Films - if one had a chance, everyone
would make films. The biggest reason is - films immortalize an individual. The
individual can be seen in her/his prime, generations after generations. I remember
seeing parts of “Sikander” during a Master-Class and an expat-Indian, an actress & producer herself, huge fan
of Salman Khan gushed, “Gosh Prithviraj Kapoor was so handsome!”
This immortalization, immense
recognition and fame are the very reason, why more and more people want to make
films!
These days, however, any newbie
filmmaker faces a scathing irony. Films are much easier to make, ever-since
digital hit the marquee (of course, there are people like Christopher Nolan who
still vouch for the raw-stock, Dunkirk!) yet getting funds to make a film from
a producer or from a studio requires one simple point, numbers your last film
did!
It is for this very reason, first
time filmmakers often put their own funds, money & resources – to make a
film. Since there are so many films in the market, making a ground-breaking
film only helps. A film that everyone talks about, a film that has the
potential of a studio-exec give you a call to discuss your next film, next
script!
Of course, everyone has a
different approach & different take on making ground-breaking films – (I personally
weave my films around eroticism, since there is a ready market out there and I
need to make money, to make more films and to keep on making films!); here are
a few tips that I found handy.
TIP #1: Watch films, more films,
repeat films
Everyone says watching films
is the first exercise a filmmaker can do to learn the craft of cinema.
The biggest mistake filmmakers do is, watch the films of their native language
or Hollywood. There are so many other films, we don’t even know about – from smaller
countries like Kazakhstan. It is very important to broaden our horizon and
watch films from across the world.
Again watching films
repeatedly is important, more so, if you liked a film; it is simply impossible
to understand the qualities of the film, in one viewing to know, what compelled
you to gush, “Wow”! My current favorite from Indian Cinema is Baahubali, I
watched it for the first time, I found it to be good; but when I watched it for
the second time; I was simply awestruck by the Background Music. It shows very
assertively the power, music can have on the audience, to involve them, to
connect with them, just to heighten the impact of the scene, each and every
scene to a crescendo. Watch more films!
TIP #2: Start shooting
& Improve every day
The best part of technology is
today you don’t need to invest at all, to start beginning to make films. Mobile
phones mostly have a camera these days, start by shooting a 1 minute video,
shoot the same video again the next day or the next month. Keep on shooting
till you decide that you should show your film to a second person.
You will find same film, same
shot, will look different, each time you shoot AND mind you, right now you are
doing it alone – so naturally, if you do it even with two persons, there will
be a lot of difference between the same film, shot twice.
A simple example, after you
become a professional is – on the set you are not satisfied with the
performance of an actor, in the given time-frame of 1 hour you shoot 7 takes.
Still you are not happy, but you have to go ahead, else your entire sched for
the day will go haywire; unless you want to go over-budget and pay your cast &
crew extra wages for overtime (nobody does that) so you ‘OK’ the last shot;
however on the edit, you find the 3rd take actually the best, even
better than the 7th take. You use the 3rd take instead of
7th take for the final cut.
Starting shooting &
improving every day is imperative for a newbie filmmaker.
I was once asked by a US news-channel
at the New York Film & Video Film Festival as my film Opened the fest, “How
did you start making your first film?”
I said, “The first film just
happens out of the same basic principal for filmmakers across the world - Just Do
It"
TIP #3: Show your work
& Consult with others
It is very important to show
your film & your work to people. Their reactions might be extreme – they might
trash it or be blunt enough to say it is shit! The point is, mistakes are the
best way to learn filmmaking.
Remember the first rule of
filmmaking is there is no rule! The famous statement by D.W. Griffith “the more
advice you seek, the better your film will look” – is true, as well as untrue –
for in today’s context many a filmmakers – your bosses, your gurus, even your
close friends or the man or the woman you are dating – give you wrong advice
just to further their ambition or career.
For example, you are dating an
actress, Rose and you cast a new actress, Kate for the lead role in your film
(a role Rose is secretly eyeing), you show the rushes of the film to Rose, she
gushes, “the film is stunning, only Kate was not up to the mark.” This makes
you look at the rushes again, alone and you are overcome by doubt, was Rose right?
It is very important to know
that the statement by D.W. Griffith in today’s context is –
“The more advice you seek, the
better your film will look, apply your discretion, though!”
There are very many people out
there trying to pull you down!
TIP #4: Learn from the best
Learning from the best (or
perceived best) is very easy today, thanks to youtube & other digital
platforms, even Ram Goal Varma (an Indian filmmaker) is online.
No wonder then, some of the
best advice for filmmakers is available online – digital space is full of so
many inspiring interviews of the world’s top directors, actors, screenwriters;
where they share their thoughts about filmmaking.
Though, my advice is don’t follow
these tips & speeches on filmmaking from the best, blindly, adapt them to
your film & project; what might be workable in their country, might not be
practical in your country!
Rule #5: Stay positive on
set
I have seen even the best
succumb to the pressure of making a film! They get nervous – handling so many
people with different mindset on the sets. This is so true for first-time
filmmakers – everything is set, and bingo, some or the other untoward thing happens
on set, and most of the filmmakers crack under the pressure, turn negative.
In my Master Class across the
world – Amit R Agarwal Master Classes – I narrate one particular incident that happened
while filming with a female superstar in India – the way I handled the
superstar’s ego and at the same time got the work done – is something no
text-book or online tutorial will teach. I managed it, only because I stayed
calm & I stayed positive.
Be prepared for last minute,
sorry, second, problems on the set – right from a problem with the location to an
actor falling sick, though later on insta you see her cozy, with a new
arm-candy! Mishaps or negative things are part & parcel of a filmmakers’
life.
Success is to say calm &
get your work done, reason I tell all the fellow filmmakers I mentor – have a
deflated ego; and always be positive, at the end of the day, all you want is
your film made and sold!
