Having a good creative idea for a project is easy: you just need talent, work, and a little luck. However, to know how to finance a short or another of your longer ideas, a much greater effort is required. If you are looking to produce creative material you need to understand all the basic processes that will make your piece possible. Not only at a basic level, but also more indepth so that everything reaches the highest possible quality.
Whether you want to know how to make a movie, how to make a music album, or any other creative project, you must lay an economic foundation that will ensure all development. You will not only be able to finance your idea by looking for grants, loans or interested producers. You also have to keep in mind that fundraising through crowdfunding has always been essential for this type of project.
What do you need to know to finance your film?
Knowing all the details about how to make a movie is somewhat more complex than what we can explain to you in an article. But, broadly speaking, there are several things you need to know.
Think of a good story
The creative idea of your film will be the basis that sustains the entire project. Its coherence will determine in part the execution and will give meaning to the whole project. You have to think of a good story and a smart way to tell it. Stories have the power to reach people, so work hard in that first phase of conceptualisation and storytelling at the draft level.
Get a camera
Nowadays you can even make good advertising campaigns by recording only with a smartphone. Technology has improved its cameras to levels we would never imagine. And it is that, although a good camera guarantees quality in production, the main thing is the idea. But if you need a quality result, make sure you have a good camera. The content will reach a much higher quality.
Start preparing everything
Once you have a clear idea, all creative processes follow the same development phases. It doesn’t matter if you want to know how to make a movie or show, or to burn a music disc. It does not matter if it is a documentary, a short, or a feature film. The phases are going to be exactly the same: pre-production, production, and post-production. Let’s see what you need to know roughly about these three processes.
Pre-Production Phase
Once you have your story in mind and a camera, it’s time to start the first phase: pre-production. This is where you are going to lay the groundwork and figure out how to finance a movie. Or, at least, of how important it is to get ahead so that the economic blow does not make a dent in your project in later phases. It begins to close the first details to be able to have a breakdown of expenses.
You should think about the locations where you want to shoot the scenes; create a technical script to organise all the elements that your video will include, with a complete and well-detailed description; and write the dialogue, action, and graphics. Follow the process with creating the treatment: how are you going to produce the video? The format, continuity, or design of the product are essential in this first phase. If you already have the concept of your story, thinking about the concept for your video will come much easier and more spontaneously.
Production Phase
Now comes the production phase, which is where you have to do all the deployment of equipment and go from paper to action. To keep evolving in the process, think about all the necessary preparations. The staff or production personnel is the one in charge of preparing the technical equipment. But, in a small budget project, it is very interesting to summon all the possible friends you have who may be interested. Either because they want to get involved in a creative process like this, or simply because they want to help you.
Now the details begin with the lighting, the live audio (which is recorded at the same time as the image), and the makeup of your actors (if you have them). Then comes the moment of recording, which must follow the image guidelines that you have had to think and create previously in your visual storytelling. It is usually prepared by drawing shot by shot in the form of vignettes to give a visual thread to the story. But you can also have it written and at the time of filming, adjust the frames and scenes as you like the most.
Post-Production Phase
The post-production phase is the last of all, and it is where all the previous materials come together and where you start to see the final result. Here you must combine all of the above and prepare to edit the video with each scene. First, the producer (if it is you, you will have to do it yourself) will select which takes of all the ones he has recorded will serve him.
Let’s see then how to get money to finance your film
It is no secret that crowdfunding has been used for many years to finance creative projects. Movies, advertising campaigns or records. Whatever it is. As a personal project, as a request in your company or even as a student project. But fundraising isn’t the only way to pay for it. In our case, to know how to make a movie, we must assume that the economic hit will be high and that we surely need more than one source of income. Let’s see what possibilities we have.
Soft money or public aid
This is the money that you can get through public competitions launched by different organisations, such as the Ministry of Culture. In Spain, for example, we have the Institute of cinematography and audiovisual arts Ministry that manages subsidies for the audiovisual industry. If you are thinking about how to make a movie, do not hesitate to take this option into account.
Hard money or private investment
There are producers or companies with the interest of producing a film. The private investor, after allocating the production expense, deducts a percentage of the amount invested. People with a great capacity for economic manoeuvre, mostly businessmen, who participate to deduct taxes later.
Co-production
Co-production is when different production companies come together to assume the economic cost of making a film. They could also take care of organisation and production together. In the case of partnering with a production company from another country, you would surely receive tax benefits there.
In the event that you want to make, for example, a documentary to help a specific community, be clear about the purpose of your cause. If the objective of your film is that the profits go to a charity project, you have many more ballots to achieve success in your campaign.
Muhammad Saad is a professional guest blogger. He works as a guest blogger at Exytex software house and loves to write articles on valuable topics.
