Be realistic about what you can and cannot accomplish
We all have these amazing ideas in our heads with crazy effects and shots that would blow people’s minds. The epic riot scene where 100s of extras destroy a city street and a fight against the local authorities breaks out. As cool as that scene sounds, there is no way that you, as a student, would be able to accomplish that.
Your budget while in film school is probably $10 that goes toward some MiniDV tapes. Everything else is probably borrowed from your school and you must make the most out of what you have available. If your school has light kits, use them. If your school has microphone kits, for the love of God, use them!
So when you’re planning your next school short, sit down and cross out anything that would require an expensive prop or impractical location. Work with what you have. Work with your surroundings. With some clever editing you could make a local park seem like a desert or forest like location.
And remember, locations and fancy camera angles won’t make your short better. If your dialogue and acting is bad, then nobody will even notice the background. And as I mentioned before, your audio is a huge piece of the puzzle we call film making.
So while you won’t be able to shoot your dream film filled with scenes that would make Antoine Fuqua jealous, you will be able to focus on important things such as dialogue, lighting and audio.
This post can be summarized with the old saying: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
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