Student Film Making



Posted: Monday, March 14, 2011

by John Young
http://www.videofilmschool.org

The key to making a student film is to remember that this is an exercise in education. Learn from your mistakes. Always remember that your first film production is a student film because your goal should be to gain an education on how to create a movie.  The philosophy that works the best on student films is to solve problems creatively. If you are working on a limited budget always look at solving problems creatively rather than spending money. The idea is to understand that you will learn in the process and your next project will be far better.

Being creative to solve problems when filming a movie should be step one. The first step when confronted by an issue in filming your movie should be to do a rewrite of the script. The quickest way to control the budget is to do a rewrite. Look at what things you have access to and rewrite accordingly. One key element on low budget film projects is the filming location. Typically the location tends to be the toughest aspect of pre-production. The best way to solve any location issues is be open to changing the story by doing a quick rewrite.

One of the biggest mistakes during student film production is the cinematography. When you pick shots keep things simple. Dolly shots and camera moves during filming complicate the production. If your creative in how you film you can make a very good movie using simple basic shots. Most of your effort should be dedicated toward the composition.

Another issue that impacts the quality of your finished product is the quality of the acting. The actors who are willing to work for free tend to not be the most talented group. Most likely the actors willing to work for free are amateurs. The best way to get a good performance out of an amateur actor is to be creating in how you direct them. With amateur actors getting a lot of reaction shots becomes extremely important. If you have enough coverage you can cut away to minimize a poor performance.

The boom in the shot is a signature of student films. With a boom stand you can setup a mic so that it is far enough away to stay out of the frame. You can set the mic outside of the frame to solve this problem. You have limited resources and having someone hold the mic is not the most efficient use of crew members. You can limited the number of crew members required by doing some of the jobs yourself.

Creativity is the best way to succeed in making your first student film. Learn how to be creative so you can gain as much useful experience from your effort. Look to maximize your limited resources. Doing rewrites and adjusting your production schedule will help you succeed.
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