The beginner’s mistake is to only figure out what film you’re making when you get to the edit.
A film is primarily made at two points: at the end when you’re editing everything together, and at the beginning when you’re imagining and planning it.
The good news is that even if your production was a mess, good editing can do wonders to rescue a project and produce a good film. (For an example, watch this great film about how Star Wars was saved in the edit.)
But, if you can do a good job imagining what you want your film to be before you start, then not only your edit, but your whole production process, will be easier.
This ability to imagine the film in advance is — to my mind — one the main things that marks out experienced filmmakers from beginners. Beginners just start filming and then hope to figure it out at the end, while experienced filmmakers have a strong vision for the film before they start.
But isn’t this making up the story?
For new journalists, this approach can seem crazy. The soul of journalism is about finding out new things. This approach can feel like deciding what the story is in advance.
I love this scene from Out On The Wire by Jessica Abel, where a young Ira Glass puts this point to his boss.
The point is that planning doesn’t mean you have to push the facts to fit your narrative.
Instead, good planning makes you think hard about the project, and helps you spot gaps and issues that might otherwise only become apparent later when it’s too late. On tight schedules this is vital.
Also, a good plan is a backup. If a better idea comes along, you can always ditch the plan and go with the new option.
Four ways to improve your ability to imagine the film in advance
Your ability to imagine the film in advance will improve as you make more films, but there are things you can do to speed up this process.
- Editing — I think the number one way to improve your understanding of how a film is made (and, thus, what parts you need) is spending time in the edit — either editing yourself or watching other editors in action.
- Scripting — Before you start filming, try and write out a script. How will you start and end the film? What are your ideal interview clips? (I talk more about this process in this guide to interviewing.)
- Deconstructing films — Rewatch good films and work out how you would make them. You can also go a step further and make gifs of elements you like and then collect them together in an inspiration bible (read more on this process here).
- Compare films on similar topics — If you search YouTube for topics like gerrymandering, vaccines or the question (for some reason a very popular topic) “How deep can we dig? you will see they’ve been covered multiple times. By comparing these approaches you can gain insight into what works best.