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FilmSkool — a free film school

How to Make Your First Short Film: A Crash Course

A compressed run through everything a first short actually requires, from what to write to what to shoot it with. Sits well before the detailed writing lessons because it shows the shape of the job.

Standard Story Company · 9 min · Beginner · SCR · Screenwriting · 2021

What you take away

A first short is a small, finishable thing, and it should be scoped to what you can actually shoot.

Watch it

Filed under

Oscar winners for screenplay

Books on screenwriting

Making Short Films — Clifford Thurlow
The Coffee Break Screenwriter — Pilar Alessandra
The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters — Karl Iglesias
Adventures in the Screen Trade — William Goldman
Crafty Screenwriting — Alex Epstein
Writing Short Films — Linda J. Cowgill

Kit for this lesson

Sony a7 IV — The all-round full-frame hybrid
Canon EOS R6 Mark II — The affordable full-frame RF hybrid
Nikon Z6 III — Partially stacked sensor, N-RAW internal
Fujifilm X-H2S — Stacked APS-C, F-Log2, open gate 6.2K
Fujifilm X-S20 — Small, cheap, 6.2K open gate
Rode VideoMic NTG — On-camera shotgun that doubles as a USB mic

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Anatomy Of Story - John Truby [FULL INTERVIEW] — Film Courage · 60m · Intermediate
THR Writer Roundtable: Chloe Domont, Andrew Haigh, Cord Jefferson, Tony McNamara, Eric Roth & More — The Hollywood Reporter · 40m · Advanced
12 Stages Of The Hero's Journey (Narrated By Christopher Vogler) — Film Courage · 23m · Beginner
Pedro Almodóvar | BAFTA Screenwriters’ Lecture Series — BAFTA Guru · 60m · Advanced
Céline Sciamma | BAFTA Screenwriters’ Lecture Series — BAFTA Guru · 55m · Advanced
Essential Skill Sets Screenwriters Need To Write Professionally - Corey Mandell [FULL INTERVIEW] — Film Courage · 75m · Intermediate
How to write amazing endings for your film. — Standard Story Company · 11m · Intermediate
Mike Leigh | BAFTA Screenwriters' Lecture Series — BAFTA · 62m · Advanced
Writing Subtext — The Secret to Writing What's Under the Surface — StudioBinder · 22m · Intermediate
Anatomy Of Story - Television Edition: The Complete Film Courage Interview with John Truby — Film Courage · 55m · Intermediate

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