How to write a GREAT short film

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► My Top 10 Tips for making your best film on a budget:

Once you've had your film idea and you're inspired to make it,
you will need to write it down.
So how do you begin? First, let's talk about plot structure. Now, short films normally
have a simpler structure than features, which are normally based around
a three act structure. But as long as you have a clear
beginning, middle, and an end, even if they're only a few seconds
or minutes long, then that's your story.

In a short film you will probably have a quick setup, an inciting incident,
or some event that changes everything, some rising action where the protagonist
does things to achieve their goal, a climax when everything comes to a head
and gets resolved, and then some kind of resolution,
if any further resolution is needed.

Another popular structure to make
is a punchline film. These follow the same structure as a joke. There is a set up and then a punchline,
and often this will turn the expectation of the set up on its head
with some sort of twist. The set up will lead the audience
to think one thing, and then the payoff will do something different, that is surprising, but still makes sense. You're basically giving the audience
what they want, but not in the way they were expecting it, and their surprise
will normally cause humour or shock. 90% of a punchline film will normally be
the set up, 10% will be the punchline, and then it ends. Because there is nothing more to say,
because your story is over. You just want to create a laugh or a gasp
and then roll your credits. So you can see why this structure is
well suited to a short format.

My short horror film In Memoriam is basically a punch line film
which uses a shocking twist.
So take a look at it
if you want to see an example of this.

Next, how long should you make your film? Well, to me,
if you're aiming for festivals, then the sweet spot for shorts
is about 8 to 12 minutes or less. The shorter your film is, the easier it is
for a programmer to find a slot for it. For features,
I'd say it's more like 90 to 100 minutes. Now, this doesn't mean that longer films
won't be accepted, but nobody wants to watch an average
two hour film that could have been a very good 90 minute film,
and there are a lot of them.

So once you have a basic structure worked out, here are some general tips
on writing films that I have found useful. Firstly, for anyone
completely new to writing a script, do not add any camera directions
or anything technical. You just need to first write your story and then you can worry later
about the best way to capture it.

When beginning your story, try and grab
your audience in the first few seconds. Try to write something to open with that
would make you sit up and take notice. With this, it's good to avoid cliches,
things that you've seen a million times like starting with someone waking up
in bed and turning off an alarm clock. The chances are
your audience will have seen these many times before too,
and it will just make them zone out. Nobody wants to make a generic, forgettable film, so try
something that you haven't seen before. Once again, I would say try and work
within some limitations because often the best ideas are very simple. Try just 1 or 2 characters and locations.
Nothing to impossible to film based on
the level that you think you are at. Do not include a load of loose ends
that don't lead anywhere. You won't have time for that,
and neither will your audience.
So each scene should cause the next one to happen,
like a series of dominoes falling.
If the scene doesn't drive the narrative, the chances are it's unnecessary
so you can cut it out.

This is a big one. Remember - show don't tell. Now, while there's a place for dialogue
and some films are mainly based around it, if you use too much of it, you might as well be in the theatre
or listening to the radio. Too many amateur short films rely on endless dialogue,
and a lot of it is usually unnecessary and could be replaced with images
which say as much. At my film school, we were challenged to
make a two minute film with no dialogue. How do you do this? Show. Don't tell.
Look at any Pixar film to see some great
examples of this through montage. Some of the best short films
rely on as little dialogue as possible, and this will make you a
great visual storyteller if you practice. Dialogue
should simply be the icing on the cake.

So whether you're just scribbling
your basic idea down for you to see, or you're doing a professionally formatted script for others to look at,
go ahead and get it down on paper.

An important part of writing is rewriting. No script is perfect
right away. Finally, I'll say that filmmaking
can be tough, so make sure that script is as strong as you can before
you rush into trying to make your film.