THE BIG FOUR

We spend time and money, irrespective of how little, to watch a film. Why?

Perhaps, to take back something new?

For the sheer love of films?

Or to forget all our worldly problems and be lost in a world of others’?

Whatever the reason may be, the audience seek an experience, and sadly, this exactly what many filmmakers fail to give them! You may have an excellent story, a compelling plot, but if you go wrong with the big 4, be prepared for a fiasco. So, if your film is in the works, do keep in mind these time-tested observations before you start filming!

STOP SPOON-FEEDING THE AUDIENCE

Now, think of a new film that amazed you with its ability to both bore you and annoy you at the same time. We don’t blame you, if your list runs long. Now, why do you think that happens?

As we have emphasized time and again, the audience are far ahead of you! We have an audience that comes up with fan theories that beat the original plot itself. Now if you go ahead and try to spoon-feed the audience every little bit of information in the form of needless dialogues and narration, they’re going to hate every bit of it. Try replacing these dialogues with meaningful silence, music, or emotions and you’ll be surprised at how uplifting it can be for your film.

Often, we tend to beat around the bush while explaining things if we’re not very sure about the concept ourselves. The same applies for film making. Be sure of what you want to convey! Thinking of an idea is commendable, agreed but working out how you’re going to convey is the tricky bit.

Spend time on figuring that out, check for loopholes and use a steady mix of visual metaphors, foreshadowing and side shadowing to elevate the audience’s experience.

SHOW, NOT TELL

That brings us to the second most important thing to keep in mind. Films are a visual medium.

Think about it, if your film can make sense without the visuals, it might as well be in print or on the radio. The visual medium is a gift, and as filmmakers, you’ve got to make the most of it.

Black Mirror, a recent web series has taken us by storm by doing just that! Every 50 -minute episode delivers strong messages, that rely almost entirely on the stunning visuals!

The lesson for us to take away is to use dialogues in a complimentary way, rather than making them the anchor of you film.

THINK 10 MINUTES

You may argue that Black Mirror had a budget much, much bigger than yours. But if you’ve watched Black Mirror you’d know they’ve not overdone it and used exactly as much resources as they needed to. The trick here would be to use what resources you have, and try to not to replicate movies with unimaginable budgets.

And how do you do that? All you have to do is, remember you don’t have much time. If your film is going to be 10 minutes long, think no bigger than 10 minutes. Stick to simple, relocatable concepts, talk about what you can don’t stray and you’ll not end up looking like a sad replica of a 100-crore movie.

BE CONSISTENTLY AWESOME

Nothing is more disappointing than sitting through an intriguing start and being slapped with a flat ending. Likewise, many make the mistake of saving the best for the last, thus losing the audience in well within the first few minutes! Black mirror garnered attention when it started its first episode with a bang. SPOILER ALERT.

The episode begins with a ransom call, demanding that the Prime Minister of Britain fornicate with a live pig on national television if they wanted to secure the safe release of the kidnapped princess. That got us hooked.

The steady turn of events that progressed from the defensive stance of the Prime minister into his weakening resolve and his ultimate breakdown, as the public pressurize him to concede to the demands, holds us glued to the screen.

And we are faced with the mother of all surprises when we learnt the underlying theme of the story and discover that the villains are not the kidnappers, but the common man. The episode leaves us shell-shocked and deep in thought, long after it ends.

And that is something to draw inspiration from, make your story unpredictable. Give it an irresistible beginning, a thought- provoking ending and a slew of twists in between. If you can manage that, you’re ready to roll.

Happy filming!