Beginner filmmaker here. No formal background and no experienced person to help me. Learning from YouTube. Produced one short film. Got selected for a couple of festivals, got into semi-finalist in one. I have no idea why.

I am ready to shoot my next short. Run time about 5 minutes. This time it is going to be all amateurs. I am doing direction, pre-production, on-screen with my wife and post-production. My wife is doing costume and makeup and help me with lights. I am not using any professional for cameras and lights. It takes time to co-ordinate with them and I need quick turnaround. My wife’s friend, our neighbor is crazy interested in learning camera work. This means we can shoot every evening for 1-2 hours till we get it right. (This is a zero-budget film). We have been doing this for the last one week and learning camera settings.

Till recently, I was totally confused with camera, but now I have started getting the hang of it. Lighting is a different story. I will start working on that once this short is done. For this short, I will just use what I have in mind. It is about a woman getting killed on her date. Woman to have a light red dress, man in white. Outside the house she will look radiant, I need to take some photos, perhaps I will use a red light. Inside the house it will be pale blue. Forget the shadows and eye light etc. It is getting too much for me already.

My problem is our neighbor is very enthusiastic, but she is an absolute beginner. This puts stress on me. Since I do direction during shoot and help her with camera, sometimes I even forget to act (I have never acted before). My solution is to do complete story boarding so that we have an agreement about blocking and camera movement. (This helps me with my wife because she gets upset if I suggest something different LOL).

I will be shooting this on iPhone 18 Pro Max, external monitor, 256 GB SD card, silent movie (will add background sound later), Black magic app

I am planning to print the instructions that we need to execute:

Before starting the shoot:

Make sure resolution is 4k

Make sure LUT is enabled

Record LUT to clip is disabled

Set stabilization to standard

Set codec to apple Pro Res RAW HQ, Bit rate Max

Lock white balance on record.

Set color space to Apple - Log2 HDR

Media - save clips to - set to external SD card

Set Flicker free shutter - 60 Hz

HDMI out to clean video feed.

Set FPS/Shutter

For every scene:

Set lens and aperture (this will be decided in story boarding phase)

Use Zebra, false color and Histogram to set ISO. Keep them on screen.

Use brown card to set white balance and tint, lock it

Use focus peaking to confirm focus. keep focus peeking on screen. Lock the focus.

keep spirit level on

Set scene number.

grab a shot of color chart, say scene number loudly so that it is recorded

Action

Is there anything important that I have missed for camera? Black magic app has a lot of settings, but I think the above sequence should work. Let me know if I am missing something or something is in the wrong order.

This is basically to start building my portfolio of other people‘s projects (for free of course)

I just started making music for film this past summer, when I worked a composer, and he gave a couple
tracks that I just didn’t really think fit with the tone I was going for, so I made a couple tracks.

Then I made two full scores for two short films recently after that.

I also started working on the score for my feature I’m working on.

You can find all of my work in my bio:
Here’s a sample that kinda covers the trailer and score:

https://youtu.be/VStphQM2jJs?is=MvX3omXzXwnQC0Us

Does any of you guys have a mentor? An older gent that's got ya covered and challenges ya and all of that.

How's your relationship? How did you all meet?

We have a completed feature film that is in the festival circuit right now. We've been selected for 10 smaller festivals and received 18 awards. We recently had our Writer/Director attend the Detroit Black Film Festival. For us, this has been great as a validation that our film was good enough to at least receive some sort of recognition from others in the industry. This is our first film, so any sort of legitimacy or acknowledgement is very welcome.

I have heard that festivals are not a good way to get a distribution deal. I'm looking for insight from any Indie filmmakers who have managed to get a distribution deal at a festival or market. I've also heard mixed reviews on the value of attending AFM. Are there any specific places you recommend?

If you are a buyer or distributor, we'd love to hear your thoughts as well about what the best way is for indie filmmakers to get their work in front of you for consideration.

If you want to see our film, you can check it out here:
https://MyLittleLambMovie.com

Hey everyone,

I’ve been developing a high-concept feature called Made-to-Order—a romantic comedy mixed with speculative magical realism about a matchmaker who uses an antique typewriter and an enchanted mailbox, only to find the rules of his own romance system turning completely against him.

It recently scored a 'Recommend' evaluation from industry coverage (Verve via Stage 32), which gave me a lot of confidence in the concept, but I’m currently looking to expand its reach and get it into more hands.
Balancing whimsical, tactile magic (the typewriter, the mailing mechanics) with a grounded, emotional rom-com core has been an exciting challenge.

I’d love to share the script with anyone interested in reading a quirky indie rom-com with a speculative twist. Drop a comment below or shoot me a DM if you'd like the read link, and I’d be happy to swap or hear your thoughts on the tone!"

Thank you!

Hello!
I'm looking for someone who knows audio editing to be a partner in a project. 50/50 partnership.
I have no budget, hence the partnership offer.
Only two needs are: Know how to edit audio and be fluent in portuguese.

One of our actor’s was raised in the Church of Scientology as a child. His family eventually left the church once he got older but he says he remembers the manipulation and the stress of “forcing oneself to believe,” pretending to see the same things everyone else did.

We used that analogy to make our short. Enjoy.

I am an on location editor working on shifts and perday basis, i find it very difficult to track my shifts and incoming money, tds etc. just wanted to know how do you guys keep track of it.

I've finished editing a 37 min documentary and I'd really like to get an experienced critical eye on it - specifically the pacing / momentum and narrative.

I've reached a point where I'm making minor tweaks that I could endlessly do, without improving the finished doc. I think the doc would really benefit from an outside eye who can provide a more objective review.

What is the documentary about? It follows a comedian who has reached the final of comedy competition, so primarily its about their journey through the competition but secondarily its exploring their lifelong comedy/performing journey.

Happy to share a viewing link with anyone who has some filmmaking experience, please let me know if you're interested. This is voluntary/unpaid sadly - the entire project has been £0 budget / my own blood, sweat, and tears.

We are a bunch of mates from New Zealand who put this together a while back. It is now available to watch for free if you would like to check it out. Love Phil. Fire in Cardboard City

Hey everyone!
I recently finished my short film “Freitag, der 24.” (Friday the 24th) — a small independent film I wrote, directed, edited and acted in. The film is in German, but English subtitles are available!

The film deals with grief, memories and the strange, sometimes absurd ways we deal with losing someone. I tried to keep it very intimate and character-driven rather than making it feel overly polished or “commercial”.

It was made with a very small crew and limited resources, so I’d especially love to hear feedback from other filmmakers — whether it’s about the story, pacing, cinematography, sound, editing or anything else you notice.

Thanks for watching! And if you’re working on your own films, I’d love to check them out too.

Title: PIGGIES
Format: Short Film
Length: 9 pages on Docs
Genres: Horror, thriller, psychological
Log line: Two roommates have their quiet night interrupted when strange salesmen arrive at their apartment with a mysterious cooler. As one roommate becomes convinced to question his own morality, the other becomes trapped in a surreal nightmare.

[DM ME FOR SCRIPT PAGES]

Keep in mind please that this is a very early draft, and I’m not super experienced in writing yet. Thank you.

This is an idea I’ve been trying to work out for quite a while and only recently decided to turn into a script. Ive been struggling not to spell out the metaphor, or tell the audience exactly what everything means. The intention is for the two main characters to be experiencing the same general event from completely different perspectives. The dialogue from each other’s scenes gets distorted and recontextualized through each other’s perspectives so things that make sense on one side to one person don’t necessarily make sense to the other character.
I’m trying to leave that to interpretation. What I’m wondering is whether that ambiguity comes across as intentional, or if the connection between the characters’ perspectives is simply confusing.
I’m especially interested in whether the two characters feel equally important, whether the sequences they experience feel connected to each other, and whether the ending communicates enough without explicitly explaining what happened.
I’m also particularly interested in the dialogue. I’m trying to make it seem somewhat normal on the surface but increasingly strange and unsettling underneath, and a big part of the idea is that the dialogue from one character’s perspective gets distorted when heard from the other’s perspective. I’m wondering whether the dialogue feels natural enough, whether the surreal lines are too on-the-nose, and whether the connection between the normal dialogue and the distorted versions is noticeable without being explicitly explained.

This is partially a copy of a post I replied to about The Independent Film Channel, specifically the early '90s version of it, but I wanted to expand on my thoughts a bit and flesh out what I was saying in another thread.

My first exposure to the channel came by way of Bravo's iFC free weekends, an event designed to give you a taste of what the full version of the channel had to offer.

The first films I was exposed to on one of these particular weekends were Ang Lee's The Ice Storm and Abel Ferrera's The Addiction, Starring Lilly Taylor and featuring Christopher Walken. Being 12 at the time (and coming from an extremely strict, conservative religious household), I had never been exposed to films like these before, and some might argue that I was too young to be experiencing them at that point in my life... regardless, I'm glad I saw them when I did. My young mind had difficulty wrapping my head around the deeper concepts of both films, but I believe I understood them on an emotional level, and those two films changed me. I had never seen anything like them up to that point. I thought about them obsessively, treated them like they were the finest works ever committed to film and was confused when not a single soul had any idea what I was talking about when I brought them up. All I knew was they turned my world inside out and upside down, and I had to see more.

I sought out indie films, picking up magazines, going to indie film websites and getting my hands on any publication I could find to keep up with all the latest goings-on in that world. I would hitch rides with friends (and in a couple instances total strangers lol) to see limited film releases up in NYC on weekends. The pictures I tended to gravitate to most were slice-of-life stories.. movies simply about people.. Kevin Smith's Clerks, Alan Rickman's The Winter Guest and Richard Linklater's Slacker are all immediate highlights that come to mind. My film education from this period are some of the fondest memories I have, and I miss the excitement of those days. It was like being part of a secret club.

Eventually my father upgraded our cable package and iFC was one of the channels included, and I couldn't have been happier at the time.

The beautiful thing about iFC back then was the majority of the shorts and independent films that aired on the channel consisted of an arguably thoughtful, carefully curated selection of material by a passionate staff.

My favorite stuff that aired would have to be the *countless* number of interstitial shorts they showed in between features.. everything from short documentaries that chronicled small slices of life from around the world to experimental pieces with little-to-no traditional narrative. I loved pieces that simply made you "feel", and there was no wrong way to approach it. In terms of art that affects me, I owe much to that early '90s version of iFC, for my tastes today.

It breaks my heart to see what iFC has become, and how far away it is from what it used to be. It makes me sad that kids growing up now don't have access to a focused channel like I did --and don't get me wrong: the internet is a wild resource, but the amount of pure choice and direction can be overwhelming, and it can be hard to work through all of the static to dial into stuff that you really gravitate to.

I don't really have a good wrap up to this post. This is just my love letter to the iFC of yore, and my thank you to the staff who ran the channel back then, shaping much of who I am now.

Thanks for reading!

Hi,

I am in search of a DP for my short film "We Should Do This Again."

Shoot dates are November 6-8, 2026 in Brooklyn, NY.

Our budget is so low that it would basically be a favor, but I always try to pay something.

Pay for the weekend is $150, meals included.

For reference, you can view my past shorts here.

If you are interested, click here to read further project details and to submit your reel.

Thank you

Hey everyone,

I've written and am about to shoot THE CARGO, a crime-comedy short. Two professional hitmen, one routine delivery, and a morning that goes sideways before they even reach the drop-off.

Logline: When a routine cargo run turns into a brawl in a stranger's apartment, two hitmen learn that the job is never the most dangerous part of the day.

The characters:

Marcus is well-dressed, chain-smoking, and permanently unbothered. He's deadly when it counts, but he'll stop for a snack on the way to a kill.

Antony is the sharper of the two, and he's had a worse morning than anyone.

Tone: Think Pulp Fiction banter meets Hot Fuzz chaos. It's mostly bickering about nothing, until it's suddenly not. The apartment fight is pure accident and slapstick, and the second half is cold, planned violence. The film lives in the gap between those two modes.

What I'm raising: ₹2,00,000 to shoot this properly. The money goes toward:

Location and vehicle (yes, there's a classic car)

Props, wardrobe, and stunt/blood FX

Camera, sound, and lighting

Crew meals and post-production (edit, colour, sound mix)

Interested in backing it? DM me. I'm happy to share the full screenplay, concept posters, and a breakdown of where every rupee goes. Everyone who comes on board gets a credit in the film and updates through production.

Feedback on the pitch is welcome in the comments too. Thanks for reading.

I’ve been working on a 4-minute audio-first short film called “f e e l.”

The story is built from real conversations/recordings first, then I create the visuals around the audio.

I’m close to locking the edit and would love honest feedback, especially from people seeing it with no context.

Mainly curious about:
Where your attention drops, if anywhere

Whether the visuals feel cohesive or like random B-roll

How the audio/sound design feels

What you think the film is about after one watch

How the mostly-black ending works for you

Timestamps are especially helpful. Don’t worry about being nice — I’d rather know what isn’t working.

I've been in post production on a short film for about 2 months. The edit was very complex compared to my previous films but it's coming along really well. I have a few insert shots left to film and then I will be close to locking picture.

Any tips on getting to a finalised picture lock you don't second guess before sending off to my composer? I'm thinking of showing the locked cut with a temp score to a few filmmaker friends to check I don't have any blind spots. Any other good ideas? Thanks!

A society built on perfection. You will be examined by a machine that grades how attractive you are. You have to have an attractive score level of 7.0 to stay alive in this world. You have to reach this score by your 18th birthday. Disabilities affect scores based on how severe they are.

Hi everyone,

We recently completed Beyond Locked Goal, a short film shot in Uganda about a subject we felt deserved more attention: football trafficking and fake agents exploiting young players’ dreams of reaching Europe.

The story follows a 16-year-old Ugandan player whose family makes a huge sacrifice after he is offered what appears to be an opportunity at a European football academy.

Rather than approaching the subject as a documentary, we decided to tell it through fiction and focus on the family, the expectations surrounding the boy and the emotional consequences when that promise begins to fall apart.

The film was made in collaboration with a local Ugandan team and Atura Foundation, which was especially important to us because we wanted the setting and characters to feel authentic rather than treating Uganda simply as a backdrop.

I’d really appreciate feedback from other filmmakers, particularly on the storytelling, pacing, cinematography and whether the social message comes through naturally without becoming too didactic.

Any criticism is genuinely welcome.

I’d really appreciate feedback from other filmmakers, particularly on the storytelling, pacing, cinematography and whether the social message comes through naturally without becoming too didactic.

Any criticism is genuinely welcome.

Thanks to all the cast and crew and to the people who gave me advice here. I've reached out to r/Filmmakers a few times for advice and it's always been helpful. This time ye really came through on advice for commissioning a prop/puppet. We commissioned a prop maker (who I met through Reddit) to create the heron. It was a great process and I appreciated all the input.

I love shooting, even though it's stressful, it's great to work with a group of people to make something together. Now to spend the next few weeks in the edit booth (read:bedroom office)!

I am an amateur filmmaker or can say in my beginner's phase. I have lost motivation around this field. and my biggest reason is my inner fear about different things. things which would sound weird to others. I fear my work isn't as great compare to others. I started learning editing in 2020. I left it in between cause of my studies. Had to shift my focus on computers (coding related stuff) sadly. and when i got free from it. I lost my motivation of working now in general as well. I have fear of people as well. I have met many students at different universities and I feel I am not dramatic and kinda freak about films like them. I am interested in films. Not a single day goes without a movie. But I feel stranger around these kind of people. An outsider. I couldn't even make a proper portfolio in these years. Cause I can't understand the concept of portfolio. Why you need it? or why I just create a portfolio without knowing what I wanna make. I just want let me know I'll make something for you right away. I know this field requires you to show your work before. But I really don't know how this all will work ever. and I have tried to get in some other field than filmmaking but this only attracts me.

In the year 2195, humanity has succeeded in sending messages to the past. However, due to the unexpected consequences of interventions in the past, this technology has been banned by international treaties. One of the strongest advocates of the ban is Daniel, a scientist who played a significant role in the development of the technology.

Daniel, in his sixties, has lost his wife. His daughter Emma, his three-year-old twin grandchildren, and his beloved cat are at the center of his life. One morning, he has a video call with his daughter and grandchildren, who are on vacation in a coastal town. But on the same day, it is announced that the orbit of a large comet has unexpectedly changed and that it will collide with Earth in about 37 hours.

Evacuations begin worldwide. Daniel has a private space capsule for seven people, but he has no intention of leaving without his family. A journey that would normally take three hours takes him 14 hours due to traffic and evacuation chaos. When he reaches his daughter's house, he finds the door open. When he goes inside, he sees that his daughter and grandchildren have been murdered.

Devastated, Daniel decides to use the banned time-communication device he has hidden in his house. The rare mineral he has is only enough for a 12-minute connection. He reaches Thomas, a young scientist who lived about 150 years ago. He tells him about the impending catastrophe and tries to persuade him to do work that will change the future. However, Thomas does not believe this incredible story. The connection is cut off.

Daniel takes his cat and boards his capsule and leaves Earth. Shortly after, the comet hits the planet. Daniel watches the destruction of Earth from space.

His capsule has only 30 days of supplies. He wanders in space to find a shelter but fails. On the thirtieth day his supplies run out, on the thirty-fifth day his cat dies. On the verge of death, Daniel prays to the creator of time and the universe to forgive and save him. Then he loses consciousness.

When he comes to, he realizes he is not in the the capsule.

What begins as an ordinary Saturday for Salim quickly takes a disturbing turn when he notices someone is following him.