~ 3 Pieces of Essential Sound Equipment

 

Making sure you have all of the critical pieces of equipment that you need to create a feature film can be very complicated.  Ensuring that everything works together to create the perfect film that you are envisioning is never easy, but taking the time to ensure that everything is proper before you start recording your film is very important.  Without good sound, you are likely to lose a large number of people who would make up your potential audience.  This can often cause a great film to wind up largely ignored and a filmmaker extremely frustrated.

Your first piece of equipment is going to be amicrophone.  This is something that should be looked at far in advance of actually shooting any of the scenes so that you can be certain you are getting the best sound possible.  Each microphone will have a different range that it works best.  Your key to having good sound from each is knowing the proper range for the microphone that you are using.  If you need a microphone that records close up, then you need to ensure you have proper placement, without getting so close that you are interrupting the filming of the scene.  A microphone dropping into the scene during recording can ruin footage and create additional headaches in the future.

Microphone cables will be your second critical component.  This needs to be properly installed or you will find that after spending a day shooting a scene that you love, you have no sound to work with.  Nothing is worse than finding out you have wasted an entire day filming because the microphone cables were not properly connected.  A period check is essential to ensure that they are connected.  Aside from just ensuring the cables are connected, you need to ensure you pick up cables that are a good quality.  Poor quality cables can cause problems when you are trying to record the sound and can add interference into the recording.  Being very careful to avoid interference as well as ensure proper connection will go a long way towards ensuring that sound is properly recorded.

A final step is looking at the sound software that you have.  Using good quality sound editing software you can make huge changes to the recording because you will have the flexibility to easily change the order of speech and sounds.  You can also work to adjust the sound levels for a scene to adjust for ambient noises as well.  You might discover that while you were recording there was an annoying siren in the background that is distracting from the scene, having additional ambient sound footage you would be able to replace the siren, which can help you to save the footage entirely.

As you can see, each of these three components is necessary to create the overall feeling for a movie.  A feature film that has poor sound will likely lose the attention of the audience very quickly.  Taking the time to really pull together the proper sound equipment is a great step towards ensuring the success of your movie.  Taking pride in the sound will show as people are viewing your movie, and gives you a great opportunity to play with different sound scenarios to discover what really works best for the individual feature film that you are creating.  Knowing how to make the changes and produce the quality results will be a key benefit that will serve you well for all feature films you create.

4 Tips to Picking the Best Film School for You

Everyone knows there are dozens of film schools all around the country, and then hundreds of other colleges that might teach some courses that are helpful to a filmmaker.  Gaining the most experience possible in a highly creative environment is important to help ensure the success of any filmmaker though and it can mean a huge difference when it is time to start looking at which school you are most interested in attending.  If you have any questions about which school is best for you, you need to start looking at the schools objectively to help you narrow down all of the choices.

Your first step should involve looking for a school that has at least one instructor that you are very interested in working with.  Your desire to work with this instructor should have several reasons, not just simply you think they look nice.  Instead, there should be a specific film that they have worked on that you admire, a specific film making technique that you respect or even a method of teaching that you feel will blend well with your particular learning style.  Remember; avoid picking a school simply because the teachers look nice.

You should look for a school where the students look like they are actually happy.  This might seem strange, but students who are always upset and mad are not going to be fostering the creative atmosphere that you need to succeed.  You should look for a place that encourages students to be happy because a school that is trying to pull students down will often stifle creative ideas as well.  Filmmakingis a process that relies quite heavily on creative thinking.  All films at some point start out as nothing more than ideas written down on paper, the creative process that each individual involved in the film brings helps ensure that as it comes to life, it is something truly spectacular.

You need to also look for ample equipment at the film school.  While you may not have access to all of this equipment making films on your own, it is important to learn how to use everything properly.  A film school that merely teaches students how to use homemade or alternative equipment is not going to fully prepare you for everything ahead of you.  In contrast, you also want to look for a school that will allow you to improvise with equipment at times.  It is a good skill that is badly needed for most filmmakers.  No matter how much you plan, something will occur where a piece of essential equipment is broken and you need an alternative solution quickly.

A final consideration should be the style of the school.  In order to get the best experience possible you should look for a school that will teach all aspects of film making.  For example if you are attending a film school you need to ensure you are taught about story lines, scripting, working with actors, editing, filming and time management.  Each of these areas all work together and you may find yourself working in each of these areas when working on a film.  While you should have a crew to assist in many areas, having the experience to know what needs to be done, and when is something that is extremely valuable and can really set you apart as a filmmaker.  This diverse experience will be quite helpful as you set out to create truly spectacular feature films.

5 Tips to Creating the Best Feature Film Ever

 

It is important if you are looking to create the best feature film possible that you start looking at several major aspects that will have a huge impact on your final product.  A feature film is not simple to make, there are numerous steps that will affect your film.  Being aware of these critical steps can make you very much aware of the possible problems, and better position you to mitigate the possible problems before they arise.

A script is your first line of defense towards success.  A poor script will have everyone including your actors losing interest very quickly.  On the other hand, a strong script will keep everyone interested because the story draws them in.  It is especially important to spend a lot of time developing characters.  If your audience is emotionally invested in characters of your feature film they will spend more time really paying attention to what is happening.  If your characters are grossly underdeveloped, it can negatively affect the entire movie, creating problems in holding the attention of the audience.

Looking at your actors you should be able to tell that they are interested in the script.  An actor who is merely showing up and talking is not an asset to your film and can drag down the entire story.  While it is true you cannot afford the ultimate Hollywood actors on an independent film budget, you should still look for actors passionate about your project.  The results of their passion will be obvious for anyone who is viewing the final movie.  A final note about actors, always ensure you select someone who fits the role.  There is nothing worse than watching a really bad actor attempt a role that they are not right for.

You should spend plenty of time setting up the schedule for shooting.  Always be sure to set into the script extra days for reshoots and possible weather problems.  Everyone wants to pretend that there will be no problems when shooting their film.  This is a dream that rarely ever happens though, just remember it is better to have extra days set aside that are not used, rather than run over on time and possibly have to scrap the entire film because you are out of time.  Additionally, a bit of your budget should be set aside for these delays as well.

Edit the film in pieces rather than all at once.  If you try to rush through editing and work on it all at once you might keep a straight train of thought going, but you are also likely to become tired and start making minor mistakes.  This can be awful because it could allow you to make a tiny mistake that really pulls down the entire film.  Taking your time and breaking it up over several sessions will ensure that you approach the sections with a fresh mind, and ready to really see the project.  If possible, it is a good idea to wait a few days after wrapping shooting before editing so that you can approach the material fresh as well.

Your final step is actually showing the film to get feedback and taking the feedback graciously.  No filmmaker ever wants to be told that their film is horrible.  But if your film has problems, you should take the feedback that you are given and look at it against your film.  Is the feedback good, or is it something that is just personal preference?  For example, saying that your story line is a bit vague would be considered good feedback.  Saying that your leading lady should have blond hair would be a bit more preference usually.  Being aware of the feedback of others can help you to really develop your style as well as connect to the audience.

Average Length of Feature Film Scripts

If you are looking to create a feature film for any purpose, you are probably wondering how to get started.  The average filmmaker has a process that they use to actually get started.  The specific process that each filmmaker uses is often quite different because everyone chooses to approach their film differently.  While many filmmakers approach the process of creating feature film with the simple idea that pops into their head there are many others who begin the process of creating a film by starting with a script.  The length of the script that a filmmaker typically starts with is quite varied in general, which leaves everyone a lot of options to explore options available to them.

Many filmmakers begin working on a feature film based off a tiny script or even a small book.  This can be something that is as short as only 5-6 pages or as long as 100 pages easily.  The exact length of the script often varies based upon the length of the film itself and many times the length is changed substantially as the filming process starts to unfold.  In general, a shorter script will translate into a much shorter film.

Another guideline that you can use to help you determine how long your film script should be is to use the average idea that each page of script will consist of approximately 30 seconds of footage.  This is only a rough estimate though; extensive lines of spoken script can take longer to do while fewer lines will generally take less time.  This is important to keep in mind if you are working towards filming a film that will be a specific amount of time when you are finished. 

It is also very important to remember that everything shot for footage will rarely actually be used.  Most filmmakers will edit out various parts, change the layout a bit and make additional changes to the film, which can alter the length.  Typically speaking if you shoot 60 minutes of footage you can expect that to translate into only a 30-45 minute feature film.  If you find that you have additional footage time you could choose to shorten the film further, or you could be satisfied with the length that you have achieved. 

The major problem that many filmmakers experience when working with scripts is trying to ensure that they are detailed enough to provide enough footage.  For example, if you are trying to create a feature film that will be at a minimum 15 minutes you would need at least a 30-page script to fill out the entire 15 minutes allotted.  In many cases you would need to further lengthen the script as well so that once areas have been edited out you still have the entire 15 minutes that you are striving for.

If you are working with a writer or a team of writers, it is generally much easier to handle the task of editing the script.  As a filmmaker, you would be responsible for reading over the script initially and writing down any notes that you have.  These notes would allow the writers to expand the script in areas where you as the filmmaker would like more information and details.

If you are quite creative with fleshing out scripts at the last minute, you may find that the actual length of the script you have is not important.  It is possible for many feature filmmakers to easily take a very short script and turn it into a very extensive film.  This is not something that everyone is capable of, and frequently this ability is fine tunes as experience is gathered.  There are many filmmakers who find that years after beginning a career in the film business they are able to easily flesh out scripts at the last minute, but the main ingredient to success is starting with a script that has plenty of detail and creativity to it so that you can easily grasp the entire breadth of the film and enjoy the creation process.

Best Time of Year to Shoot Your Feature Film

 

While the idea of shooting a feature film in the spring or summer may be top on your mind there are several reasons why it might not be a great idea.  Knowing exactly what these reasons are may make it necessary for you to adjust your film schedule, or it would be at a minimum a good indication of potential problems that loom on your horizon.  Making appropriate choices about the season to film your feature film is very important to success; after all large problems that are completely unexpected can shut down your film before you ever wrap filming.

One of the biggest problems is the best season to film.  Winter is typically the best season to film.  This is especially true if you are working with a very small, or even zero budget.  While there are always actors around to choose from, they are likely to be working on top projects during the warmer months that will pay better.  If you are unable to match the pay of the larger projects, or even the scope you will need to work around these schedules.  Be prepared to experience huge problems replacing cast at various times as they drop out to work on other projects if you do not schedule for a winter shoot.

The weather is a huge downside to shooting in the winter.  If you are truly serious about wanting to shoot your film during a different time of year you must make certain there is ample time built into the schedule to accommodate these problems.  Additionally, you need to be extremely flexible if you are trying to work around production schedules for different projects.  Without the added time and flexibility, you will find that you are fighting an almost impossible battle that you will not win.  Being aware that this is a battle you cannot win is critical.

If you want to shoot most of your scenes in the winter but save a few for warmer seasons make sure that the cast and crew are aware of this ahead of time.  All indoor scenes could be shot in advance for example.  If you are only shooting a small amount of footage outside you could cut the time needed in the warmer weather down to a matter of days, rather than weeks or even months.  This would go a long way towards ensuring that your budget is able to hold up, and your cast and crew will still be around for you.

If you absolutely do not want to start production until the warmer months you need to be sure that you have a budget that is able to pay the actors and crew.  Filmmakers who are working with extremely small budgets have to be a lot more flexible in schedules.  In contrast, if you are paying a premium wage to the cast and crew, you have a much greater right to be demanding that they adjust to your schedule.  Regardless of the wage you are paying, you will find that during the warmer months you are going to have a higher rate of people calling in, rather than coming into the filming as scheduled.  This is again where an appropriate schedule is absolutely critical to ensuring that you are able to keep the project on track and targeted to be released appropriately.