Common Problems Faced by Filmmakers While Shooting Their First Film

Filmmaking has never been an easy task. Both the artsy aspect as well as the business aspect of filmmaking are in a state of constant evolution. Challenges crop up during each stage of development, production, post production and distribution. This is even though millions of ideas enter a funnel, a few are filtered and become concepts, a further filtration leads to a few becoming scripts, out of these some are shot and edited and the number of films that are released can be counted on your fingertips.

Filmmakers end up focusing on things like the best equipment – best video camera for film shooting, latest film shooting camera, multiple dream locations, a great complicated script but lack the skill to anticipate challenges that may crop up while actually making the film despite having the best ideas and resources. A few challenges that filmmakers face while making films are:

Executing The Concept

The first obstaclea first-time filmmaker encounters is turning the idea into a script. Since they would not be experienced enough, they may lack the foresight to anticipate challenges. Most first-time filmmakershave complex and ambitious scripts that never see the light of day. The idea to overcome this challenge is to keep it simple. This does not imply changing your story, it just means finding the easiest way to tell a complexed story – this can done through fewer locations, long shots and couple of characters. The execution complexities should be brought down.

The Biggest Challenge Is Funding

The challenge that takes precedence over any other problem is getting enough funds to kickstart their project let alone funding the entire thing. The market has crossed it saturation point bu the sources of funding are still only a handful. The lack the accessibility to public funds as that requires long & complicated applications and significant past experience thereby leaving new filmmakers to adopt informal routes of funding such as private funding or self-investing. In order to get funding one mut have clarity and a reasonable budget.

Quality Maintenance

Our one challenge that a first time filmmaker is faced with at every stage of making their first film is quality control. One often feels that quality is directly corelated to funding and it is often not focused on becoming a secondary goal. However, the truth is that maintaining high levels of quality is exactly what tells excellent cinema apart from the many amateur films that are submitted to festivals each year.

Having Unrealistic Fancies Such as Exotic Location & Superstars

When making your film for the first time, lots of factors will be out of your control. Budget constraints and inexperience will prevent you from determining the quality showcased in your film. The idea here is to be full prepared; since you are short on funds, you must overcome that challenge  with time. This does not mean one takes shortcuts and brings down the quality of their films  – you must resort to other things. If a location is turning out to be too expensive, scout one that is rare and inexpensive. If experienced actors are becoming unaffordable then spend time on casting and rehearsals to create the ideal chemistry between characters – they could be new to the industry as well.

Getting Noticed

Regardless of whether it is ones first film or they have done multiple before, they worry about being chosen by prestigious film festivals – just because one has been awarded for a previous film by a certain festival does not mean they will be accepted again. However, as long as quality is your focus and you have taken the right steps, you will get the deserved attention.