How To Make It?

Trying to think of a new project is difficult. Do I want to do a documentary, or a fiction film? Fiction is definitely the hardest. First, you have to come up with a story. Then, you have to set believable scenes and write believable dialogue. Then, you have to decide if what you want to do is practical enough to fit within your budget and decide if the locations you will need to film are within your reach or if you can travel to them.

If all of that adds up, then you have to find actors who are willing to work with you. For starving filmmakers like myself you have to find actors who will work for free, so you know they probably aren’t going to be good. If you’re lucky you can find a good one who is trying to build up some experience but they are few and far between. So you have to try hard to find decent actors that are willing to work for nothing more than a meal. Once you have a few actors, if you want to make a serious film, you will need to do auditions. Auditions can be hell, but once you find your actors you are on your way to making your film.

Observational documentaries are probably my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a great fiction story, but there is nothing like looking into the life of an interesting person. Also filming them is a lot of fun and much easier to film than a fiction film because there is no acting involved. No one can “mess up” a scene or shot. However, there is going to be a ridiculous amount of footage to go through and edit with a documentary. You’re basically following someone around for a long time and that will build up a ridiculous amount of footage that you then have to sift through and find the interesting parts. With a fiction film you know exactly how you want each scene to play out so you already know what to edit, but deciding what to keep out and what to leave in a documentary film can be very difficult.

So now I get to decide what to do for my next project.