To Short or Not To Short: 3 Things to Think About Before You Make a Short Film

The first film I ever exposed was one roll of black and white Tri-X Kodak stock. I was 17, the film was about a dude who wakes up after a nightmare (or is he still in the nightmare?!) and gets chased by -- himself! Except, you know, with his nose piercing in and underlit to make him super scary.

This was shot MOS (silent), as were my other two films that summer, and I think I must have been the last of the last kids to shoot anything on film stock. I even learned to edit on a flatbed Steenbeck, the type of workhorse that now decorates the lobbies of so many production companies (something I find kind of depressing, but let it never be said that I'm not a sentimental dude.)

But regardless of format, most directors choose to get their feet wet with a short film, since jumping into a feature is, well, kind of daunting. This video, from Santa Fe University, breaks down the steps of short film production in a great and easy to understand way, perfect for any novice filmmakers, or any director for whom a produced short film is a New Year's Resolution for 2016.

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