steps to making an short indie film?

captiveera

captiveera

Sup guys. Newbie question...Just was wondering, i'm considering to get started on a short film for a project for my class. Could someone explain the process with writing the story and everything? Thanks in advance!
 
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Seriously.
"Whatever you want. For 10 minutes."
That's all the directions your instructor gave the class?

What's the grading matrix going to cover?
What will the instructor expect to see in submissions and provide a grade or critique of?
  1. Critreria A: 1 - 10
  2. Critreria B: 1 - 10
  3. Critreria C: 1 - 10
  4. Critreria D: 1 - 10
 
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Write
Rewrite
Rewrite
Rewrite
Rewrite
PreProduction
PreProduction
PreProduction
Shoot
Edit
ReEdit
ReEdit
Audio Post
Digital Visual Effects

During the whole process work 10 times harder than you think you need to, then double down, then double down again.
 
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rayw said:
Seriously.
"Whatever you want. For 10 minutes."
That's all the directions your instructor gave the class?

What's the grading matrix going to cover?
What will the instructor expect to see in submissions and provide a grade or critique of?
  1. Critreria A: 1 - 10
  2. Critreria B: 1 - 10
  3. Critreria C: 1 - 10
  4. Critreria D: 1 - 10
Click to expand...

1. Able to shoot during dates designated: 1 - 5
2. Successfully import footage from taping: 1 - 5
3 Evidence of pre production(Casting, Scheduling, pre interviewing) 1 - 5
4. All shots were well framed and indicated on script: 1 - 5
5. All Edits are clean: 1 - 5

That's about it for the rubric.
 
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captiveera said:
1. Able to shoot during dates designated: 1 - 5
Can't help you there. That's all you, big guy!

2. Successfully import footage from taping: 1 - 5
"Import from taping"? How quaint!
Doesn't everyone use flashcards these days? (Rhetorical, unless you aren't!)

What camera are you using? And audio collection?

3 Evidence of pre production(Casting, Scheduling, pre interviewing) 1 - 5
Do you feel confident that an actual narrative story is in order or that a documentary is equally acceptable?

4. All shots were well framed and indicated on script: 1 - 5
Study screenshots: http://www.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/movies/screenshots
Don't shoot sh!t: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=44510

Speaking of scripts... and specifically ones for short stories, you also might wanna take a look at this: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=47026

5. All Edits are clean: 1 - 5
How are you feeling about this? Think you can trim the fat pretty good?
What NLE will you be working with?
Do you have an audio editor, as well?

That's about it for the rubric.
Click to expand...
Excellent.

When's the submission deadline?
How are you turning it in? Upload to a school site, youtube/vimeo, on a flashcard, or other?
What are the shoot dates you're given or allowed?
 
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Wow, is that really the criteria? Importing footage is 20% of your grade? I have a sneaking suspicion that the teacher will actually end up grading it almost arbitrarily, based on how much he/she enjoys the video.

Ten minutes is a LOOOOONG run-time for a first-time filmmaker. Further evidence that your teacher doesn't know diddly-squat about the subject.

I highly recommend ordering this book, immediately. It's brief, and practically a picture book, so you can get through it in no time at all, and yet it is highly informative.

Keep your writing practical. Write stuff that's simple to shoot. Avoid exposition as much as you can. Show, don't tell. Give us a plot in which stuff is actually happening.

The 30-degree rule, and the 180-degree rule are both very important for a first-time filmmaker to learn. Make a shot-list, and shoot for maximum coverage, as best as you can.

I realize I'm using terms you don't know -- that's what google is for. :) Make sure to look up "coverage".

Have fun, but stay on task. During production, time is going to fly by way faster than you'd like. You'll likely end up losing a ton of stuff you want to shoot, simply because you run out of time. So prioritize (this is why we always shoot master shots first).

Don't waste any time getting into your editing. It's gonna take way longer than you expect. And since your teacher is a dummy, I worry that they'd know to allow enough time to do a proper edit.
Which, by the way, what the heck is a "clean" edit?

You should definitely pour your heart and soul into this, but in all honesty, the mere fact that you're on here, asking questions, makes me think you're way ahead of your peers. The vast majority of their projects are going to be damn-near unbearable to watch. Learn as much as you can about the basics, plan diligently, stay on your toes and adapt to change, and you just might end up at the top of your class. Good luck, and have fun!
 
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"Sound is half of the experience."​

Poor sound takes the audience out of the illusion you are creating. Nothing ruins otherwise good projects than poor sound.

The first part of good sound is capturing clean production dialog. If the audience cannot understand the dialog they won't care how pretty the pictures are. For indie filmmakers, especially newbs, getting good production sound is half the battle of making a (technically) good project.
 
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