How To Ace The Art of Filmmaking?

Published by Siddharth Prabhakar on

After watching a great movie, we often think about how it was made and what time it took to complete. The movie-making process is quite challenging and involves a lot of time.

If you are a budding filmmaker or want to be a top director in the movie industry, keep in mind that filmmaking requires dedication, hard work, and a great deal of problem-solving skills. You must grapple with this reality, and not let the challenges of filmmaking come in your way of becoming a director. 

In this article, we will take you through the basics of the filmmaking process and what it takes to be a filmmaker/director.

  1. Idea

Every movie we watch was once an idea that someone thought in their mind. It requires a great deal of creativity to convert that idea into a movie, including all the plots, scenes, and characters. So, it’s better to always carry your phone or writing equipment to enhance your story whenever such ideas hit you.

  1. The script

The script will be your enhanced and detailed version of the idea and includes a story, a setting, and a dialogue in a linear form. After reading the script, your team will know what’s going to happen in the film. A script gets updated as and when ideas pop.

  1. Filming/Shooting

This is the part where you actually bring your script to reality. A good movie takes time to shoot and involves an organized schedule. Never rush yourself into shooting for scenes, or else you might miss the ‘Wow!’ element that was supposed to make your movie a block-buster.

  1. Post-production

Post-production is where the editor edits your entire footage to create a rough cut of the film. Once done with the rough cut, things like sound effects, music, visual effects, and color correction are added to the film to make it ready for the final version.

Now that you have got an idea of what steps filmmaking involves, let’s discuss the elements of filmmaking and how to ace them.

  • Camera work

When you are filming your scenes, you have a wide variety of choices for framing your shots. Make sure you utilize different framing angles, the same type of shots throughout the movie will result in a dull experience for the audience.

Familiarity with different shots will establish the rhythm between the scene and the plot of the movie. Tracking shots, pans, and zoom-ins are also very powerful tools used in the movie-making process.

  • Direction

Direction requires your sole focus on the scene while shooting with no distraction at all. It is a challenging experience and requires sheer passion and dedication on the part of the filmmaker.

For the perfect shot, leading filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar recommends being in the moment while the camera is rolling and forget everything but the shot being filmed.

  • Editing

Editing is the most interesting part of movie-making. Decisions you make about which shots to use and how you put them together make a big difference to your film’s quality.

While editing, various things have to be kept in mind such as the connection between the scenes, selecting the right scenes that complement your story, and the duration of the shot. There are many other technical details to watch while editing a movie that you come to know once you start working as a filmmaker.

  • Dialogues and sound effects

A good movie requires the perfect combination of music and sound effects. In fact, sound is often the most powerful tool for conveying emotions to your audience and making sure they feel what you want them to feel while watching your movie.

While sound effects are important, dialogues also play a vital role in delivering a captivating film experience. As an audience, most of us remember a movie by its iconic dialogues. Remember the masterpiece Sholay? A good movie is a combination of good music and sound effects as well as dialogues that are worth remembering.

Is Filmmaking on your mind?

Movie Direction requires a lot of practice and observation. In Bollywood, a single movie can make or break your filmmaking career. That’s why don’t take chances and always learn from the best in the industry.

Celebrity School’s online direction course mentored by National award winner Madhur Bhandarkar will teach you every aspect of filmmaking- from storytelling and editing to working with actors and how to make hard-hitting movies on a small budget.
Enroll today to write your success story with Celebrity School or contact us here if you have any questions.

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