If you do a quick Google search it won’t take you long to find a whole bunch of award winning student films. The reality is there is a plethora that don’t go anywhere and are never seen. It’s 2019 and I’ve just uploaded my student film ‘William’s Song’ on YouTube - which I made in 2013!
Why now? Why SIX years later?
I’d say I’m highly critical of my own work and I wasn’t 100% happy with everything - I wanted more! So I chose not to publicly release my film until now. I recently did a deep dive into my old videos and re-watched ‘William’s Song’. Six years later I can now appreciate my early stylistic decisions. Yes the film is corny, some of the shots are horribly blown out , but it was a stepping stone in my creative journey.
So, here’s a few tips I wish someone told me before I made the film:
Gear
I used to shoot things on a little SD camcorder. Phones these days have 720/1080HD recording which I think is ample to get decent visuals and definitely better than the camcorder I had. What you do need is good sound. For ‘William’s Song’ we shot a scene that was outdoors in a really windy and loud area. The sound was crap. We ended up recording the dialogue in post again while watching the footage so the dialogue was in sync. If you don’t have quality mics I'd recommend avoiding noisy areas. You can get away with so-so footage but if the audio is bad, don’t expect people to sit and listen for long.
Pretty visuals, crappy sound. It’s best to avoid filming in noisy areas on mics without a windshield.
Locations
Some locations you’ll have to pay for. The best way to save money on a student production is write your story around places you already have access to. ‘William’s Song’ was 80% filmed around my uni campus. We filmed in the university accommodation, classrooms and common areas. Try to see your surroundings from a foreign perspective. For example, someone who lives in a crowded city might find single detached houses amazing. When I was driving my friend from Brazil around Auckland and they had to stop to take photos of all the houses because where he lived, all the homes were right next to each other. Find what’s unique.
You’ll have to get creative to see if you can negotiate to get it for free. Some places might be lenient if you’re a student production. Usually saying something like “we’ll promote your venue” might get some businesses excited to let you use their premises. I managed to get a taxi to drive around the block a few times for a considerably lower fee by offering to get their brand in shot. Just remember to offer something of value in exchange.
Finding Actors
Nowadays it’s possible to hunt for talent on Facebook groups. Try searching up something like ‘Actors in [Your Area]’. You can even go on Instagram and hashtag #[YourArea]Actor and be shown a whole list of local talent who you could invite to an audition.
In my case, we found our father ‘Frank’ through a Chinese community group who I shot a video for beforehand. The group pointed him in our direction and the rest is history. I also had a few friends who were actors or aspiring actors, which influenced me in writing a story around them. I wrote a bi-lingual story even though I can only speak English.
Extras
We wanted 50+ audience members for a scene in the film. I asked my friends to ask their friends, to ask their friends to come. We also made a Facebook event inviting people to come on the day, and you know what, we had a pretty good turn out! It’s important to remember film isn’t an individual pursuit and you really do need a good team to help you get things done.
Now if you’re planning something with this many people it can be stressful. You and your team will be running around rushing to get things done. Your extras will be intrigued with all the film gear at the start, but they’ll get bored especially after sitting for hours doing the exact same thing. Get a hype guy/gal or entertainer to crack a joke or tell them a funny story and will help to keep everyone sane and engaged.
I wanted to have some sort of thank you gift to give out to everyone who came. If you are like me and pretty much have a $0 budget, how do we pay for everyone’s time? Well you can’t because you have $0, but you can definitely ask around for sponsorship, freebies or deals! We asked a few businesses if they could give us a few samples of their products. Of course some said no, but we were lucky enough to get snacks from ABE’s Bagels and drinks from Redbull - FOR FREE!
Career
Will your film be a kick-ass, award winning spectacle? Maybe, maybe not - and that’s perfectly okay.
No, ‘William’s Song’ never won any awards. Nor did feature in any short film competitions, but it did open doors. I showed a director my short film and it was enough to get him interested in getting me to shoot a few music videos with him. Those music videos then helped me to land more gigs in the future.
Young filmmakers back in 2013.
From Left: Xana Tang, Jimmy Five, Christian Yves Jones, Amy Zhong & Han Wei.
Summary
Work begets work. I look at my friends who helped out on ‘William’s Song’ who are now working in different areas of the film and television industry around the world. I’m super proud of Xana Tang who is about to appear as Mulan’s sister in the 2020 live-action Disney film Mulan. There’s no reason the same can’t happen for you.
If you’ve finished a project and you’re not happy with it, it’s not a complete waste of time! Learn from the mistakes; connect with skilled, like minded peers; and most of all keep creating!
Good luck!