How To Make a Short Film

If you spent any time perusing the films on my YouTube Channel, you will see that, well, the quality varies wildly. That’s not to say I don’t love them all, because I do.

There is something really fun about coming up with an idea, filming it, and putting it out into the world. If no one watches, who cares? In my mind, it’s about finishing something. Now you have a thing that didn’t exist, and it exists because of you and (most likely) your friends.

Which brings me to Pickled. Recently, I dug out my old camera and installed some free editing software on the PC. I had made one film in the past few weeks, Liminal Mario, but that did not require me to actually film anything.

I wanted to get the camera working and do some real filming, so I layed on the couch until I thought of a movie idea that would be fun, and practical, to make. That’s where I came up with Pickled. It took me 15 minutes to write the script, 2 hours of running around the house to film it, and maybe another 3 hours to edit it together.

5-6 hours of work, and it’s done! Worth the time? A viewer would probably say No, but for me, it is an absolute Yes.

Why? Because I learned a lot. Mostly technical stuff. A few structural things as to how to film/edit scenes more clearly. What to pay more attention to next time.

Also, I made a thing! It exists! You can actually watch it below.

So, to answer the title of this post, just go make one! You probably have a camera. Or at least a cell-phone. You probably have a laptop/pc where you can install DaVinci Resolve or something similar. And I know you have an imagination.

Think of a potential film project as exercise for your creative brain. Just make anything and you’ll learn a lot. So when the time comes to start a big project, you will be ready.

Before you start though, watch Pickled.

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