I’m Nelson Aligwo. I am a writer and director. I self- published when I was 17 and decided to direct a short film at 23 called ‘Tomorrow’s Creatives’.The opportunity came as part of a 13-week course called NON LINEAR.
Part of the course included a response to a brief that was centred on ‘community’, which meant my crime flick idea was right out of the window. But it led me towards creating a short that felt more purposeful because I wanted to create something inspirational and relatable to different creatives who are going on a journey to pursue their dreams.
1. ‘Figure out the purpose’
Before you take the plunge into making a film, figure out why you are making it, as the purpose will inform most of your decisions and will help you carve out your plans and set goals.
You also need to figure out the purpose of the film’s content itself. What’s your message and what impact do you want it to have on the audience? Maybe you don’t want to lecture people, you might just want to thrill or entertain them. Either way it’s good to figure it out because it helps with ideation and the actual filmmaking process as well.
2. Plan and gather resources.
Once you have the idea, you need to plan out the production. Do you have a budget or a way to get some funding?
If you close your eyes and play the film in your head, anything you see (or hear) needs to be created, whether it’s real or an edit - so think about what you would need to make your vision happen.
At this point, you might find yourself making changes to your idea as I did. Usually, issues with location and actors would be potential threats; anywhere that is private would require permissions, so be prepared to seek alternatives.
Many locations that seem public are actually private too!
Think about how you’ll edit your film and the equipment you’ll need. Don’t underestimate a good phone camera too.
At this stage it is useful to look up resources and seek advice if that’s accessible to you. There are short courses available that give you access to support or even equipment, and some of these are free. As a participant in the NON LINEAR course, I was loaned a Sony FX9 camera and I even had access to quite a few locations for my film as well as support from experienced directors and editors.
3. Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate!
In ‘Tomorrow’s creatives’ I explored different creatives disciplines, including filmmaking and one thing about creating a film is that usually it’s a team effort.
It is important that I sought to collaborate with other talented creatives. Many of the industry speakers talked to us about it as one of the most important things.
To do this you have to be open and willing to collaborate. I was surprised by how willing so many people were to get involved, and even more surprised about finding collaborative opportunities through people I already knew, or their friends. I even found out that my hair stylist was an actress!
Obviously, be prepared in case your connection doesn’t pull through because it happens and whether you’re extroverted or not, try to figure out how to build rapport with potential collaborators. It usually involves providing some value to them in return, which doesn’t always have to be monetary.
4. Celebrate progress and learn from experience
As per Stanley Kubrick "the best education in film is to make one" and I couldn’t agree more!
I pursued law before switching to film and had no prior experience doing this. Even though the actual film was 90 seconds long, I learn a lot of technical skills, and even discovered new things about myself. When it came to editing for the very first time it felt like reading ancient Greek but by the time the film was finished, I had learnt so much.
At the end of the course, there was a screening, and I was able to get positive feedback on the film. It was great to see the result on the big screen even though I’ve already played the thing a million times during the editing process. I also got to play the film to different industry professionals and organisations during Prince Edward’s visit to the Wharf Studios which was great.
Overall, I had a great time on the NON LINEAR course and I’d encourage future filmmakers to take the plunge as it will expose you to important learning experiences and certainly support you in your path to creating bigger projects.
As for now, I hope to stay true to the last words in my film and run with my vision.
Watch Nelson's full film
Nelson Aligwo - Tomorrow's Creatives from A New Direction on Vimeo.