How to shoot your first short film

Master your filmmaking in 4 weeks (Founder's Launch closes July 7th):

Behind the scenes captured by Richard Nixx
Special thanks to the crew and talent behind this incredible film.

Staring
Jacqueline Dos Santos
Katrina Anastasia

Directed by
Ramelan X Hamilton

Story, Edited, and Produced by
Zach Ramelan



Written by
Charlie Hamilton


Produced by
Eric Yensu,
Jacqueline Dos Santos,
James Stewart

FEATURING,
Sid Sawant
Charlie Hamilton
, Christoph, Benfey
, Michèle DesLauriers

Production Design, Props and Make-up by
Bethany Mcleod
Wardrobe by
Katrina Anastasia

Cinematography by
Nik Pilecki

First AC
Alice Do

Gaffer
Dave Barrett

Swing
Moatasem Asi

Location:
Evil Empire Studios

Special thanks to
DZO FILMS
Evil Empire
Set Ready Rentals

Richard Nixx
Christoph Benfey
Michèle DesLauriers

0:00 How to shoot a movie like this
1:00 The Segway shot
1:40 Scene from Film
1:52 The Easy Rig
2:40 Making a short told like a movie trailer
4:00 How to make your movie look expensive
5:42 Production Design
6:28 How to find the right location
6:49 Talking shots with DOP
7:19 Location Location Location
8:05 How to work with Actors
10:10 the movie we made
10:30 On set
10:50 Lighting a set
11:46 How to start a scene
12:28 Why handheld is better
12:56 the biggest role of the director
14:06 shooting a scene
14:50 How to light a movie with one light
16:03 nolan’s method
16:45 shooting a scene
17:20 When your Insecure
18:30 Filming in a cool location
18:40 Best tip to make BIG locations look cooler
19:10 When the director shoots the movie
20:25 How to see the film we made

[x-x-.]

I thought that using a gimbal will improve my abilitis, but I see how you're using it and understand that not anyone can do it that well, your skills are impresive.

[Filmlove]

your videos are always amazing, I just completed my short film that I shot completely solo, your videos gave me the courage to make my shorts alone and I'm planning to film a feature in the summer

[linktproductions]

Love watching how other filmmakers work!

[cinema-q]

You always give great BTS footage! But I’d love to hear how you raise money & crew up for these productions 🙏🏾

[luuunnnaaaaaaa]

do you put your films on websites like backstage for people to be in your films??

[KevinOtterness]

Hey Zach! What camera, lenses and gimbal was your BTS shot on? BTW - Another great bts video! Hope to collaborate with you someday!

[eleventhvision]

Awesome BTS Zach, I think a lot of these younger filmmakers would like to see how you fund your films. Obviously a short film like this isn;t attainable without funding and after seeing this film they might feel unmotivated because of how sick your setups were.

[focusmedia]

Random question but, what was the director’s monitor that you were using and would you recommend it? I’ve been looking for something trustworthy that will give me the truest match to my camera on set and I’m torn with all of the options out there. Love your work! You’ve inspired me to finally take action on my script and turn it into a film! 🤙

[_kcams]

Love these bts breakdowns! Did your colorist create a monitoring lut for production or did you guys use a standard log to rec 709 lut and create color contrast with LED’s?

[johndough]

It appears every YouTuber uses this same exact location.

[abouthisbiz]

You know what happened, we got new film makers who got so good at the technical aspect of making a film on a budget they forgot the most important element. The performance. There was a time when an indi film looked indi, which was it's aesthetic and matched the performance. But now, you got high glossy color balanced 4k images with trash sound, bad acting and storytelling so unconnected to a formidable experience as though an audience cares about idealized directions. Film makers actually love movies.

[Timlandas]

Hi zack I love your videos and they have always inspire me. I am working on my movie project, but i am stuck with VFX introduction of my name Timlandas Concept, I wish you can help me with a custom Vfx introduction that caption my brand name Timlandas Concept please 🙏

[MartinShapiroWriter]

When someone is using a $97, 000 Arri Alexa 35 camera with a set of prime anamorphic lenses costing $33, 000 and a $7000 Easy Rig, I wouldn't exactly call that "low budget" filmmaking. It must be nice if you have that kind of money laying around. Of course with Hollywood level gear like this, the film will look good (if you have a pro cinematographer 👨🏻‍🎨). I'm guessing you rented this camera package + all the lighting and grip. But, even so, that ain't cheap unless the owner of the rental house is your best friend 🤠. How many days did you shoot? Did you pay the crew and actors? Just want fellow YouTube viewers and film students to have realistic expectations.