Short movies are footage that runs within a limited timeframe, usually between 30 seconds to 15 minutes maximum. This type of video can be of any genre and is usually used in advertisement, marketing, and thrillers. Creating a short movie is a stepping stone to improving your cinematic skill set if you are new in the space and it’s one of the easiest tasks to complete in video production. However, most writers and directors often struggle to get their short movie productions off the ground.
The reason for this problem varies from the absence of appropriate resources to the lack of technical know-how on the part of the producer. Regardless of the reason, this post is structured to help you out. Here, we have prepared a complete guide that you can follow to create short movies without stress. Also, we will share a professional tool that can assist you with the entire movie production process. Kindly reference this guide throughout the movie creation process so you don’t miss any steps.
In this article
Part 1. Preparing for Short Movie Creation
The pre-production stage is super important before putting your story into demonstrations, as in creating a movie, if you want stunning results that attract and convert. In this section, we will divide the preparation stage into preparation work and quick tips. Both stages are discussed in detail below.
Preparation Work
To prepare a stunning short movie, you need to get the following available.
- Movie script
- Cost-effective equipment to shoot top-notch movies.
- Skilled actors who understand the scope of your project.
- Make a budget so you don’t break your bank.
- Select a suitable location for your set.
Quick Tips
Ticking everything under the preparation work is just one of the many things you need to get ready so you have the best movie production. Here are the other things you must implement to complete your production and have stand-out short movies.
Connect and work with actors
Connecting and working with your actors is crucial if you want your project to succeed. You should be open-minded to your actors and make them comfortable and expressive whenever possible. For instance, if your actors are the type that loves rehearsing over time, let them do so but that should come with a time restriction so your production isn’t delayed. Some other things you have to put in place to connect and work with your actors include; the provision of launch, your availability at set, and any others.
Communicate Effectively
Communication is key to successful short movie production. You should always brief your cast and crews about what each scene entails and what you are expecting to avoid time-wasting. Also, telling them ahead of time about your schedules is very important so everyone can be on set and at the given location promptly. This way you can easily hit the target date for your short movie production. To foster effective communication, here is a simple hack:
- Get a productivity tool like the Monday app, log on the activities for each day you want to meet, and invite everyone on board so they can keep track.
- Host calls on video conference apps like Zoom to connect and inform your actors about schedules.
- In case you have multiple locations to shoot from, you should start with the key destinations before proceeding to nearby areas with fewer activities. Here is a noteworthy video that you can look through to assist you with your short movie production process.
Part 2. How to Create a Short Movie in Minutes
Now that you know what the preproduction stage in short movie creation is, let’s proceed to how to create your short films within minutes.
Get Script Ready
The key to creating an engaging short video that attracts and converts depends on many factors and scriptwriting is one of them. Scriptwriting is the backbone of your story or the message you want to convey to your audience and you need to be clear about it so anyone viewing your movie after production doesn’t get lost.
To craft the best script, begin by asking yourself what your story is about, then draft it out. Once you can settle this, proceed to get screenwriting software to assist you with formatting your script after writing it. This tool is helpful for beginners who don’t understand the industry formatting guidelines.
Additionally, you can read through professional screenplays for a full understanding of how a good script can be crafted and how it should look like. Mind you, a good script for short movie production should be between 5 to 50 pages and not more. Note that each page of your script should equate to a minute of your screen time.
Breakdown the Script
After you have gotten your script ready, the next phase of the short movie creation process deals with script breakdown. This involves the organization of your story. You might wonder what this phase is about since you already have your script written. Well, the script breakdown stage is designed to help you adjust your entire storyline into scenes. So you can select the best character for each scene, the best costumes you need for a particular scene, props, and other essentials. By doing this, you can easily estimate your budget and production schedule.
This phase in short movie production is quite technical as there are several rules you must adhere to to break down your script into scenes like a professional successfully. One of these rules is dividing every page of your script into eight, one inch apart- the standard measurement for estimating the screen time for each of your scenes.
Find a Suitable Location
The location of your set is another factor you need to consider when shooting a short movie. It helps set the tone and atmosphere of your story, so it’s best to pick a destination that matches your storyline and budget. Not only that, you also have to consider the accessibility of the place plus the acoustics.
Create A Storyboard
Creating a storyboard is another aspect of short movie production you don’t have to miss if you want to shoot outstanding footage. This phase involves designing a visual outline of everything that would happen in a movie from start to finish. So your crew and cast have an idea of how all should play out at the different stages of filming. You don’t necessarily have to be an artist to create a storyboard, just a rough sketch and you are good to go.
Get Your Video Production Equipment Ready
Now that you’ve finished all of the above, you should proceed to get your video production equipment for filming. Some of the equipment you would need is listed below. Run through the list and get them ready for your short movie production.
- Ring Light
- Camera
- Storage card
- Microphone
- Camera supports such as Gimbals and Jibs.
- Tripod stand in case you want to use your mobile device as a camera source.
- Cables
- Lenses
Create a Highlight for the Short Video
Perhaps you want to create a highlight of the whole short movie process and add it to the ending part but don’t know how to go about it, Filmora Video Editor can come to your rescue. This software powers the Smart Scene Cut feature which analyzes your video, detects important transitions between scenes, and then splits them into segments making it easy to figure out where to pick highlights from.
Key Features of Smart Scene Cut in Filmora
- Comprehensive UI: Filmora is built with a simplified user interface that you can manage, regardless of your tech proficiency.
- Support for Annotation Tools: You can use the Smart Scene Cut feature together with annotation tools like texts, filters, effects, and more to pimp your video clip.
- Application in diverse sectors: The feature can be used in making sports highlights, advertisements, vlogs, and more.
Steps to Create Highlights for Short Movies Using Smart Scene Cut
Here’s the complete guide to creating highlights for your short movies after production using the Smart Scene Cut feature. Follow and apply accordingly.
Step 1: Download, install, and run the Filmora software on your computer. On the main dashboard, select your preferred page size specification by clicking on the dimensions displayed in front of the Aspect Ratio tab.
Each page dimension has a distinct appearance. For instance, when you select the portrait display, your video will appear on the right side of the software.
Step 2: Click the Smart Scene Cut icon below the New Project tab and choose the video clip to create or extract a short movie.
Instead of clicking on the Smart Scene Cut icon from the main dashboard, there is an alternate approach you can utilize to get a similar result. Click on New Project > Import and select the video you want to work on.
Right-click on the video and choose Smart Scene Cut from the options shown on your screen.
Step 3: Filmora will display the following screen. Click on Start to upload the video so Smart Scene Cut can extract the best moments from it.
While Smart Scene Cut is working on the video, you can click on Hide and proceed with other activities.
Step 4: Next, you have to select the appropriate scene category. You have three (3) options to choose from and each one is unique.
Highlight Scene: This is used to select the exciting moments in an entire video.
Custom Scene: Perhaps you are looking to pick specific characters from your video, then this option would be helpful. It lets you choose up to 10 characters to perform the Smart Scene Cut operation on.
Character Scene: As the name implies, it is often used for selecting the key moments of a specific character.
Step 6: Click on Edit in the Main Timeline once you are done selecting your preferred category.
-
Edit the Footage
After shooting your short movie, adjusting the footage before publishing it to the public is the next thing to do. You need a video to get this done and there are countless options online that you can select from. However, only a few of these video editors offer excellent service and Filmora Video Editor is one to trust. With this video editing utility, you can easily adjust your short videos to suit your project requirements with the snap of your finger without hassles.
The tool powers some incredible editing features that make your editing fast and stress-free. For instance, if you want to add effects and filters to your short clips, Filmora can help you out. The software supports tons of thousands of effects and filters that you can choose from to customize your videos to make them stunning.
-
Review and Publish
Now that you are done making your short movie, it's fine for you to feel elated and want to publish your work. But what if we told you there’s one more thing you must do before that- the project review? Sending out your project after production for review is one important phase many content creators neglect which is bad. Having an extra eye to help you check your short movie before publishing means a lot to the success of your film as there are tiny details you might neglect but they count so much. We implore you to include the review phase and then proceed with publishing once everything is done.
Tips to Make Your Short Film More Engaging
Tip 1: Use AI Music Generator
Are you struggling to choose the right background music for your short movie? The Filmora AI music generator can come in handy in this situation. This advanced tool is designed to help you analyze your video and suggest the best music the use to enhance engagement from your audience.
Tip 2: Smart Short Clips
Do you have a long video that you want to turn into shorts but can’t go through the stress of cutting and trimming? You can leverage Smart Long-to-Short on Filmora to transform the long clip into engaging shorts. There’s not much required from your end to get this done. The software is well-trained to analyze a long video and extract the best parts to make short videos.
Part 3. How to Choose A Title for Short Movies
The title you use for your short movie can either spark curiosity from your audience or discourage them from viewing your content. We often advise content creators to select titles that resonate with the emotional tone of the video they are creating. A simple tip on how to craft the best title for your short movie is given below.
- Make the title short.
- Ensure that the title hints to your audience about the genre of the movie.
- Add an artwork that blends with your title.
- Paste your selected title on Google to gauge the search metrics so you know how often people search for such keywords monthly. The higher the search metric, the higher your chances of being noticed when searched online.
Bonus: How to Create Thumbnails for Captured Short Videos
If after creating your short movie you wish to publish it on video streaming channels like YouTube, you need to generate a display image to help your audience recognize the content. The image also called Thumbnail is a reduced-size version of your short movie.
A thumbnail is easy to create. All you need is professional software like Filmora. This intuitive video editing utility features an advanced machine-learning algorithm that's smart enough to analyze your short video and select the three most suitable thumbnails for your content.
In addition, Filmora can help you find suitable video thumbnails to attract more clicks. Please refer to the tutorial video below for detailed instructions.
Conclusion
Shooting a short movie that conveys your message to your audience isn’t that easy but with the right tutorial guide, you are good to go. This post has discussed all the key points you must tick to create a short movie that converts. Kindly follow the steps accordingly and ensure that you have the Filmora software for necessary adjustments and thumbnail creation.
