Make Your Film

Don’t have a camera?

You can always try craiglist.org, you might find a cheap camera there. If you don’t want to buy a camera check out the local library or nearby college library. You may be able to check out a camera temporarily. Also you may want to make an announcement to your Gurduara or community to see if someone can lend you one.

How To Make a Film

You don’t need to be a pro with a big camera. Do the best you can with what you have.

 

1. Keep the camera steady

   • Shaky camera work might make us sea-sick. Holding your camera still will make viewers more confident in you as a director.

2. Make the sound nice

   • It’s hard to hear the message in film when there are car horns, airplanes, wind blowing into the mic, or the actors are being drowned out by background sounds. Some people even decide to do post film dubbing (where the actors re-record their voice).

3. Work from a script

   • Every film needs a beginning, middle and end. Many videos fall short because they weren’t planned with story structure to start with. So, write it, review it, rewrite it, review it, rewrite it and THEN shoot it.

 

Simple Rules

1. Deadline Aug. 31 2016

2. Theme: Sikhs – Agents of Change
   • The film also needs to be Sikh-related

3. Max. Film Length: 25 Minutes.

   • Suggested film length: 5-7 minutes

4. The project must be the creative work of the contestant.

   • Be honest, if having your parents “help” starts to turn in to having your parents “direct, produce and edit”, than the film should be in the senior category not the junior.

5. Don’t be offensive

   • No profanity, gratuitous violence, discrimination to race/gender, inappropriate or politically inflammatory themes.

6. Include subtitles for non-English films.

   • Need help on that? more info

If you are serious about making a film please read the full list of rules

 

Need Some more help?

• Here is a good website that will guide you on some easy to understand basics of filming: http://makeinternettv.org/

 

Video Tutorials

 

Getting Started

Scripting

Lighting

Sound

Programs you can download for editing your video:

Some of these programs can be downloaded and used for a 30 day trial; All of the Pinnacle Studio softwares, Adobe Premiere Pro, … So look for links that say “try” or “trial”.

• Pinnacle Studio ($60)
• Pinnacle Studio Plus ($100)
• Pinnacle Studio Ultimate ($130)
• Adobe Premiere Elements ($100)
• Adobe Premiere Pro Creative Cloud ($20/month)
• Microsoft Movie Maker (FREE)
• iMovie (FREE on all Mac computers)
• Final Cut Pro ($300)