Is this completely crazy (anyone know anything about film?)?

[BrightLightsAndSound]

I've written a screenplay for a short (around 25 minutes) film.

I think it's a really good story and if I may say the dialogue is great.

I've got all the actors (mix of real people and local actors).

I've got all the locations.

I've syoryboarded it down to the minute.

Basically I want to film this, and I want to film it myself.

But I have zero technical knowledge. I have no clue where to start. It's really frustrating because I have it all written, planned and mapped out but I have no idea what to do next.

I don't know anything about cameras, sound, lighting, editing, nothing.

Can anyone give any tips on where to go from here? Is it insane to want to do this myself?

Find some film students with the tech knowhow and go for it.

There's a local uni with a film department. Would it be a good idea to approach them? Could i maybe get a student looking for a project to help or is that not how it works?

Where are you located ?

My husband and brother in law do things like this for a living. They have thousands of pounds worth of kit, years of experience and technical knowledge as well as extensive knowledge of the editing process and the software to do it. I'm not sure it's the kind of thing you can just pick up and do, sorry.

If you've got a few thousand pounds and want to produce something high end that is fit for broadcast (and filmed in the right format) you'd be better off hiring a team in and playing a producer/director role and get an end product to be proud of rather than something a high school student would produce on one camera for GCSE coursework.

@Thingsdogetbetter
Ha, snap! I guess I'm just worried film students would have their own concepts they want to develop?

I was going to say the same... find a uni near you that has a good filmography course and get some students involved. Good luck!

@Katurah
Thanks so much for your reply, I had considered this and I could finance it. What I'm worried about is the two main characters are just people I know with a flair for acting but otherwise just playing scripted versions of almost themselves. I'm worried that if there was a big crew in I wouldn't get the same result as doing it alone, I'm worried they'd lose their nerve.

Agree with getting students involved but remember you’ll need to offer to pay them! So make sure you’ve set aside enough for that. It’s exploitative to ask them to work for free, especially as you’re also an amateur and can’t offer them exposure.

Good luck! It sounds like something you’re really passionate about.

Could you research an arts grant?

So basically it would be impossible for me to learn to film efficiently enough to do it myself?

@Blanchedupetitpois
Would definitely pay!

If you want to film it yourself use your smart phone. Entire films have been done this way (I’m sure partly as an advert for the phone). There are user friendly apps for editing etc.

It will get your film out in the way you want with no big crew.

However - it won’t have the production values of something made by a crew with years of experience. But it’s your film. If you just want it for yourself why not.

And if anything during the process sparks off an interest maybe take that further then.

Where I live there's a local indie film makers group. They've got everything you'd need to make a film including a load of specialist kit and professionally developed skills. It's a voluntary thing and they work on different project all the time.

Why not try finding something like that in your area?

What do you want from your film? Investment to make it longer? Distribution? Recognition?

I don't think it's so much you couldn't ever do it yourself it's more you'd probably not do it as well. It's not just a point and shoot thing, there is lighting and sound design to consider and a million and one other things. My husband's camera is worth thousands and he knows exactly how to use it and he has a full lighting kit, sound kit etc - his brother does the producing and editing. With all due respect to students they couldn't produce what a pro team do - they are still learning. Experience is everything if you want the real deal at the end - especially where editing is concerned. It wouldn't have to be a huge team necessarily. It really depends what you intend on doing with the finished product really - if you want to show it to people with a view to getting it picked up then I'd make it the best you possibly could - especially if you've got the funding to do it.

@Katurah
@SinglePringle

I don't want to make it longer, I want it to look great and do justice to the story, which honestly is really strong. I'm not just saying that, I've written loads of meh stuff. I know this story has everything - atmosphere, tension, strong leads, pace, relevance of theme. So basically I want it took look great and feel slick, and then - I have no idea. Submit it to competitons? I have no clue! The only reason I tried to write a film in the first place is because loads of objective feedback on my (novel) writing kept coming back as: you've got a real ear for dialogue/why don't you try writing a film?

So that's what I did, and I discovered I love it, I love writing dialogue, I love being able to see the angles and shots and locations and music (timed to the second), the scene changes etc, so I'm glad to be writing in this foemat now.

But my problem is I have no clue what to do with any of it, because novels are straightforward in a sense: you write a novel, enter comps in a fairly simple way, try and get an agent, to then get a publishing deal. I mean, it's pretty linear.

Now with this film stuff, I just don't know what to do next.

I'm British but I live in France (and I've written this film in French - I'm bilingual). So that's to my advantage as France is big on its film.

Without lighting and sound it'll be weird. Sorry. You'll pick up all the background noise so it won't have good sound quality at all. You won't work with shadows, you won't work with echos etc. There are loads of things to consider. At least you can edit using software so that is more accessible.

I go to am dram and the guy who leads it is an actor/director, I'm considering giving him my screenplay, but I'm worried that's cheeky?!

Google Videocake - they'll go to France. They've filmed in Lyon before now😉

Oh scrap what I said. I thought it was just for you. If you want it to look slick and enter into festivals you need a proper crew and kit.

bectu have info on their site for standard rates for crew. It sounds a real passion project. Would you be looking to get a director on board? Or would you direct?

In the kindest way, you’re going to have to ‘let go’ to some degree. The music timed to the second? Well, that’s the editors job (along with the director) and is dependant on the actors timing. Again, the director is hugely involved but film making is massively collaborative. Enormously so. Don’t underestimate that.

But Mandy.com is good for non payment projects.