They used to call moviemaking a “silver addiction,” referring to the old days when silver salts were used to create film stocks. Although you won’t need film stock to make your movie, you will need that addiction.
And it better be a strong one. It has to be, because often the dream of making your movie is all that carries you over the long days/weeks/months/years that it takes to go from idea to finished product. Since you’re reading this book, odds are that you already have at least the beginnings of a dream. You have:
- A story you’re dying to tell, or
- A character you’d love to see developed, or
- An idea or issue you’re burning to explore.
The next step is to look at that dream with a cold, realistic eye: Is it a reasonable dream? Can you produce it with few resources? While there’s certainly no absolute answer, there is a ballpark that you should at least try to play in if you’re going to work at this level.
For example, is your story idea a historical costume drama, involving large crowd scenes and multiple, historically accurate locations? If so, then keep dreaming.
Or is your idea a small, contemporary dramatic (or romance, comedy, suspense, horror, farce, mystery, melodrama, science fiction) story that can take place in just a few locations with a handful of characters? Great. Now you’re in the ballpark.
Once you’ve defined your dream, you’re ready to take the next important step. Start telling people that you’re going to make a movie. It doesn’t matter where. At a cocktail party, after church, on a bus, or at the office water cooler. It also doesn’t really matter who. Your parents. Your significant other. Your coworkers. Your dentist.
It only matters that you say it. And that you say it out loud: “I’m going to make a movie.”
Why do you have to say it, say it out loud, and say it to someone else? Two reasons: The first is that, since this is a statement most people aren’t used to hearing, you’re bound to get some interested responses. Responses along the lines of, “What’s it about?” “Where are you getting the money?” and “Great. Can I help?”
While all these questions are valid and important, it’s the last one that you’re really listening for, because once you’ve got the dream, the next step is to get other people excited about it. You need other people excited about your project because there’s virtually no way you can do it alone. The second reason you should tell people that you’re going to make a movie — saying it often and out loud — is because it begins to make your dream real. Just saying it isn’t going to make it happen, of course — but it does put your pride on the line. You’re more likely to push forward if your friends start asking, “Whatever happened to that movie thing you were going to do?”
It also makes the idea more concrete, and it raises other questions that you have to start thinking about. When will you start shooting? Where will the equipment come from? How will you fund it? Who’s going to be in it? When is it going to be done? How are you going to edit it?
Nobody’s going to ask the questions until you make the statement. Out loud.
“I’m going to make a movie.” (Congratulations. You’ve just taken the first step.)
Making a feature-length movie, even for someone who’s done it before, is a daunting process. For someone who’s never done it, it can be downright overwhelming. Take solace that it isn’t one long process, but instead a series of discrete and attainable steps. Each step leads logically to the next. You also don’t have to navigate these unfamiliar waters without charts. Others have done this before, or at least something similar. The model for making a digital feature is very similar to making any type of feature-length project, whether it’s a low-budget Roger Corman-style masterpiece or a mega-mondo-budget Hollywood spectacular.
Reading [our book, Digital Filmmaking 101] and others on writing, producing and selling movies can provide valuable background. Taking classes can be good preparation for specific parts of the process. Working on other people’s movies (regardless of the budget) can be an education in itself on what to do and what not to do.
One of the best sources of information we’ve found is people who have made a feature before, whether on film or digitally. They’re generally more than happy to talk to you, even if some of the film folks are still a bit skeptical about the digital revolution. They’ll mention a few pitfalls to watch out for, recommend some cast and crew people, suggest who else to turn to for free advice, and maybe even volunteer to help. At least, that’s been our experience.
If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that dreams are contagious, and you should try to infect as many people as possible with yours. You have a long, challenging journey ahead, and you’ll need their help if you’re going to start — not to mention finish — a digital movie. Regardless of the length of your journey, there is a destination — the moment when the finished movie is projected in front of an audience. And at this moment you can see the fruits of your labor — your dream — come to life. The audience laughs. They cry. They gasp. They applaud.
And your dream has become reality.
