1st Edition
Prepping and Shooting Your Student Short Film A Brief Guide to Film Production
Focusing on the practical tools required to making your first student film, this book is a concise and accessible guide to film production. Demystifying the process of taking a film from concept through to production, author Rory Kelly covers all the key bases including: organizing your script, when and how to shoot, production budgeting, finding actors and locations, and roadmapping postproduction.
Featuring common problems and challenges producers and directors face throughout the production process and providing practical solutions, the book illustrates how to effectively create a film that can be successfully shot in a classroom or micro-budget environment. Filmmakers will be empowered to prioritize realistic goals, balance practical and creative demands, manage a budget, and schedule time to ensure concept translates to reality. Kelly brings together the creative process and practicalities of producing a student film. A concise and accessible guide written with the specific constraints of a student production in mind, this book will equip any filmmaker with the tools to produce an impactful short film.
Ideal for undergraduate and graduate students of filmmaking, amateur filmmakers, as well as students in high school, community-based, for-profit and summer filmmaking programs.
Additional downloadable online resources include a look-book with images and video clips, as well as printable budget templates, shooting schedule templates, block breakdown sheets, a digital workflow worksheet, timed shot-list forms and templates for location agreements, appearance releases, crew deal memos and call sheets.
Contents
- Keep It Simple
- Organize Your Script
- Decide When to Shoot What
- Decide How to Shoot What
- Settle on a Look
- Don’t Break the Bank
- Find Crew
- Find Places to Shoot
- Find Actors
- Collaborate and Communicate
- Rehearse It Before You Shoot It
- Obey the Rules of Engagement
Afterword: Postproduction and Beyond
Appendices
- Sample Script (Orbiting by Karen Glienke)
- Sample Breakdown
- Sample Budget
Biography
Rory Kelly is a Professor in UCLA’s Department of Film, Television and Digital Media. His first feature, Sleep with Me, premiered as an Official Selection at Cannes, had a Gala Screening at Toronto and was distributed by MGM/UA. His second feature, Some Girl, garnered him the Best Director Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival. His most recent short, "Down to Nothing," premiered at the Maryland International Film Festival and his first feature documentary, To Someday Understand, premiered this year at the Oakland International Film Festival. He has worked as a camera assistant, camera operator, sound designer and was co-executive producer on mtvU’s "Sucks Less with Kevin Smith." He is the recipient of a Distinguished Teaching Award and a published scholar.
"Media production can be so rewarding and fun. However, there are a lot of pitfalls to student success. While we could excuse most of those problems because students are learning, Rory Kelly’s detailed, best practices advice guides young filmmakers to be proactive and helps them eliminate problems before they emerge."
Marilee Marrow, Marietta College
