How to Make a Short Film?

 

Hii blog!! After watching the Youtube video entitled "How to Make a Short Film",  I have taken away a few key points that I would like to share. (Peep my 2025 vision board).

1. "Write what you know you can pull off"

This idea helped me realize the importance of realism. Basically, this point emphasizes the need to focus on what is possible based on what resources and budget are available, instead of committing to unrealistic ideas. This means advice should help greatly in my groups short film process as we are students who are 

2. "Focus on setups and payoffs"

Setups and payoffs are important in film as they help tell a story in an unexpected way. In film setoffs are considered details or elements that are introduced early on, and payoffs are the unanticipated results they later produce. The video emphasizes the important difference in action, story, and emotional setup and payoffs and their role in film. The suggestion paying off multiple forms of setups in one go to yield maximum results is an action I will attempt to take in our own short film!

3. "Go against your instinct"

Ryan explains this piece of advice by stating, "if you want to go left, go right instead". Why? Because the writers first instinct could very well be something the audience is expecting as well. This I feel could help me and my group as we are relatively new at writing scripts!

4. "Keep in mind you may not stick to your plan"

I find a lot of comfort in this idea that it is unlikely that we will stick rigidly to our original plan despite all our prior preparation. For kids like us just starting out with the short film process, it is important to realize there is a lot of room for change.

5. "Casting is everything"

The point made here is that casting truly shapes the film being created, as actors must be chosen based on their range of depth related to the tone you want to convey as the director. With this advice, my group and I will be weary in our selection of our cast and attempt to not select members for reasons unrelated to their acting ability. We will also write to our cast's ability.

So everyone, these were the most important points that my group found to be the most helpful to our personal short film journey!