I wish I knew these 15 filmmaking lessons

It all started as a hobby during graduation (a decade ago), where my digital camera was the only investment. Making short films was becoming the new fad in social media and I wanted to catch up too. I used to write short socio-economic stories and decided to visually narrate them. I am not ashamed to admit that I grew up watching classic hits on torrents, and every time I watched a movie I would be pumped up to attempt yet another short film. I myself was the writer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, production manager, and whatnot. To my fortune, the footage that I shot used to surprise me on the editing board, and I just scrapped most of them. Imagine you watch a movie directed by David Fincher or Francis Ford and then witness your amateur attempt. I never even marketed my own movies considering the fact that I am a very shy-natured person.

I was always of the perception that I shouldn't market the movie but it has to speak for itself, which I later realized was the biggest mistake I made. Perhaps, the very few that I shared within my circle kind of gained appreciation. Nocial - A short film based on how people are getting disconnected in reality due to excessive usage of smartphones was even covered in the regional newspaper. Seeing this, an NGO where I volunteered asked me to make a documentary for them that dealt with acid attack survivors. This video was then used as their marketing material. My confidence was boosted, even more, and I decided to make a final film which would be my portfolio before I plunged a giant leap into the industry of dreams. All my films so far were literally "0" budget and I am proud to proclaim that I am a self-taught filmmaker. I would like to mention Quentin Tarantino's quote that I always connect to and has hit me really hard.

I am a mechanical engineer by qualification but am currently running a company which is into finance publication. What I studied has nothing to do with what I am doing to fill my pockets now. It was a sober night 4 years ago and we guys had just gulped a couple of shots. My friends persuaded me to make a new movie and assured their complete involvement in whatever assistance was needed. I was initially reluctant because making a movie involves a lot of time & energy, and in the end, I knew that the load would somehow fall on my shoulders. But after the alcohol seeps in, that's when we guys get generally braver and discuss ideas that we think will change the world. On a funnier note, the decision to quit our job and be the next Elon Musk/David Cameron/Jeff Bezos lasts until we book the cab and head back home. The next day, we are back on our desk punching the keyboard, arranging files, and living the typical American dream. Perhaps, only a few discussions are hangover resistant. This time I had decided to move on from zero budget to crowdfunded, from a one-man army to teamwork, from working with inexperienced friends to having professionals onboarded and that's when Avarice was born.

I dragged in all my well-wishers, built a team from scratch (most of whom were my friends that shared a common interest in filmmaking), and lit the crowdfunding campaign. The whole motto of this venture was clear that it will be a 25-minute film, the budget would be around INR 2,00,000 (USD 2700), actors would be professionals but since we crew members have regular day jobs, will shoot only on weekends, and the whole movie was estimated to complete in 3 months.

The campaign emerged very successfully, people whom I didn't even know believed in my vision and funded the project. We got more funds than what we quoted and the entire team was pumped up and I was already visualizing myself receiving awards at some international film festival. I even met my wife @Shreya Bilagi through this film.

This philosophical thriller is for the material girls and boys

Now, for people who want a happy ending, the story ends here. For those who believe that no matter what you sketch out, life has its own plans for you, please continue reading further.

Filmmaking is just 10% talent, the rest 90% constitutes people, finance, and emotional management.

Hi guys, now that Avarice is on YouTube and has received a bunch of positive reviews, I am here to share with you the lessons I learned a very hard way.

It wasn't easy guys!!

I definitely am not qualified enough to say this yet, but I believe that this article can mentally prepare a dreamer out there before he/she starts penning down a tale. Filmmaking is not just about you dreaming to narrate a story, gelling up with pretty actresses, flaunting your technical knowledge by posting photos of you on the sets, delivering a motivational speech on some TV interview, and then throwing a party to celebrate your success. The 2 or whatsoever hours of content you watch on the screen have probably years of struggle, buckets of sweat & tears, many dreams & meals sacrificed, bank accounts dropped down to nil balance, unpaid artists & technicians, and a whole list of deserving yet uncredited souls who are still wandering out there with a ray of hope. Every step that I walked in this project is still a fresh memory and I nourish them to date. To remind you again, I never had any formal training in filmmaking but I believe that Avarice has taught me and my core team enough that a film graduate should know. I wish like in tenet, could I go into the future and read this so that I would know what not to do. For all you know, we are never completely right, all of these learnings are through mere mistakes, experience, and a lot of struggle.?Before I move on to mention the learnings right from development to distribution, I would like to quote a final piece of philosophy by Mark Manson.

1) You must narrate a story and not explain a concept

If a movie is based on a concept, it either becomes a short film or a documentary, you as a filmmaker should be a storyteller. The protagonist should discover himself/herself with the flow of narration and there must be a few strong quotes and philosophies that he/she adheres to. A movie stands out when this is depicted well.

In the Dark Knight Rises, batman says "A Hero Can Be Anyone, Even Someone Doing Something As Simple And Reassuring As Putting A Coat Around A Little Boy's Shoulders To?Let Him?Him Know The World Hadn't Ended."

2) Your movie title should give out the context and not confuse the audience

I wanted to keep the suspense of the film right from the title but turns out that most of the people got it(title) wrong. When transliterated to the regional language, the synonyms left most of them perplexed. A common man shouldn't google the meaning upon reading your title, keep it simple and if possible like a phrase. In layman's terms, the movie title should give out a brief synopsis.

Well, my movie is about/based on ___(title)___.

This is what most blockbuster movies have followed - 7 years in Tibet, The last of the Mohicans, 12 years a slave, The Dark Knight, The Schindler's List, and so on. Try completing the above phrase by inserting any of these titles and you will know. Image Source - Wallpaperup

4) Always know your audience

Do your research and identify your market. Remember - your cinema is your business, so you must know your customers. If you prepare a product/service but you won't know whom to sell it, the entire business model will collapse.?I did the same mistake when I wrote Avarice, I kept the perspective open, in the end, I struggled to sell it because I wasn't sure of who would consume the content.

5) Before you pitch your story to a producer, identify a distributor

Like in any business, a producer (who is your investor) helps you prepare your product but it is the distributor that takes your product to the stores. He/she will know what sells in the market.?Once the cinema is complete, there are many traditional approaches that you as a filmmaker have to obey regardless of whether or not you like it. After I had put in all the efforts and began hunting for a distributor, it was turned down by most of them and vice versa because they looked for commercial aspects. I was hell-bent on delivering the movie, just the way I incepted it.

It is better to make the changes requested by the distributor before executing the project than you repenting after having the movie ready to serve but is not being able to perform in the market.?If your producer agrees to distribute himself/herself, that's even greater because you wouldn't have to fret about taking your product to the stores.

6) A director cares about the story but in reality, everything boils down to numbers

If you feel that just a unique story is enough to impress a producer and get him/her to say yes, you are wrong. You also need to work out the numbers. Remember, every person right from the producer, all the way to a technician thinks of his/her personal gain which is not wrong.

Keep the uniqueness of the plot, love for your language & culture, or region aside. If anyone pools in X, he/she expects at least 2X which is a fair deal. If you or I can be a low-risk taker and invest in the stock market, we still expect a return, if I have to do charity, I claim it while filing my tax returns. Your movie is your child, nourish it with a lot of love and care but hey, for everyone else, it is an investment. You either make it or break it.

7) You literally need to shout out

In case you yourself being the producer, allot 30% of the movie’s budget to marketing and do not touch it until you finish the movie. It shall be your savings and do not blow all the money on making.

It is nice to say, “I don't want to market the movie, let the movie talk for itself”. With the ease of access to technology and education, the amount of video uploads that go on the cloud is ecstatic.

An average person could spend an entire lifetime watching all the content uploaded to?YouTube?in just 1(one) day.

In the Kannada film industry alone, at least 5 new movies are released every week which rounds up to almost 300 per year. If you start counting other languages, then your film is just one in a million. Movies starring prominent celebrities spend millions on marketing, so yours is nothing.?

8) Checkpoints in the script which are not to be compromised

A love story: Portraying your IQ (Intelligent Quotient) by developing an intellectual script is good, but what a common man connects to is EQ (Emotional Quotient), so always have a love story. This love story may not necessarily have to be in between a handsome young man and a beautiful adolescent woman. A fatherly sentiment (Interstellar), a Dead wife's memory (Inception), Empathy towards animals (Hachiko, Life of Pi), and even an Extramarital affair (Maqbool), would do.?

Chauvinism: Flaunt a character’s aggressive patriotism and create a strong protagonist and an antagonist. Every great movie right from a typical Bollywood commercial all the way to Marvel Avengers has them. People get connected to a character because he/she enacts what they wish they could do.?

They visualize their REAL life on the REEL

9) Your film is just another business, so treat it like a start-up

Be passionate about the story but never get emotionally attached to it. In the end, a film is a business so treat it like a startup. So imagine you incorporated your company, you might be short-staffed but you need a team on whose shoulders could you load the luggage.

• Your story becomes your Business Pitch and a Producer becomes your investor.?
• A DOP (Director of Photography) who is your CTO. He/she is your ally/best friend/savior/whatever you want to name it and then comes your cast. Develop great relations with him/her and make sure that this person knows what he/she is doing. Even single footage without a focus will be pinpointed in the end. Your DOP is the person who brings your story to life, adds light and colors to it.

Unlike the other million-odd species on planet earth, Vision is human's prominent sense

• A Production/Line Manager who manages your Supply chain. While filming Avarice, I ran around doing all the petty chores like hiring camera rentals, negotiating with location owners, arranging jam rooms, cleaning sets, picking up actors, ordering food, getting necessary permits, and whatnot, so it goes without saying that, my focus on the production was diluted. This person - the Production Manager, gets everything arranged for you so that your play court is ready.
• An Assistant Director who is your Executive. It is not enough that this person just understands your script but must know you as a person. Crime might disgust a few, but there are a few makers who glorify it. You have your perspective about a particular concept. Your AD is the one who manages your tasks and lets you focus on the creatives. Helping artists understand their role, guiding the technicians to control lighting, monitoring lip-synch while re-recording - This person executes them all for you.
• An Art director who is the Creative Designer of your project. Your story might be mind-boggling, but what is the use if you don't know how to set the stage up for the performance? Remember the Starbucks coffee controversy in Game of Thrones? Why would a modern-day prop be staged in a periodic film? These are the people who know where a scene has to be shot, how to be shot, what is to be included and why would it matter.
• A Script Supervisor who is your Quality Manager. As a director, you already have a lot of things on your plate. Your performer might be taking more takes than usual, and it is frustrating you. All you want at the moment is to get the scene right, would it be advisable that you keep a track of the continuity? Your script supervisor closely monitors the loose ends while shooting and supervises the scenes to be shot. These are the ones that save you from YouTubers making a meme video about your film titling “top 10 mistakes/disasters in the movie ___”.??Ok, you have a great script that has an overall 100 scenes to be shot. How do you break them down into schedules based on feasibility? In one of the scenes, an actor is supposed to be smoking, you might think that the performance was fantastic and proceeded to the editing board. But there, you notice that in one POV (point of view), the cigarette was in his right hand but when the POV changed, it was in his left. Doesn't that look awful? That's when the script supervisor comes into play to help break down the script, maintain the continuity and explain the film grammar. They assure the quality of your production before it is processed.
• Editor and Colorist who is your Legal advisor. They cover up your case and defend you on the screen. You can completely twist your story and still proceed to win if your footage is edited and colored well. Why do crime dramas have a brownish tint? Why do tragic movies have a lot of blues and greys? Why do action movies have thousands of cuts? Your editor and colorist (legal team) represent the pace and mood of your narrative.
• Music Composer who is your Advertiser. Remember Bear Jew's entry in the baseball bat scene from Inglorious Bastards? It has such minimalistic visuals and performance, but the whole scene feels grand because of Morricone's score. Who doesn't like music? Our tastes might differ, we may be culturally different, but music can unite us. You don't really need to follow the language to enjoy a track. The audience feels every emotion through the scores - tension, love, hatred, thrill, laughter, and whatnot. Music bridges that emotional connection between the director's perspective and an audience's reception.

The above mentioned are like the core team of your startup. Do not expect your audience to brainstorm and decode your film and jam the discussion boards online unless you are Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese or have a huge fanbase.

A common man either likes your movie or dislikes it - As simple as that

The ones mentioned above are your Board of Directors. Hire the best ones in the market and take care of them, they will in turn take care of your business(film). Other important roles do add up to your team but are based on how your script has been knitted. A Dance choreographer, Stunt choreographer, Costume designer/consultant, VFX artist, Location scout, Makeup artist, and few others. Please spare me if I happened to miss anyone.

10) You give me your time and skillset, I pay you in return

The people whom I had hired were not coping up quickly. In the entire process of Avarice's post-production, I changed 2 music composers, 3 editors, 2 Colorists, 3 recordists, and 2 sound engineers. The core production team vanished because few climbed up the corporate ladder, few got married, and a few lost interest. Whereas the post-production team couldn't complete, as every task was dependant on one another, one flew abroad, one shut down his business, another got into depression and one just escaped taking the advance. It was extremely tedious to go through the emotional turmoil and hoping to complete the movie. I clenched my fist so many times and repented why I even took up this project. Unfortunately, I don't come from a business family so learning to extract work was a challenge. I so wished to be stern but always ended up empathizing with their reasons. I wasted months just waiting for technicians to get over their personal commitments and hop back on the project board. By then, the others had zoned out and it became even more vigorous to drag them back. My energy would get drained in energizing them. They agreed to work on less or no compensation so I had to compromise losing my time and patience.

One thing was clear when I raised the 2nd round of crowdfunding, I gave them a deadline. Every technician for whom I had patiently waited adhering to all their reasons said the same thing - Prajwal, settle our payment and you will have your movie in 2 weeks.

They compensated their REMUNERATION so I compensated on the DEADLINE

Keep the relationship with crew members very simple and professional. You are paying them for their time and service and not as a charity. If anyone is unable to perform or exhibits a lack of commitment, please withdraw the project, settle their payment and move on. There is an ocean of talent out there and it is harder but wiser to sow a new crop rather than bringing a diseased plant to life.?Do not get attached to any person on the team.

You don't know what their interests, commitments, and priorities are. You can not expect someone to prioritize your movie and do not waste time on them.

Be prepared to sail the ship alone

11) Quality comes with a price

Freshers might come cheap or even free but they lack professionalism and commitment. They won't be polished enough as per the industry standards. I struggled for weeks and months to get newbies to perform but were hardly satisfied with the results. Those were the areas where I had to reluctantly compromise.?

I wouldn't want to disclose the names because of obvious reasons but, it was easier to work with my Recordist, Music supervisor, a few actors, and singers who were professionals because they knew exactly what they needed to do. These people just needed the gist and went on to build on the work when creative freedom was given. They come with a price but are definitely worth your efforts.?

12) Never prolong your production

Since we were weekend filmmakers, we scheduled the shoot only when every crew member and cast could make time. Even if 1 scene missed being filmed, we had to wait until the next weekend or sometimes even months to get everyone's dates all over again. A movie that was estimated to finish in 3 months had already crossed a year and just 2 days before shooting the climax, one of our lead actors passed away due to a massive heart attack. Quitting was never an option, so I paused the entire production, rewrote the script, gave it an alternate ending, added more scenes that required more cast and money, raised another round of funds, and resumed. You can take years to develop a script or even a decade to work on the post-production, but once you commence production, finish it in 1 go because:

• The entire team will be in the same zone.
• Actors will lose interest as they can't be in a character for too long.
• Seasons/weather will change, affecting the landscapes and spoiling the continuity.
• Over time actors might add/lose weight, change hairstyles, develop illness, get into physical injuries, or might even pass away. This will affect the continuity too.?

Imagine your startup is inventing a new technology that solves the traffic problem in your locality and this requires a lot of time and focus. Would you and your core team gather only on weekends to work on it? No right? Because the interest levels and commitment will eventually fade away.

13) Get your branding department sorted

Make sure that your movie has an amazing Public Representative who gets the marketing materials (interview with media, radio, and TV chief guests for screening) arranged for you after completing the production. He/she will get you to talk to the world about your just born baby.?

I have a small questionnaire - Do you know the gaffer of Titanic? Do you know who is the production manager of Great Gatsby? Do you know who is the make-up artist of Wolf of Wall Street? Or the costume designer of Revenant? The answer would mostly be "no" right? But, subconsciously Leonardo Di Caprio is who comes into the mind the moment we see these names. A 100 odd people could work on your project, but it is only the actors that get noticed. Someone scripts the story, someone writes the dialogues, the sets are staged up by someone, lights are controlled by someone else, the post-production is managed by an entirely different team, but unfortunately, the actors are majorly recognized because they enact your dream.

I mentioned the above with a heavy heart because you need to get into an agreement with your actors that their complete payment will be settled only after they attend all the promotional events. It hurt to see that none of my actors spoke or turned up to the promotions so even the marketing fell on my shoulders.

14) Lock the timeline

What if a financial year started in April but was not sure to end the next march?

What if the drone you built took off successfully but the propellors were not programmed to end on time?

CONFUSED? Yes, you should be, because this is where I lost most of my time and money. I hadn't locked the timeline. Once you commence the Post-production, before proceeding to dub/composing/sound design, please make sure that you have frozen the movie’s timeline(editing).

The reference draft for the Foley artist was different from the colorist and so on. It is based on the frozen timeline that the dubbing, BGM, Foley, VFX, and DI will all sit. Even a 1s change will hinder every other process.?

15) Documentations and Deal-breakers in the making

These are generally taken care of by the producer's executives. The itinerary varies from region to region but the bottom line remains more or less the same.

• Register your banner/production house (if not done)
• Register your title
• Prepare a photoshoot for the poster
• Register your script synopsis
• Apply for the location permit and consent to the location owners/jurisdictions in charge.
• Get all the Cast and crew members to sign the NDA
• Prepare call sheet for actors
• Apply to film festivals (allocate a budget much in advance)
• Film festivals are a marketplace for distributors. It is not just about getting a ribbon leaf in the poster and winning a lump sum cash prize but mainly about networking with a distributor who can change your destiny.?
• Sell the audio rights of your company to music stores that will host your tracks and your gains promotion.
• Sell the Satellite rights to TV channels that will pay you to play your movie on their platforms.
• Initiate talks with OTT and freeze an upfront cost (one-time settlement) instead of a pay-per-view model.
• Once your movie is on an OTT platform be mentally prepared for it to get pirated (Torrents/telegram). This was the most heart-breaking incident to experience when my own movie was floating in the dark web.
• Sell the dubbing rights of your movie to other language boards which will fetch you good money upon being dubbed and they can host it anywhere.
• Apply the movie to regional film board subsidies, identify an agent and get your film funded.?

It is 2 AM now and as I watch the rain through my window, I come to the end of jotting my lessons.

Spare me, for my methodology, could still be wrong. Spare me, for the lessons I still may not have learned. Spare me, for the points I could have missed. But one thing is for sure - the struggle was real. As I approach the end, I hope these lessons will be of some help to a dreamer out there.

The points which are 15 now could go to 20 or even more by time, and I will keep updating if something ever strikes me again. They were not just filmmaking lessons, but also management tips that could be applied in general areas of life. I initially drafted this as a personal document intending to come back before I put my hands on the next project, but later I thought, "why don't I make it public if it could help a stranger who is sailing the same boat"?

It wouldn't have been easy, it wouldn't have been rosy but the initiative is something that I will never repent. I do not want to take all the credits and would like to thank my core team who were the reason the movie was completed and stood with me despite all odds. We fought, we laughed, we explored and we learned. The relationship expanded beyond a core team and each of them is shaping their lives differently - Shravan V K, Shrinidhi Kulkarni, Bharath Ananthanarayana, Pranav N, Basvaraju M Gowda. My parents, my sister, and my dearest wife who never looked down on me - I can never be any more grateful to their support.

All said and done, when we had a premiere screening and I witnessed the movie on the big screen, every frame reminded us of our efforts. The audience cheering, hooting, and congratulating us, in the end, was what we visualized years ago. This is just the beginning, we will come back better and stronger soon. I could go on to mention every person who contributed to the project, but for that, you will have to watch the movie till the end credits.

Check out Avarice - A philosophical thriller that revolves around how we have let money control our emotions.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this journey of mine and wish you all the very best for your projects. Who knows where our destiny lies? We could catch up for a coffee and venture into something new. If there are any inputs or feedback, my doors are always open. Good luck! See you soon.