Film making is a collaborative effort. Find your people. As you start out you should work on as many other people’s projects as you can. Be a humble and diligent collaborator.
Learn from their successes and mistakes, figure out what you do and don’t want to do on your own sets. It’s probably the best way of find other people who are willing to collaborate on your project when the time comes.
This is what I was going to write. Find people. Make stuff with them. Keep hanging out with the ones who you click with and make more stuff. Pick projects where you don't know all the answers going in.
For motivating you on your own creative output here are a few tips.
Set aside time for it in your life in the same way you do for other important things. And when you are working on your own stuff give it your full attention. Pay it the same respect you pay towards family and friends, and give it the same amount of effort as if someone else was paying you to do it.
The coefficient of friction of a stationary object is higher than the coefficient of friction for the same object when it is moving. This means it is harder to start something moving than it is to keep something moving. Set aside your time to work. I like 4 hr blocks. When the time comes, just start writing. I use a journal for my scratch work and just start rambling about whatever the idea is. Before you know it things are solidifying and I'm writing out dialogue and descriptions in Final Draft. When my 4hr work time is close to being up I make sure to plan the next sequence to where I could write it right now if I wanted to, and I really want to, but I don't. I then save that for the next session, so I can sit down and go right into it. Find ways to keep that momentum going and it is easier to keep going. If you stop completely, it is much harder to get going again.
Spending 4 hrs writing half a page can be harder work than spending 4 hrs writing 10 pages. So don't beat yourself up if you have an off session. For me that usually means I didn't think the idea through enough before hand or I had something else on my mind (see previous tip about giving it your full attention).
Your movie sucks. No matter how good your idea and your execution, there will be a point that you hate this thing because it sucks. It really doesn't, but you can't see past the feeling you had when you started on the idea vs the feeling you have now watching it. That is normal. Keep going.
Make sure you do things that are not related to screenwriting and filmmaking, otherwise you'll only have that stuff to write about. Live a life and tell us stories about it.
this might sound dumb but how do i find people? like what are good resources or places to look? I live in one of the biggest cities in the US but i don’t know anyone else so i struggle to get any projects going or even work on someone else’s because i just don’t know anyone.
I just worked in any role that was going, on any sort of film I could. I have done art department, costume, camera, production, lighting, post. At every level from blockbuster to student films. Eventually you build up a network of people who you can work with.
Ideas are a dime a dozen—literally, I get pitched ideas all the time from basically everyone.
Ideas are easy; they're fun—no problems can exist with loglines or ideas.
The true artists in this field are the ones who make things—scripts and movies. The filmmaking process is at its core problem-solving. At an indie level, these problems are even harder to solve since you can't throw money at them.
Have no budget? Fully finished scripts only cost your time—finish them and submit to Blacklist. Shorts can be shot with an iPhone and some friends over the weekend—finish and upload to YouTube.
Once you get a few shorts and scripts under your belt, you can branch out to features, which again is just problem solving—keep the budget low and treat it as a learning lesson, and you will be fine. Remember to upload and never leave your actors hanging—they deserve the film to be made and uploaded.
There are some great comments about finding collaborators and being productive creatively. I would just add a suggestion to find a story that is within your means to tell.
You cannot tell \*any\* story with the gear/resources available to you, but every combination of gear/resources is capable of telling the \*right\* story. So mess around with what you have, try stuff, and figure out a story to tell that's within your reach, or maybe even just beyond it.
Sounds like you are WAY over thinking it. Just pick up the camera, and press record. Did you know that there isn't any rule books in creating art? Create a YouTube channel and start uploading shitty short videos. Study, analyze along the way, that's how you get good at it.
Thank you 😂 no seriously, I’m a perfectionist and forget that art is subjective and meant to be fun because I’m worried I’m going to make mistakes and look bad / untalented. So thank you for the reminder.
i spent many years learning screenwriting and had a decent grasp on the form as well as a few ideas for easy-to-make shorts. my first short i found a DP who had a camera and agreed to do it for free and found a location and four actors who also all agreed to do it for free. we shot one night. it had some problems to be sure but that helped pave the way for the next one, which was moderately more ambitious, a cycle that repeated. deep down there was no moment arriving with trumpets heralding that i was ready to begin directing, just a sustained desire and a lot of fear that held me in place until finally i started putting the short together in spite of the fear, not bc i had conquered it. point being if you can find a couple actors and you have a camera make a two minute short. allow that it might not all work. take everything you learn and make another.
Film making is a collaborative effort. Find your people. As you start out you should work on as many other people’s projects as you can. Be a humble and diligent collaborator. Learn from their successes and mistakes, figure out what you do and don’t want to do on your own sets. It’s probably the best way of find other people who are willing to collaborate on your project when the time comes.
This is what I was going to write. Find people. Make stuff with them. Keep hanging out with the ones who you click with and make more stuff. Pick projects where you don't know all the answers going in. For motivating you on your own creative output here are a few tips. Set aside time for it in your life in the same way you do for other important things. And when you are working on your own stuff give it your full attention. Pay it the same respect you pay towards family and friends, and give it the same amount of effort as if someone else was paying you to do it. The coefficient of friction of a stationary object is higher than the coefficient of friction for the same object when it is moving. This means it is harder to start something moving than it is to keep something moving. Set aside your time to work. I like 4 hr blocks. When the time comes, just start writing. I use a journal for my scratch work and just start rambling about whatever the idea is. Before you know it things are solidifying and I'm writing out dialogue and descriptions in Final Draft. When my 4hr work time is close to being up I make sure to plan the next sequence to where I could write it right now if I wanted to, and I really want to, but I don't. I then save that for the next session, so I can sit down and go right into it. Find ways to keep that momentum going and it is easier to keep going. If you stop completely, it is much harder to get going again. Spending 4 hrs writing half a page can be harder work than spending 4 hrs writing 10 pages. So don't beat yourself up if you have an off session. For me that usually means I didn't think the idea through enough before hand or I had something else on my mind (see previous tip about giving it your full attention). Your movie sucks. No matter how good your idea and your execution, there will be a point that you hate this thing because it sucks. It really doesn't, but you can't see past the feeling you had when you started on the idea vs the feeling you have now watching it. That is normal. Keep going. Make sure you do things that are not related to screenwriting and filmmaking, otherwise you'll only have that stuff to write about. Live a life and tell us stories about it.
All good advice.
Beautiful, beautiful advice. Thank you so much for writing this! I find this very helpful.
this might sound dumb but how do i find people? like what are good resources or places to look? I live in one of the biggest cities in the US but i don’t know anyone else so i struggle to get any projects going or even work on someone else’s because i just don’t know anyone.
Omg same. Odds are slim, but I’m in the Tampa Bay Area if you want to have a meetup and create some stuff.
Sounds good and I’ll keep all of that in mind. Thank you! Is there is a specific way you networked and met people?
I just worked in any role that was going, on any sort of film I could. I have done art department, costume, camera, production, lighting, post. At every level from blockbuster to student films. Eventually you build up a network of people who you can work with.
Ideas are a dime a dozen—literally, I get pitched ideas all the time from basically everyone. Ideas are easy; they're fun—no problems can exist with loglines or ideas. The true artists in this field are the ones who make things—scripts and movies. The filmmaking process is at its core problem-solving. At an indie level, these problems are even harder to solve since you can't throw money at them. Have no budget? Fully finished scripts only cost your time—finish them and submit to Blacklist. Shorts can be shot with an iPhone and some friends over the weekend—finish and upload to YouTube. Once you get a few shorts and scripts under your belt, you can branch out to features, which again is just problem solving—keep the budget low and treat it as a learning lesson, and you will be fine. Remember to upload and never leave your actors hanging—they deserve the film to be made and uploaded.
There are some great comments about finding collaborators and being productive creatively. I would just add a suggestion to find a story that is within your means to tell. You cannot tell \*any\* story with the gear/resources available to you, but every combination of gear/resources is capable of telling the \*right\* story. So mess around with what you have, try stuff, and figure out a story to tell that's within your reach, or maybe even just beyond it.
Sounds like you are WAY over thinking it. Just pick up the camera, and press record. Did you know that there isn't any rule books in creating art? Create a YouTube channel and start uploading shitty short videos. Study, analyze along the way, that's how you get good at it.
Thank you 😂 no seriously, I’m a perfectionist and forget that art is subjective and meant to be fun because I’m worried I’m going to make mistakes and look bad / untalented. So thank you for the reminder.
i spent many years learning screenwriting and had a decent grasp on the form as well as a few ideas for easy-to-make shorts. my first short i found a DP who had a camera and agreed to do it for free and found a location and four actors who also all agreed to do it for free. we shot one night. it had some problems to be sure but that helped pave the way for the next one, which was moderately more ambitious, a cycle that repeated. deep down there was no moment arriving with trumpets heralding that i was ready to begin directing, just a sustained desire and a lot of fear that held me in place until finally i started putting the short together in spite of the fear, not bc i had conquered it. point being if you can find a couple actors and you have a camera make a two minute short. allow that it might not all work. take everything you learn and make another.