Making a Short.

It all starts with the idea, and from it a script starts to blossom. Then lastly, during the first day of the shoot, the script becomes magic.

Surveillance was the first of our 3 short films we shot that we really felt our dream had turned into magic. What a lot of people don't realise, is the amount of hard work that goes into even a small short film in the background before the shoot even happens. This article will give you a little idea of what you need to consider before throwing yourself into the film making process.

Film making starts at the pre-production phase (pre-pro). During this phase, the idea is born and the script is written and edited several million (okay, I exaggerate, but it is a lot of times) times and then re-edited after that. Facts are checked and scenes are blocked. A list of networks or contacts is drawn and the initial plan is fact checked.

This pre-production list starts to take many different forms. Location is one branch of the form, production another, make up and special effects another, cast and crew and permissions yet another. All these items make up the film budget and because post-production is such a huge component, a lot of the time, actors and crew do it for free or very little stipend.

When all the spreadsheets are mapped out, scripts are finalised, you can now decide where you will be getting the money to make all of this from. The funding process can be funded by investors (government grants, domestic or international grants) or self-funded. We chose to self-fund our short films for two reasons. The first reason is we keep all the control over cast and crew, location, lighting, camera and sound. The second reason is it guarantees the film will be made.

Auditions come next, this process can be tiring especially if you don't find the right person for the role. Film schedules, locations and equipment and crew are finalised and shoot dates are locked in. Choose cast and crew that will make your job easier not harder, I cannot emphasise this enough. It will be your producer and assistant director's job to ensure all cast and crew understand what their roles are and what their roles are not.

The next phase is the production one. It also includes set design and special effects make up and prosthesis in some cases. When the shoot starts, all of these things need to be finalised and complete, it always feels like the icing on the cake when the shoot goes well, on schedule and no re-shoots are required.

After all the production is complete, post-production starts. This is the hardest part where the editor spend a long time (did I say a long time? I mean't a really really long time) locked in a cave editing, cutting, filtering, pasting together the movie. After the movie is cut together, it will get colour graded, sound mixed and sometimes a composer is brought in to give it a soundtrack that really brings it to the next level.

A good short film requires a few things: an excellent writer, a director with a vision, reliable and qualified crew, a great producer and a decent, realistic budget. It is an industry where the highs are so high you fly and the lows are pretty low with you gasping for air in-between. It's magic, hard work and it really does pay off if you can pull it off. Here are our highlights from our first festival entered short film 'Surveillance'.

We have since shot a 4th short film called '10 Grand', currently in post-production. It is looking even better than the last. Feel free to check our work out at progression7.com or contact me if you have any feedback, questions or would like to collaborate [email protected].