The first film shoot I walked onto at Hofstra University was like anything you’d see in a cartoon about the ridiculous grandeur of Hollywood. There were guys in construction worker’s uniforms, another in a gorilla suit, another in a scuba suit, and everybody was rushing around preparing for the opening scene of a spoof on the James Bond movies. This particular shoot was slightly different from most of the others that I’ve been on proceeding, but there was always a certain sense of comical chaos before the camera started rolling. When it did, however, everything always fell into place.
I remember when making a movie was just having an idea, taking your hand-held camera, and filming you and your friends acting like lunatics. Every aspiring filmmaker watches their favorite movies and hopes to someday emulate the incredible masterpiece they saw on screen. Once high school comes around and students start taking film classes they learn the techniques, ideas, and unveil the magic behind these movies. The final step is taking away their handhelds and replacing them with a DSLR.
In college, students are finally given the chance to take off their training wheels. At Hofstra, specifically, there are a multitude of groups and organizations dedicated to filmmaking. This includes Thursday Night Live (for those interested in television), Script Doctors (for those interested in storytelling), and the Hofstra Filmmaker’s Club. Aside from extra curricular organizations, students are also given assignments in RTVF (radio, television, video, film) classes to film on their own. Before actually making the movie, however, students must go through the stage of preproduction where all the meat and bones are put into their projects, catalyzing the movie making process. Check out my interview with a film student at Hofstra University, Andrew Schwarz, as he talks about making his senior thesis film, Separation.
When it comes to preproduction there are a few script-writing programs a lot of students use to format their screenplay. Final Draft and Celtx are the most reliable sources. Not only do they set up a structure for you to format your script in, but they allow for sharing, the formation of shot lists and breakdown sheets, and other necessities of preproduction. Once the script is written students either show them to their professors or shop them in a group of peers. This is done for the sake of getting green lit, or being told you can get started on your film. Usually a student needs to get green lit so they can rent out equipment because let’s be honest, we’re all poor college students who can’t afford our own. Most schools have an equipment room renting out cameras, tri-pods, boom poles, lights, etc.
The next step in preproduction is actually getting ready to make the movie. The most important sheet aside from the script itself it the shot list. The director usually makes this with the director of photography, or cinematographer. And if you are more of a visual person you’d make a storyboard instead— you don’t even have to be an artist to do this! Next, there is the cast/crew list, master catalogue (list of props, effects, make-up etc.) and schedule. When it comes to making a schedule it is imperative to plan for the worst. Act as if the scene with big explosion you are planning to make in After Effects is an actual explosion you’re going to have to clean up on set! That way everything is less torture in reality!
Okay, now you can finally make your movie! Go out there and make Orson Wells proud! But hold it just a second… there is a lot more that goes into making the movie than just pre-production however. And even before you can actual go into production there is still finding actors, finding a crew, funding your film aside from the equipment you are renting out, location scouting, etc.
Looking at all the grit and drive that go into making a student film is just enough to show how hard the younger generation is trying to achieve those goals they set up for themselves as children. Every time I’m on a film shoot I get to see the director’s eyes light up when they see a shot they planned out in their heads come to life. I get to share in their glory as they birth the child that lay dormant in the crevices of their mind until they called “action”. At this age we usually think to the future and see ourselves as being the next big celebrities, the next cover photos of the most prestigious magazines, even though we know how risky the path we choose is. Even though we know how few people actually make it big in the entertainment industry. We think we’re invincible, even though we know deep down that we are far from it. But when we make movies, when we get together and turn the idea that was just a tiny bud into our own little masterpiece, the future doesn’t seem to scare us anymore.
The Cinemonster: Film and Storytelling 