Hi Steem. I'm back! A week not posting anything for me it's like a decade without food! I have been busy with school works especially, Film production. I joined one of our school's film festival. I submitted synopsis for my story and luckily my entry was accepted. To any film projects, the production stage is the hardest part for every movies. So, I realized how about I'll share my experience while making my entry for the festival.

But first.. let us know first what is really filmmaking.

What is filmmaking?

Filmmaking (or, in an academic context, film production) is the process of making a film, generally in the sense of films intended for extensive theatrical exhibition.
(c) Wikipedia

Filmmaking is tough especially for us students. The budget, casting of actors, scouting of location, and many more. But that doesn't mean that you can't make one. It's a matter perseverance and trust to yourself. After my entry were accepted, we made a firm plan for our story and invite people who wants to join our production.

The first thing I focused on was story development. It's very important to decide what you want your audience to see. What is the message? What can they get from your film? After few meetings, we decided to make a serious genre with a twist of visual effects. I really love slice of life type of films. So, I came up with this kind of story.

Josh, a teenage outcast with an extraordinary and unexplained abilities. But in exchange, people are avoiding him or ignoring him causing him to drown with depression. This unwanted gift just making his life cursed. The consequence for his powers are loneliness. Causing him to be alone and wanting to be recognize even for a while. Vanessa, the girl that will break the curse and suddenly shows up in Red’s life. A guy who possess unexplained gifts finally meets the girl he was looking for. Is it really a curse or a blessing in disguise?

I tapped some of my classmates who are interested with the roles and Josh and Jeniva accepted the role. We proceed with the production stage and starting to film our scenes. At first it's very hard because I select the days for shoot carefully because the schedule of the actors. Actually, the both of them are working students. So, I really found it difficult but I still go forward and look for days that can be available.

A famous quote from one of my favorite director, Martin Scorsese

If you're intrigued by movie making as a career, so filmmaking isn't for you.

Of course, the directing role is the peak of every production. This is my first time directing a film and its like playing a chess game but this time with many opponents. Since they are my friends I can easily communicate and visualize to them my vision for the film. The protagonist of the story really needs to be emotional and should be isolated with his loneliness. But the both actors manage to visualize almost whole of my vision of the film.

The hardest part for me is the time. After the announcement of the festival that my entry was accepted, there were only 2 weeks left before submission. It was very hard with the schedule of the actors and my schedule also. I'm unable to attend some of my classes because of this. But I don't regret it, I love what I'm doing and this is really my passion. I love sharing my stories and hoping to touch the hearts of everyone.

We shoot day and night. It's really depressing sometimes if we have scenes that's dark because the camera won't operate. It will gain more grain for the video and the background ambience that we cannot fully control.

After the shoot and gathering all the clips we bring it to our post production phase, the editing part. Some shots were good and some also are really bad that even in post we can't edit it. A day like living in hell. The pressure because of the deadline. The computer that I used for editing is really slow due to outdated parts. Our sound designer can't join us instead he send his music through online and it cost time because my internet is slow. Very slow.

After condensing some clips and adding some subtitles. We managed to finish the film but our struggle doesn't end there. We still need to submit the film physically to our school. Even I didn't get enough sleep I still come to my school early in the morning. The traffic here sucks. By the way, here's the teaser of our film named, Kontra or a villain.

By Misfits Production

But after all those process the great reward that I've obtained was the experience and the solid teamwork from my group. Filmmaking was never easy for me since the time when I started to study filming. But for every storm that comes by, there will be beautiful morning awaits. Loving your craft always gives you the urge to do more and teaches you how to break your limit. The art of filmmaking also reminds me always about life. That's the reason why a moving pictures, can change your perspective in life.