How To Become A Filmmaker - Part 2: Choose The Right Project!

Okay so you’ve made the commitment and you’ve scheduled the hours. That means you are ready to get started on your film. So what kind of film should you make? This is probably the most important question to ask when getting started as a filmmaker. It’s important because if you choose the wrong project and you don’t finish the film it can be discouraging and you don’t want to feel bad after making a film. You want to feel empowered. You want to complete the film and be excited for the next one.

For your first project it should be something short, simple, and fun. Think of these three restrictions as non-negotiable. You can make whatever you want but make sure it adheres to these three guidelines. Why? Allow me to explain.

It needs to be short because you want to make as many films as you can over the course of the year. Make lots of small films rather than one big one. This way you get lots of practice telling stories. You can make lots of mistakes and it’s not a big deal. Mistakes are actually a really good thing but if you only do one big project a year, you’ll feel like there is no room for mistakes. You’ll want the film to be perfect and it won’t be. If you make lots of little films the mistakes won’t be that big of a deal and you’ll learn a lot in the process. You’ll grow so much faster as a filmmaker. Also each time you finish a film you’ll get that feeling of satisfaction. If you make one film over the course of a year you might become disinterested and abandon it. The amount of work might be too much and overwhelm you. But something short? It’s so much easier. The famous director Ridley Scott made thousands of TV commercials before he made his first feature length film. Think in those terms. Small projects.

It needs to be simple because you’re just getting started. You never start learning something with a complex task. That’s just not the way it works. As you begin to grow and mature as a filmmaker the projects can get more complex but for now let’s keep it simple. And trust me you’ll be happy you decided on a simple project as soon as you start animating.

It needs to be fun because you should be excited about the project. You need to like the subject. You need to make something that you want to see. Don’t try and figure out what others want to see. Its takes too long to make a film to do it for others. Do something that you really want to do. If you follow your passion it will come through to your audience. If you have fun making it, the audience will have fun watching it.

Okay so what does all this mean practically? You should make a GIF. Or tell a joke. That means the project will be under ten seconds. If you think that's too short think about this: 10 seconds times 24 frames per second is 240 drawings. Thats plenty of work. You don’t want to go over 10 seconds. If you follow all of the guidelines I’ve provided, you should be able to produce one project a month or roughly 12 projects a year and that’s a really good number!

Now if you are having a hard time coming up with ideas for a story take a look a short cartoon strips. Go to bizarro.com. Take a look at the way these short cartoons are structured. Then try and imitate one of them. An imitation is something similar but there are changes from the original artwork. Think of it like a remix. You can tell where it came from but you can also see how it’s different from the original. You don't want to copy a story exactly. Borrow something and make something new. This is a great way to get started writing stories. As you get more practice you’ll rely on imitations less and less.

So in Summary you are going to come up with a story that is:

1. Short (10 seconds or less)
2. Simple
3. Fun

If you end up coming up with something more complicated, put it in a folder and save it for later. Then try and generate a more simple idea. Generate a few ideas before you choose one to turn into a film or Gif.

In the next post I'll talk about how to design your film.

Stay Creative!