Any student filmmaker has probably asked himself the question “How do I make my films stop looking like student films”. This seems like a very easy question to answer, but upon further inspection becomes complicated. Everyone knows why student films don’t look like real movies, it usually comes down to money, but how to alleviate the problem without spending money, that’s what most of us are racking our brains over. Being the “expert” that I am I have decided to let all you shitty student filmmakers in on some tips for how to make your films stop looking so student “filmish”

            The number one thing that makes a film look like a student film is the image quality; obviously your 8mm video is going to look nothing like 35mm film. First of all it has crappier washed out colours, it runs at 30fps instead of 24 and is shaped like a square. A solution that I find helps alleviate this is by filming the movie in widescreen, this is very easy to do and immediately gives your film a much more professional look. This can be as simple as pressing a button on your camera, or if you chose to, implementing it in editing. I prefer actually filming the shots in widescreen, that way I don’t cut out any important stuff and know exactly what’s in the frame.

            I would have to say that the second most annoying trait of the student film is that of the acting/script. Sometimes its hard to pinpoint the blame, an incredible actor can sometimes sound ridiculous when given shitty dialogue, and vice versa. Try to get real actors to play the parts, whether they be in high school theatre, local productions or even some shitty commercial that was filmed in your town, anyone who has experience talking in front of a camera or large groups of people is going to alleviate about 75% of your acting problems, not to mention that most of these people will work for free, they obviously enjoy acting so giving them the opportunity to act in a movie will most likely flatter them. The number one problem with bad actors is that they’re uncomfortable and awkward in front of the camera, by using people who have experience acting in front of people your going to eliminate a lot of this awkwardness.

            Since most of you have probably used theatre actors before you know that they often over do their dialogue. You can’t blame them really; theatre acting and film acting are two very different arts, each just as difficult. This is where you, the director, gets to shine. One of your jobs as a director is to direct the actors. Most people can act better than you think, if you pressure them enough you can usually get the emotion your looking for. Remember that the actor wants to impress you, sometimes they get frustrated and its your job to help them through it, yelling at them and telling them to do it over and over again isn’t going to help, instead there are a few tips that I learned that can help a crappy actor act better. First of all remind the actor that there a good actor, confidence is a very powerful thing, and the more an actor has the more comfortable he/she will be and this will be reflected in their acting. Second, if they’re having trouble on a certain line sometimes it helps if you let the actor rewrite the line the way that they would feel comfortable saying it. It often proves rewarding to let the actors improvise whole scenes of dialogue, this not only keeps their acting fresh but also lets them explore their characters more deeply.

            The last tip I have for you student filmmakers is in regards to the actual story of the movie. Now first let me tell you that its nearly impossible to fit a 90 minute idea into a 10 minute film, so don’t even try it. This will result in compressing dialogue so much that every line becomes a hugely informative statement; “Betty you’re going to miss your train, and if that happens Reggie will get shot by the sniper, oh by the way Archie’s queer” try to stick with something simple, if you have this great idea for a 90 minute feature, instead of compressing it try doing a sequence from it, an audience can pull more things out of a scene than you think. Also its advisable to actually get an original idea, don’t try to copy Hollywood because whatever it is, they can do it so much better than you can. And try not to go for the big 3 cliché’s, racism, homosexuality, and feminism/women’s rights, these often just piss more people off than entertain, and the majority of people find them boring.

            Well I guess that raps it up, to finish I will quickly name some Student film cliché’s, taboos and no no’s: Awkward zooms, sex scenes (always end up awkward), using same shot multiple times (unless its to emphasize something), close-ups of clocks most notable the alarm clock followed by its alarm going off, kung-foo fights, someone walking with staying alive playing, anything star wars related, using any jokes or characters from SNL skits, glancing at the camera, blue screening, using inside jokes that no one understands except you, cross dressing.

If you have any questions or feedback you can email me at dcomeau@backpacker.com