zombie Girl" got someplace; the girl's zombie film didn't really.

Met all of them the year ZG played Slamdance.
 
Hey there, thanks for this recommendation, I'll get on Amazon and try and hunt down this book! :) I can't stand bad acting when I come across it myself, but I can't say I'm the best performance director out there... at all! So thank you for that, I'll take a look! :)

Here's a link to my YouTube channel, it only features 2 of the short films I've done because the others weren't as good, but hopefully they're a good indicator. They're far less serious than the film I'm working on currently, but they are rather good fun. My name's Andy Harrison, just so you can spot me in the second film if you check it out (it's called "The Hunter"). I play the villain of the piece!

Anyway, thank you very, very much for the reply - it's great to have some support! :) Let me know what you think of the videos if you check them out, it would mean a lot! Thank you very much!
 
Thanks for the support, man, I'm glad somebody's glad, haha!

I think this advice is great, and I'll be sure to try and define the two. It would be a great success to me, to finish the film, and like you say - I'd be very glad to learn from my mistakes on it. I will keep trying, I have the advantages that I'm quite a determined and ambitious person, so I'll make sure to never give up! :)

Thank you so much for the reply, it's great to receive great advice and support like this, and I'm sure you've contributed to the creation process of this film that little bit more, haha!
 
Thank you very much, this is a great compliment to me and the support's a great influence!

I do have a certain style I think, from the stuff I've done so far, and it's certainly influenced by many others, Raimi, the Coens, mostly very energetic kind of camerawork and direction!

As I said to somebody else, I'm quite a determined and ambitious person, so I definitely won't give up. :) Thank you very much the support, it means a lot!
 
Emulating what others have said - my advice is to always go with your gut. Even if it goes against the advice of some more experienced crew members. (But if they are ALL telling you its a bad idea, then maybe it is.)

Every single time I went with my gut I was happy with the results, even if it was a harder road, and every single time I failed to listen to gut instincts, I regretted it later, and again later while editing, and again every time I thought about it. Always go with your gut.

The second thing I would say is try to get people more experienced than you for a crew, you will benefit from their knowledge and experience.

Cheers and good luck.
 
Thank you David, it's lovely to be here! The actors are roughly my age, yes, one or two half a year or so older. It's never actually specified how old the characters are in the script, but they're perfectly able to play them I think, and they certainly look right! I hope it's great training, as you said, it certainly is an experience I'm looking forward to a lot! The film's complicated to explain, and I'll refrain from MANY details in case you ever end up watching it when I'm done (the specifics are a major factor of enjoying the film), but it's a mixture of genres, and it's about two friends that end up in a sticky situation, of sorts. It's not an all out comedy, at all, but it does contain comedic elements, which is something I'm very aware of directing very carefully (badly directed comedy in amateur films, from what I've seen, can sometimes turn out very badly!).

I'm gonna give it the best go I can, I'm certainly a believer of: if you're going to do something, do it the best you can. I'm certainly going to make a list of both all the book names and all the links you've given me here, there's an awful lot and I thank you very, VERY much for taking the time to send them over to me. It means a lot - and I'm sure they'll all benefit me greatly. I've NOT got a Netflix account... I'm awful, I know, but I live in the UK and I believe it's not been around here for a long while. Although, I saw an advert on TV for it recently, so I'm assuming it's come over here now! I mostly get DVDs from the exchange shop we have in town, and of course off the Internet. I'll be sure to look into it though, I've always wanted to get involved with Netflix!

I'm open to all constructive criticism, and I thought I'd link you over to my YouTube account at the end of this reply in case you get chance to check the videos I have up out! I'll be sure to trust myself though, and go with my gut instinct. Thank you so much for this extensive reply, it means a great lot to me than somebody would put the time into giving me all this information and I'll follow it up to make this film the best I can. Thank you very much indeed! :)
Here's the account!
http://www.youtube.com/user/IsntFun
 
I've made some short films. They were terrible. Hahaha!

They did get better though, and I like to think they're still improving now. :) I'll keep on trying, trying, trying - and haha, hopefully, in the end, I will! Thank you for your reply. :)
 
Thanks for this, I certainly agree with you. My stories are quite original things in themselves, or at least I like to think so, so it is common that I receive mixed opinions on them from different people. I'll hopefully never change to what people say, but that doesn't mean I'm not open to constructive criticism. If I believe something's definitely right, though, then I'll stick to that. :) Thanks for this reply, very good advice indeed! :)
 
Ok I watched the two films on your youtube page.

The good is that you do seem to have the beginnings of a style you are headed for. It's very important for a director to have a vision of how the film will be in the finished product way before shooting begins. This way you can make sure every single decision you make is moving towards that vision.

After seeing your work, I would say the single biggest thing you can do to improve your work is pre-production planning. Your work (like almost all amateur films) has a sense of friends getting together and just having a good time. While this is great and you should definitely always have fun on your shoots and be open to trying something crazy, it's true that pre-production is the single most important aspect of film-making (unless you're Wong Kar-Wai). Everything from rudimentary story boarding, acting rehearsals, to costume and set design will greatly enhance your film.


Also I would suggest looking online for a cheap DIY steadycam you could make to help smooth out your footage.

Keep it up!
 
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to watch my films!

I'm glad you had positive thoughts, I'm aware the two films aren't very serious, but you're right - The Hunter had no pre-production whatsoever, haha!

I must also add - the current camera I have is terrible, and as I said, I'm currently investing in a new one. I've been desperate to own a Steadycam for a while too, so I'll be sure to take a look and try and purchase one! :) Thank you very much for this advice, and I'll make sure to plan, plan, plan!

Thanks!
 
Thanks for this mate!

I do go with a gut, often, but as I've said to somebody else - that doesn't mean I'm not open to constructive criticism. As you say - if a lot of people tell you it's a bad idea, it probably is!

I will try and surround myself with more experienced people if ever I get the chance, it's hard at my age as you can probably understand, but it's something I'd take great pride in doing. :)

Thank you for the support!
 
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