So basically lets start from the beginning,
Story:-
So lets say you have a story in your head and want to express it to your film crew well the best way to do that is writing it down on a paper or on the computer whatever is comfortable for you. You will notice while doing this your idea might not have that edge that you wanted but that's a good thing, Now comes the time for you to brainstorm on different ideas and story aspects that your film needs. Here you wont need your entire crew to decide what is right or wrong in the story, You just need people like a story writer or an co-assistant director to help you out. Don't worry if you don't have those type of guys with you, You could always get good input from your close friends and BE OPEN TO CRITICISM . Don't let bad comments or views let you down, This just gives you a chance to improve yourself and learn from your mistakes.
Ok so now that the story is finalized you can go on to planning.
Planning a film:-
Most film makers tend to do less planning for their movies due to time constraints. This is a very common case which should be avoided. Proper planning of film is the most important part of film making. It may be a drag to do so when you know what to do but you are not alone in this, If you have film crew with you then you would need to brief them with what would happen on shoot. All these questions of where, when, how and why would be answered and would create less chaos on the day of the shoot. Things like what type of shot would that be or what type of shot will this be would be cleared calmly by the director because there is no pressure at that time which is a good thing. Or even explaining to the actors what their roles are in the film is essential hopefully they would do their homework and then be prepared for the shoot which is also creates less chaos and a better relationship with the director. Oh and things like how much gear you need on a particular day could be planned as well because we wouldn't want to carry too much load if we don't need it.
Ok now that you briefed your crew and actors about the plan now you just need to wait for the day of shooting.
Directing and Actors:-
This is very important topic that I needed to cover in this post, The reason only being that the relationship you have with your actors is one of the keys for making a good film. Although there are other aspects to film making such as lighting, sound and quality etc etc but that is just the technical aspects of it. Directors get distracted by the technical aspects of the film that they forget who is acting in the film and tend to take them for granted. If there are actors who are beginners then you can't expect them to get everything right. It will take time for them to get the shot right. Here the director needs to build the actors confidence by telling him he did well but if he/she had done it in this way it would be much better. By saying this the actor won't get demotivated but would try improving himself to make the shot look good.
But often we think it is the Directors fault for not explaining the actors what needs to be done properly. Well you would be surprised to know that it equally the actors fault. Like I said before, after the director briefs the actor on what his character is then later its the actors duty to DO HIS HOMEWORK. What I mean by this is that the actor needs to practice or visualize what his character is all about, This takes alot of time to do if you are an Amateur actor. This builds a mutual understanding between director and actor and reduces wasted time and effort but leaves time for more creativity.
So this was my experience hope this would help you to make your own short films with ease. Well easier said than done of coarse. I can't go into technical aspects of the film but hopefully if I get the time I would would make some behind the scenes footage for some of my short films. Peace.
