Useful resources for making a movie

Whether you’re a student making a documentary for an assessment or a budding filmmaker developing your skills, the following links will assist you in the process of filmmaking – from pre to post production and everything in between.

Getting Started

• ACMI Storyboard Generator
• Storyboard That
• How to Format a Screenplay in less than 5 minutes
• Oscars: Screenplay Format
• How-to-break-down-and-schedule-your-no-budget-movie
• Planning a shoot

Post Production

Sound Effects & Music

• Be sure to read the section on Music in the How to Make a Movie resource– it contains vital information about creating or finding music that is available to be used in your film.
• Download free sound effects and music from ABC’s RAWR site
• Download copyright-free video, images and sounds from ACMI’s Generator
• Incompetech
• Free Music Archive
• Archive.org is a good source of public domain music
• Google audio library
• Social Times will help you find some of the other sites providing free music: 10 Don’ts of Recording Sound for Film
• OpenSea – licensing independent Australian/NZ music with all sync rights cleared across a range of media including film and TV.

Editing

• Before you begin editing – advice on both hardware and software
• How to edit movies
• In-camera editing tips
• After investigating the editing software on your computer, get other software app ideas from http://www.kftv.com/guides/2014/04/02/top-ten-editing-apps

Extras

• Starting in the industry
• Tips and tricks for making films
• How to make a short film (video)
• Brett Lamb, a media educator from Melbourne, has put together one of the clearest but most comprehensive sites for students who want to make films – from finding ideas to designing a title sequence. Brett has a guide and great links for every category listed below. It’s a one-stop-shop for the emerging filmmaker: http://lessonbucket.com/
• Raindance is an independent global film festival and film school. The website is a goldmine, with hundreds of great articles about the art and craft of filmmaking – including practical tips for filmmakers and blogs and articles that inspire and advise – like these:
• Getting married to film or 24 of the most brilliant filmmakers give expert advice on filmmaking
• The 7 mistakes rookie screenwriters make
• Getting started
• 13 Steps of Post Production

And, for further Inspiration

• Watch short interviews with 14 Australian crew members – learn how they got into the industry, what they do day-to-day on set and how they find work, on the Making Movies resource.
• Read about and watch the work of brilliant film professionals – from directors to visual FX artists, composers to set designers http://thecredits.org/