How to Make a Short Film
Making a short film can be one of the best ways to announce yourself to the industry and your peers - in recent years, short films have gone on to become successful features or TV shows, or to launch the careers of extraordinary directors and writers. Having personally been involved in short films that range from the good to the please-don’t-watch-its, here are some of my short film making top tips.
Nick Coupe is a comedy producer working across TV, audio and online. He is scripted development producer at Hat Trick Productions. For Hat Trick, he has produced Stuck for BBC2, starring Dylan Moran and Morgana Robinson, and two series of London Pub Reviews with Tim Key.
Set your expectations
If you’re the creative force behind a film, it’s really important for you to be fully committed to making it, to prioritise it and be sure it’s going to be as good as possible. But you can’t expect everyone to share that vision. You need to know what you can offer people to join your crew, and temper your expectations of their buy in… Otherwise you might get a nasty shock when you go into the third hour of unpaid overtime and people don’t seem that enthusiastic anymore.
Play to your strengths
Make the most of what you’ve got to hand. Do you have access to an amazing location? Brilliant, use that, it’ll make your film stand out. Do you know a fantastic actor that wants to work with you? Great, write them a part. Don’t write a script that’s laden with Special Effects and 16 locations as you’ll never be able to achieve that without sacrificing the quality. Less can be more - use what you have.
Sometimes no money can be better than some money
Talking of less being more… the worst type of budget is ‘just about enough’. If you have some money then people will always assume you have more than you actually do. If you genuinely have no money, then people will be able to adjust their expectations. If you’re working to a level of professionalism, what happens when you suddenly have to pay for an Uber for a stranded spark, or replace the expensive lens that got scratched? If you have a proper budget, you’ll have contingency, if you have no money, you’ll be forced to remain within your limitations.
Bad sound ruins a good film
This one is simple, but bad sound quality will immediately take a viewer out of a scene. There’s only so much you can do in post to improve a bad recording.
This also leads into a bigger point about what you can expect your crew to do for free - you’ll need a good sound recordist or else you’ll have a bad film, but good sound recordists won’t necessarily want to do a short film for ‘exposure’. More on this later.
Know what people do
I know you’re a creative powerhouse, an auteur, a visionary, but it’s also important for you to know what a 2nd AD does. It doesn’t make you look a creative genius if you only care about the people Above The Line, it makes you look a bit of a prick. When you’re putting a team together, it helps to know what you’ll actually need and what’s overkill. Do you really need an entire costume team if the actors are wearing their own clothes? Do you really need a grip if you’re shooting on an iPhone?
Know people’s worth
You need to know what people want to get out of being a part of your film and ensure they get that. Be clear and specific on what you can offer - actors might need material for their showreels, crew might be looking for contacts or future paid work; don’t exaggerate what you can offer, or you’ll just get a bad reputation.
This comes back to the first point - why should people care about your film? There are only a few times you can ask the same favour of people before giving something back.
Sort your paperwork
Another practical one, as well as making sure you have the right insurance, you’ll also need paperwork to be eligible for festivals. So you’ll need contracts or release forms from your cast, crew, music, locations… Pretty much everything. Don’t take the piss with these, if you’re asking your cast to work for free or nearly free, then be clear with what rights you need (online / festival use) and don’t ask for all rights in all media in perpetuity, as that’s not a fair ask. You should be able to find a decent template agreement online for this sort of thing.
Don’t underestimate post-production
The temptation is to think that when you wrap, you’re pretty much finished. Post production takes time and is hugely expensive and complicated when done properly. You need to treat this process with respect and know what deadlines you need to hit to make sure everything happens.
Get it seen
The festival circuit is another whole process, with strict deadlines and eligibility requirements that you’ll need to be aware of. It’s good to have aims for your festival run, but you also need to know that it’s out of your hands, and that good films aren’t accepted to festivals every day for completely unavoidable reasons… It can also be very expensive to enter lots of festivals, so do your research, know which ones are worth it and which you have a chance with.
But besides that, you have a film to show off! You can organise a screening for reasonably cheaply / free by asking your local pub to borrow their function room. Maybe you can you find somewhere to share it online so everyone can see and enjoy it? This is where you’ve got to really think about what the point of making the film was - maybe it’s worth sending to people in the industry that you admire? I’m sure most people would much rather watch a short than read a script.
Enjoy it
Above all, it should be fun. You might meet a new collaborator, you might discoverer something about your own creative practise, you might create a character that goes on to merit their own sitcom, or you might just have a laugh.
Remember, filmmaking is incredibly collaborative - that’s the best thing about it. The best ideas come about through conversation and sharing expertise. The best directors know they’re part of a team, not a lone wolf. Listen to the DP, listen to your designer, your 1st, your runner - they’re your co-conspirators.
And also credit them! When you post about the film on social media, tag them in, shout about them, recommend them for other gigs. And who knows, if you’ve followed these rules, they might be recommending you too.
