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Entering the Intergenerational Foundation film competition? Read on Entering the Intergenerational Foundation film competition? Read on
(7 months later)
Film and TV have always been highly competitive industries, and no doors have ever opened without some serious pushing. And my sense is that the odds are longer these days for prospective new entrants. So that's partly what the Intergenerational Foundation/NUS/Guardian short film competition is about: no one can stop you making a little film and flexing your storytelling muscles. And a good short is a great calling-card.Film and TV have always been highly competitive industries, and no doors have ever opened without some serious pushing. And my sense is that the odds are longer these days for prospective new entrants. So that's partly what the Intergenerational Foundation/NUS/Guardian short film competition is about: no one can stop you making a little film and flexing your storytelling muscles. And a good short is a great calling-card.
Making drama and telling stories is a strange calling, and "calling" is the right word: the work chooses you. If you're reading this, and you're interested in entering the competition, you'll probably know what I'm talking about. Something drives you to tell stories even before you know what the stories are.Making drama and telling stories is a strange calling, and "calling" is the right word: the work chooses you. If you're reading this, and you're interested in entering the competition, you'll probably know what I'm talking about. Something drives you to tell stories even before you know what the stories are.
My own story is this. After university, I worked as a runner for a commercials production company. But I decided I wanted to write scripts, so I set about reading them. I took reading jobs for film companies and television companies and began to see what worked, and what didn't. There is no substitute for reading scripts if you want to write them. After a time I was hired by a brilliant television producer, Deirdre Keir, as her assistant. We worked on a series for ITV called Firm Friends, and she began to trust my drama instincts. Her next show was Hamish Macbeth, and I was promoted to script editor and writer on that series. Since then I have created my own shows, like Doc Martin, and written and produced Robin Hood for the BBC. Last year, my company, Island Pictures, made a film version of Daphne du Maurier's novel The Scapegoat, which was shown on ITV in the autumn. I'm now working on various film and TV projects as writer, producer and director.My own story is this. After university, I worked as a runner for a commercials production company. But I decided I wanted to write scripts, so I set about reading them. I took reading jobs for film companies and television companies and began to see what worked, and what didn't. There is no substitute for reading scripts if you want to write them. After a time I was hired by a brilliant television producer, Deirdre Keir, as her assistant. We worked on a series for ITV called Firm Friends, and she began to trust my drama instincts. Her next show was Hamish Macbeth, and I was promoted to script editor and writer on that series. Since then I have created my own shows, like Doc Martin, and written and produced Robin Hood for the BBC. Last year, my company, Island Pictures, made a film version of Daphne du Maurier's novel The Scapegoat, which was shown on ITV in the autumn. I'm now working on various film and TV projects as writer, producer and director.
That's my experience. But what can you do? Make a film. It doesn't need to be long. It doesn't need to be fancy. It doesn't need to be filmed on a high-end Arri or Red camera. It's not about the equipment. A preoccupation with equipment is the brake that so many people allow to prevent them from getting on with it.That's my experience. But what can you do? Make a film. It doesn't need to be long. It doesn't need to be fancy. It doesn't need to be filmed on a high-end Arri or Red camera. It's not about the equipment. A preoccupation with equipment is the brake that so many people allow to prevent them from getting on with it.
Just make a film. Just do it.Just make a film. Just do it.
What kind of film? That's down to you. Look at the IF guidance for pointers to get you started. But here are some of my tips.What kind of film? That's down to you. Look at the IF guidance for pointers to get you started. But here are some of my tips.
• Distill your idea. Make it very simple. You can always embellish later.• Distill your idea. Make it very simple. You can always embellish later.
• Make sure you can answer the question: what's it about? If your answer is simple, and people's faces light up when you tell them about it, you're on to something.• Make sure you can answer the question: what's it about? If your answer is simple, and people's faces light up when you tell them about it, you're on to something.
• Understand that everything is about storytelling. Factual material, nature programmes, documentaries, even game shows and music videos are all about storytelling.• Understand that everything is about storytelling. Factual material, nature programmes, documentaries, even game shows and music videos are all about storytelling.
• Tell your story really clearly. It's a pitfall of the newbie to think that your ideas are subtle and clever, that your story is best told in a murky, sideways fashion. It's too hard in a short to do that.• Tell your story really clearly. It's a pitfall of the newbie to think that your ideas are subtle and clever, that your story is best told in a murky, sideways fashion. It's too hard in a short to do that.
• Learn from others. See a lot of shorts, and you'll see what works and what doesn't. Most of the time shorts fail because they don't succeed in telling a story; sometimes they don't even attempt to tell a story.• Learn from others. See a lot of shorts, and you'll see what works and what doesn't. Most of the time shorts fail because they don't succeed in telling a story; sometimes they don't even attempt to tell a story.
• Create a journey for your character(s). Here's a basic technique. Take a character. Give her one desire, one thing that she wants. Find a way to say, in a sequence of pictures, what that desire is. Now put something in the way of the character and the desire. She wants a cup of tea? But there's no tea in the jar. How does she make the tea? Let's see her try. Make sure the viewer is going to care whether she succeeds or not. Then they will enjoy the trying. Then they will feel the frustration of failure. When your character finally fails or succeeds – or, as these things often go, she settles on a secondary goal (a cup of fine coffee?) – we should feel that she has learned something. At the least, your character should change in the story. She must not end as she began.• Create a journey for your character(s). Here's a basic technique. Take a character. Give her one desire, one thing that she wants. Find a way to say, in a sequence of pictures, what that desire is. Now put something in the way of the character and the desire. She wants a cup of tea? But there's no tea in the jar. How does she make the tea? Let's see her try. Make sure the viewer is going to care whether she succeeds or not. Then they will enjoy the trying. Then they will feel the frustration of failure. When your character finally fails or succeeds – or, as these things often go, she settles on a secondary goal (a cup of fine coffee?) – we should feel that she has learned something. At the least, your character should change in the story. She must not end as she began.
• Provoke feeling. If you want to tell a story, you want to create feelings in others. You want your audience listening, involved, engaged. You need to know what you want the audience to feel if you are to have a chance of succeeding in doing it.• Provoke feeling. If you want to tell a story, you want to create feelings in others. You want your audience listening, involved, engaged. You need to know what you want the audience to feel if you are to have a chance of succeeding in doing it.
• Spot your opportunities. There's a story in everything you see. In one competition I was involved with, someone submitted a film that gave a personality to a plastic bag. And it won.• Spot your opportunities. There's a story in everything you see. In one competition I was involved with, someone submitted a film that gave a personality to a plastic bag. And it won.
• Do it now. Life is short. My amazing late brother, Anthony, the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient, used to say: "Never let a day go by without creating something."• Do it now. Life is short. My amazing late brother, Anthony, the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient, used to say: "Never let a day go by without creating something."
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