Which Is Most Important?

There are many different elements within creating any film but finding out which are the most important can be difficult, especially for someone who has never made a short film before. A few of the processes that I will have to go through to make a short film are:

• Script writing - A screenwriter or scriptwriter is a writer who practices the craft of writing screenplays on which mass media such as films, television programs, comics or video games are based upon. This is the foundation of any film and without it there would be no idea to create a film to start with. The script usually includes stage directions, character lines and queues for lighting or for another actor to perform an action.


• Producing - Film producers prepare and then supervise the making of a film before presenting the product to a financing entity or a film distributor. These people or person help get the film MADE, making sure all jobs are done to create said movie. Without them the movie itself, although having the ideas there, would never get made.


• Directing - A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors to create that vision. Each director has a different opinion on how a character or scene is produced and each have the own style, making each movie unique. Some film studios employ specific film directors for their certain use of camera work.


• Cinematography - The word itself defines as 'the art of making motion pictures'. Cinematography itself is the technique of film photography, including both the shooting and development of the film. The cinematographer could also be referred to as the film director's main visual collaborator.


• Sound - Sound is used within films to portray emotions, to enhance sounds, to create distortion. Originally, when movies where shown on film reels separate music had to be played over the top, which limited the techniques that could have been used. Now everything is converted to digital and no longer analog, everything, from music to filming, can all be placed under one file. Without sound we wouldn't hear the actors, listen to the music or acknowledge the ambient sounds. Anything that makes a sound within a movie, from foot steps to drinking water, has to be dubbed over with another for a prime film.


• On its most fundamental level, film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a coherent sequence. Originally, film had to be 'spliced' if a scene wanted to be removed or joined onto another. Now editors use a mass of applications to edit scenes together, such as FinalCut Pro, Adobe or Avid.