The democratization of both the production and distribution process has opened the floodgates for independent filmmakers to see their dreams of producing a feature film become a reality.
Independent feature films such as Medicine for Melancholy andBallast are just two examples of micro-budget features that have gone on to win numerous filmmaking awards. Ballast, for example, won awards for both Best Director and Best Cinematography at Sundance Film Festival in 2008.
With audiences, festivals, distributors and studios accepting the new indie film aesthetic, filmmakers are flooding the market with their films in the hopes that they too will be able to create a worthwhile film that will garner media attention and win awards.
Unfortunately, many of the independent feature films being produced today lack a certain technical and creative care that is required for a film to be successful in today’s increasingly competitive independent film market. When film was expensive to shoot, a great amount of planning and attention to detail was required. However, due to the fact that video technology is accessible and fast, the motto of “pay attention to detail” has deteriorated into “get it done… this weekend”.
Remember, if your audience thinks to themselves “I could have made this myself”, the chances of them watching your film are not great. Audiences may not be able to articulate exactly what it is about an indie film they don’t like, but they know it when they see it (or hear it).
In our online film program we ask our students to work their way through a series of technical modules that help them identify the technical and aesthetic problems of independent film. We then ask them to complete small video projects in the hopes that these projects will help them avoid these common mistakes in their future productions.
From the second our students enroll in our online film course they are writing scripts and creating short films with an acute awareness of the common mistakes that new filmmakers make.
In our screenwriting module for example, our students are asked to enroll in live online “lab Chats” where they learn about the rules ofWestern Dramatic Structure. They learn about character arc, story arc, protagonist development, catalysts, plot points, pivotal characters, scene pacing, denouements and all of the other structural elements that go into creating a story. There is a science to story telling and it’s important to study it. Essentially, if you’re going to break the rules, it’s important to know what the rules are first.
While these rules may seem overly technical, academic or clinical, I doubt there is a successful filmmaker today who doesn’t know how to use these rules in the development of their stories.
