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Making a Short Film

  • Making a Short Film

Making a short film is an exciting, yet complex task.  There are many approaches.  Which is right for you? 

This page is a starting point for finding resources, understanding the process, and working through roadblocks on your short film. 

Finding Purpose

At the heart of every story is a guiding meaning, a purpose, and a reason for putting the time and effort into something as complex as a short film. Many times in this course the purpose may be laid out for you to varying extents - you may be given a prompt, a theme, a genre, or another kind of boundary or limitation.  In these moments your purpose, or at least a part of your purpose will be to answer a creative challenge.

This is a great purpose to have.

On Limitations

"Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom."

Leonardo DaVinci

A creative challenge is about working within carefully defined limitations, and it is in these spaces that we can start exploring our own artistic paths.  This is because the central question you should ask yourself is always, 'how can I tell a story within these parameters that is still mine?'

 "I think that every limitation, when you work in film, is a blessing. And that’s because you’re forced to come up with an original idea to overcome the limitation."

David Lynch

Your Stories

Film making gives us the opportunity to not just tell meaningful and engaging stories, but it gives us multiple languages to express ourselves.  Our stories may be told in our scripts of course, but they may also be told through the movement of a camera, an atmospheric sound, or the perfect match cut.  As you decide what stories you want to tell, you may want to start with thinking about the things you care about. 

"I think that when you make something, a film or any creative work, it has to be about something you care about, something that matters. And for me, that’s the struggle for justice and the exploration of Black identity in America. It’s not just about representation; it’s about creating a space where the stories of marginalized people are told with dignity and depth."

-Ava DuVernay

For Ava DuVernay, her purpose is to explore justice and Black identity in America.  Other filmmakers approach their craft for other reasons.  Pedro Almodovar aims to explore the beauty, pain and complexity of relationships, Chistopher Nolan has said his purpose is to challenge his audiences' perceptions and push the boundaries of storytelling. David Lynch attempts to make sense of the absurdities of life (although some might argue that he just makes it even more absurd). 

Finding Your Own Way

Some projects in IB Film will have less limitations. You will have the same limitations that all filmmakers do; namely time and money (although you might have a lot less of both of those things than most Hollywood productions).  Where do you go when you can make a film about anything?  

Let's start on our Brainstorming page. 

Selected Pages

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