5 MISTAKES to Avoid on your Next SHORT FILM!

Published on June 16, 2021

Pre-Production

Scenario, Short Film, Writing

Improve Your Short Film

Often times we think that we need better gear, a bigger crew of awesome locations. And although they could contribute to a better short film, it can also turn out negative.

Improving your short film starts at the very beginning; the story. The more complicated you make your story, the harder you make the production and the higher chance you get of a failure.

When you’re starting out, you don’t need to make something that stands out. Start with gaining experience. Make it yourself easy by limiting your shooting locations, production tasks and actors needed. When your story is good, your short film will turn out good regardless of the production scale.

Actors are Everything

Imagine spending thousands of dollars of camera and lighting equipment. You’ve spend months on fine tuning a great story. And because you almost forgot to arrange the main actor, you just ask your friend to play it.

I can tell upfront that your movie will suck! Not because of you, but because of your friend who isn’t an actor.

In my latest short film, Vengeance, I was fortunate enough to work together with an amazing actor. Although my short film doesn’t have the greatest story and production, it does get carried to a higher level because of the acting.

The majority of the budget was also spend towards the actors and we’ve spend a lot of time to look for them. I’m really happy to have made that decision.

Storyblocks

Although our sponsor, it’s a big bonus tip as well! Storyblocks is an ever-growing library filled with 4k stock clips, visuals, overlays, templates and so much more. If you need a shot of the army or a riot, it’s nearly impossible to plan that in to your production. With Storybloks you can simply download any of such clips for your next short film.