How I make my short films

Even if you don’t make short films or videos, I suggest you try this article. I can learn from your experiences, and maybe there’s something in my process that inspires you to incorporate it into your life of painting, baking, gardening, interior design, or whatever you are passionate about. I want to make a video about this topic one day, but let's talk about it in an email that is hopefully not so long.

How I pick my ideas: I don’t pick ideas. Ideas pick me. One of my favourite short films I made about an artist stuck in a creative block originated from a sentence, “Laws of Creativity”, that struck my mind while walking in my street. I refer to my last email/blog, where I shared that a healthy mind and body lead to visions and ideas. Just keep observing what’s around you and let it soak in. Get inspiration from the books, people, nature, and all the miracles floating around us.

Write: I keep a notebook on me at all times. I have lots of notebooks with thoughts, ideas and life lessons that I have learned. Develop a second brain and write down your ideas so they are not lost. Write as much as you want about the topic and rewrite it as many times as you want to make it a masterpiece.

Music: Let me put it out there: I know nothing about music. What I do know is what my spirit likes and where my soul floats when there’s music that hits me. Writing needs to be accompanied by visuals in your video. Good music, usually without any lyrics, leads me to these visions where the character of my short film appears to do things. I write all those visions down. I might not choose the same music in the final film, but the music that strikes those brain chords is worth listening to.  

Create a shot list: Based on inspiration, music, and visions, create a shot list. Don’t think about how you are going to implement your ideas or whether you have the technical know-how. Enjoy what comes to mind and write it down. The technical world has limitations, but not your mind.

Think of the best movies you have watched. They are all based on the inspiration of the writer, the visions of the cinematographer and the director, and then they made it possible by working hard and smart.

Implement: Within your means, shoot the video, bake the cup-cake, paint that painting, climb the mountain, build those muscles at the gym, write that software that you have been wanting to, design the layout of your garden and knit that sweater that you have been wanting to for a long time. 

There’s more to the list of how I shoot my films, and that’s a talk we will have in a video one day. I follow a process, and what I shared today is a bird' s-eye view. I love each bit of the workflow, and I am even happy to help you in a one-on-one session via a Zoom call if you are keen.

But for now, I leave you with my short film, The Three Inescapable Laws of Creativity, which I hope will inspire you.

Kind regards

Muji