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What's Short Film got going for it?
Learning how to make the perfect short film isn’t something you master on your first attempt, yes you could make a brilliant first attempt short film, but once you’ve made 50 or so short films and look back at your first attempt, you’re always going to think, actually, it’s not my best work. But don’t let that put you off, as with everything in life worth doing, it’s worth doing properly and that means practice!.
Each film cycle, I start again and I do so because despite having made successful Features, I’ve had a long break from filming and I think of filmmaking like any skill unpracticed, it’s a perishable skill, so if I want to be in the position where I can make Feature Films again, I have to practice and I practice with Short Film.
Not everyone in the industry is a film graduate, but I would highly recommend it if it's definitely your chosen career path and in the meantime discover within the medium of short film what aspects of film or subjects particularly interest and inspire you. If you start making films about what you find interesting and fun, no doubt everyone else will start seeing your flair and creativity within your films and you start developing a style of your own, of course you can change this if and whenever you want, but having a signature is so special to directors, it kind of means you’ve made it!.
Whether you’re a graduate from film school or a complete beginner, short film is easily accessible as a means to practice your craft or new found hobby with your own digital camera, swish equipment or if you don’t have any of those things, just use your SmartPhone, we all have access to a video recorder on at least one device!
In the last film cycle I made hundreds of short films, I posted them on social media and entered competitions, many were unpublished and I lost quite a few as well. There is no limit to how many short films you should or shouldn’t make. There are so many subject matters and interesting stories and film styles that I want to cover in short films to make sure that when I make feature films I am in the best possible position. I will have done my homework, I will know what works and what doesn’t, what subjects are of special interest and that are commercially viable, I will have lots of experience in creating ambiance in the scenes because naturally I will have considered everything I need to know for making a feature film.
Sometimes I manage to do this quite quickly and in some cycles it takes like a 100 short films for me to feel confident and competent. I know that film graduates will be wanting to go straight into work as a director, I have never seen this happen personally, but that is not to say that it doesn’t happen. For those of you who are wondering how best to get work, well . . . make short films and show them to prospective employers as proof of your talents and competence in directing.
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For those who are completely new to short film, take your time and enjoy the filmmaking process. Start small, say with a 30 second film or a 1 minute film, don’t jump into 5 mins or 10 mins if you're completely new because it will mean a lot of editing and you will need practice at that too. I would definitely recommend if you haven’t already purchased one, a copy of The SmartPhone Director’s (mini) Movie Making Course it’s a step by step Short Film Course that will not only give you a process to follow it also has my infinity ideas hack that will make sure that you never have any creative blocks and can keep making short films knowing you will never, ever run out of ideas!!
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Miss Red Gachet
RedSpark Films