"Come up" and come on down!

So writing my second review of the short films that I saw at the IFFCA film festival. I thought today I'd write about the topic, what if you're trying to do your own short film? Well, there's some things to consider first. Like knowing what is the best scenario and story to do for your film. I can imagine it's got to be a tricky thing for most writers/directors/producers, picking that one story. And a short one has to pack the punch of a feature, but quicker. For me, seeing what worked at the festival inspired me to want to do my own for sure.

Now I would say that there was no genre that was better over others, but what really mattered was if there was a story or not. There were a few short films, that I won't mention, that didn't really fit that bill and I felt suffered because of it. But the rest were great at being mini movies. So if you have yet to do your own short film and you're looking to try your hand at one, be sure you include the beginning, middle and end, with the goal and obstacles, just like any feature. And if you can, throw in a twist.

One of the short films that I felt did a great job at this was called "Come Up" directed by Christopher Boyd. It was a funny story based on an action film that happens on the set of an action film. A lot of the humor in this piece faired best with people in the industry, as you could hear them laugh the loudest during the film. Inside jokes, for sure, but that didn't mean people who hadn't worked on a set couldn't get enjoyment out of it. But I have heard from industry producers that movies about the biz don't do well outside of the group that makes them because regular movie-going folks just don't care or get the story as well. I think as far as doing a piece for a short film festival, doing a movie about the industry is perfect though. Because who else is probably going to see most of these festivals, but your movie biz peers? 

The people who created this film talked about how they figured this story out while on the set, which is another way to get your story ideas for shorts or any story you're writing. Write what you know, you know? Because when you do, the audience can tell and that comes across as a solid piece of film. 

IFFCA short film festival

So this writer actually got out of the house and stopped writing long enough to see a night of short films at the 2nd IFFCA short film festival. I'd recently become "online" screenwriting friends with a director, Amir Masud from Stage 32 connections. His friend was the creator of the IFFCA film festival and Amir was nice enough to invite me. It was held at the quaint ACME theater on La Brea. Being that that was my old neighborhood post-college for many years, I was more than thrilled to head back for a night on the town. I dragged along my talented ex writing partner, Andy Glickman, and he too was pleasantly surprised at the films we saw. I guess surprised might be the wrong word, because that connotes we didn't expect good films. But the thing is, you just never know what you'll see at a film festival. But this one had some really nice pieces. From humor, to horror, to sci-fi, to drama, to documentaries.

We made it to the last night of the film festival and since they were all really well done, I'm sorry now that I didn't make it to more. Amir swears I'll be invited every year and I'm hoping he sticks to that.

I think I owe it to each filmmaker to give a new post about each film, so tonight I'll post about one that I actually saw the next day, today. See, someone else I met from a film group on linkedin, William Hellmuth, got one of his short films into Thursday night's showings. When I saw his name on the festival lists I had to email him and say hey, maybe I'll see you there. But turned out we didn't get to go on the same nights.

William was nice enough to send "Attic" to me to watch after the festival was over. "Attic", a horror short about a young girl who hears noises in, yes, you guessed it, her attic. I don't want to give it away because you should watch it for yourself. But I will post the link in here so you can decide on your own what you think. But I'll give you my opinion, and let's just say, I was scared! I felt he had the right paces and tension to keep me wondering what was just around the corner and on the edge of my seat. I have since watched another short of his and I think he does a great job with casting and imagery to be a director I look forward to working with in the future. We've talked about it, but we haven't quite found the right project. Someday! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkeo4gtzPmA&feature=youtu.be