How to Make a Movie
I once aspired to make an actual live-action movie with some friends from school. They lost interest, sadly, but in the meantime I wrote to Shane Felux, of the incredible Star Wars fan film Revelations (not to be confused with the book of Revelation), asking for advice. He gave me quite a bit and I really appreciate him taking the time. He said:
Hey Chris, thanks for the kind email and support. I am glad you enjoyed "Revelations". It was a great deal of work, three years worth and if you do a film, which I always love to hear, just bear in mind.. it's going to be hard, very hard and you are going to want to quit, but see it through.
Here are some notes, inspirations and simply rambling by me that might help you as you asked for any advice or wisdom I can share.
First off I don't know everything and make many many mistakes as I go along, just ask my wife and she will tell you :)
But the trick is to learn from it and just not make the same mistake twice.. make whole new ones each time.
- 80% of all productions that start never finish or see the light of day. People just give up and realize "Damn this is a lot of work and not fun any more" If it's bad or good, finish your film and you have already beaten 80% of the people out there. Again bad or good you made something and nothing can take that away from you and you will feel a great joy of accomplishment.
- have fun!
- plan, plan, and plan some more. Pre-production is very important. Know what your doing, and if you don't do something well then don't do it. Find others who can and learn from them.
- Surround yourself with doers, people who support and believe in you, valued artists and expertise of their craft.
- learn to understand, communicate with all your production teams. Know what a C-stand is, a frenel, a gobo, what does MOS mean? You don't have to be an expert in all fields but know it enough to be able to understand and communicate.
- My mantra "You don't ask, you don't get" simply asking can achieve a lot. You want that location for a shoot but think "ahh they will never let me shoot there!" ASK! present yourself professionally, and ask, the worst they will say is no. Keep going till you find a "yes" .. it's out there.
- Use the resources around you. Your local film commision is a great and free service.
- If you want to learn a lot before taking the chance on your own film, go work on someone else's and volunteer as a grip or PA. The best way to learn is by doing. When I was working on sets back in the day I was always watching, always asking questions when I could and learning how I wanted to run things and what worked and what didn't.
- Have a good cheerleader (wife, parents, friends, girl friend, dog.. something..) you need it as the road is long and hard
- Get insurance. It's not as expensive as you think and to get locations you need insurance, and people will take you seriously and professional.
- Get good looking pro business cards. It sounds silly but that is the impression you give to people when you give them a card. If it's cheap and looks like it, then that is how they just labeled you.
- Run as a professional production crew as you can. You can still be pro and not have money.
- Treat people good and be appreciative and thankful to them.. remember to have fun.. you will forget this one many times :)
- There is always a solution. You can cheat it, be creative, or throw some money at it. Usually the best solution is a bit of all three but we try to do the second one the most.
- Plan it all out. Have your schedule, your shot list, a good AD, a good DP, and try not to wear to many hats (that one is tough to do in independent film, as we all wear many hats)
- You can do a lot with little.
- You do not need state of the art to do great work. Having nice toys are great, and you need the proper tools to craft you art, but just remember they are tools, you’re the artist. But yes you use a hammer on a nail, don't use a rock if you can help it.
- See it through, know what you want, you can do it.. if some hack like me in my basement can make movies so can you!!!
- Network, get involved in your local film community, and the internet is a powerful, powerful tool
Well I could go on for a while and looks like I already have. I hope that helps some Chris. I know you probably want answers like. "How do I do FX, and get the people to do them" and "where do I get the equipment to make my film?" and so forth. I recruited volunteers around the world, and I was able to network and find people around my area with the gear and skills I need to work with me for free, because of the way I presented myself, the project and what we were doing. Plus it was Star Wars.. you say those words and peple come out of the wood work :)
I wish you all the best!
- Shane
Hey Chris, thanks for the kind email and support. I am glad you enjoyed "Revelations". It was a great deal of work, three years worth and if you do a film, which I always love to hear, just bear in mind.. it's going to be hard, very hard and you are going to want to quit, but see it through.
Here are some notes, inspirations and simply rambling by me that might help you as you asked for any advice or wisdom I can share.
First off I don't know everything and make many many mistakes as I go along, just ask my wife and she will tell you :)
But the trick is to learn from it and just not make the same mistake twice.. make whole new ones each time.
- 80% of all productions that start never finish or see the light of day. People just give up and realize "Damn this is a lot of work and not fun any more" If it's bad or good, finish your film and you have already beaten 80% of the people out there. Again bad or good you made something and nothing can take that away from you and you will feel a great joy of accomplishment.
- have fun!
- plan, plan, and plan some more. Pre-production is very important. Know what your doing, and if you don't do something well then don't do it. Find others who can and learn from them.
- Surround yourself with doers, people who support and believe in you, valued artists and expertise of their craft.
- learn to understand, communicate with all your production teams. Know what a C-stand is, a frenel, a gobo, what does MOS mean? You don't have to be an expert in all fields but know it enough to be able to understand and communicate.
- My mantra "You don't ask, you don't get" simply asking can achieve a lot. You want that location for a shoot but think "ahh they will never let me shoot there!" ASK! present yourself professionally, and ask, the worst they will say is no. Keep going till you find a "yes" .. it's out there.
- Use the resources around you. Your local film commision is a great and free service.
- If you want to learn a lot before taking the chance on your own film, go work on someone else's and volunteer as a grip or PA. The best way to learn is by doing. When I was working on sets back in the day I was always watching, always asking questions when I could and learning how I wanted to run things and what worked and what didn't.
- Have a good cheerleader (wife, parents, friends, girl friend, dog.. something..) you need it as the road is long and hard
- Get insurance. It's not as expensive as you think and to get locations you need insurance, and people will take you seriously and professional.
- Get good looking pro business cards. It sounds silly but that is the impression you give to people when you give them a card. If it's cheap and looks like it, then that is how they just labeled you.
- Run as a professional production crew as you can. You can still be pro and not have money.
- Treat people good and be appreciative and thankful to them.. remember to have fun.. you will forget this one many times :)
- There is always a solution. You can cheat it, be creative, or throw some money at it. Usually the best solution is a bit of all three but we try to do the second one the most.
- Plan it all out. Have your schedule, your shot list, a good AD, a good DP, and try not to wear to many hats (that one is tough to do in independent film, as we all wear many hats)
- You can do a lot with little.
- You do not need state of the art to do great work. Having nice toys are great, and you need the proper tools to craft you art, but just remember they are tools, you’re the artist. But yes you use a hammer on a nail, don't use a rock if you can help it.
- See it through, know what you want, you can do it.. if some hack like me in my basement can make movies so can you!!!
- Network, get involved in your local film community, and the internet is a powerful, powerful tool
Well I could go on for a while and looks like I already have. I hope that helps some Chris. I know you probably want answers like. "How do I do FX, and get the people to do them" and "where do I get the equipment to make my film?" and so forth. I recruited volunteers around the world, and I was able to network and find people around my area with the gear and skills I need to work with me for free, because of the way I presented myself, the project and what we were doing. Plus it was Star Wars.. you say those words and peple come out of the wood work :)
I wish you all the best!
- Shane