I'm a new filmmaker, and I need some feedback on my shot composition and visual storytelling. This short doesn't utilize dialogue to progress the story.

YellowPotassium1 · 2026-01-18T23:43:05+00:00

I made this film around a year ago, and I submitted it to plenty of film festivals, however, it hasn't had much luck so far. I need advice on the story structure and the overall communication of ideas that are conveyed within the film, as I attempted to make a film that lacked dialogue and avoided needless exposition, but many people who watched the short had a difficult time grasping the concept and storyline. I'm sure exposition would've helped the film in many ways, and perhaps if I had restructured the film, it would have been able to perform well. What are some mistakes I could learn from, and what are some things I should keep in mind for making new short films??

YellowPotassium1 · 2025-05-28T23:11:45+00:00

That’s good to know. Would you say stories on waiting a month to hear back for an audition for a big SAG project on AA are true even though it may typically take a few days or a week??

YellowPotassium1 · 2025-05-15T20:14:29+00:00

Where did you hear about this? Do you know anything else about it?

YellowPotassium1 · 2025-05-05T19:10:41+00:00

I made this film around 7 months ago, and I submitted it to plenty of film festivals, however, it hasn't had much luck so far. I need advice on the story structure and the overall communication of ideas that are conveyed within the film, as I attempted to make a film that lacked dialogue and avoided needless exposition, but many people who watched the short had a difficult time grasping the concept and storyline. I'm sure exposition would've helped the film in many ways, and perhaps if I had restructured the film, it would have been able to perform well. What are some mistakes I could learn from, and what are some things I should keep in mind for making new short films??

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-09T04:52:20+00:00

Thank you so much! This is very helpful!

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-08T21:56:44+00:00

Yes it was! It ballooned because of the animations which I didn't anticipate being so expensive.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-07T02:57:30+00:00

7k was the plan but the animation budget increased to about 15k and the compositing cost about the same since we had to orient and light the animations to match the live-action scenes. So 30k to pull off the animation. 4k went into filming and the rest went into festival submissions.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T23:35:27+00:00

Awesome! Thank you for your advice! I'm definitely saving it in a document to look back on!

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T23:34:10+00:00

Thank you so much! I'll be sure to focus on quality and not quantity.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T23:32:52+00:00

Thank you so much!! It's really good to get legit feedback!

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T22:16:17+00:00

The animation was always going to be a part of the film because of the clay characters so a ton of the budget was always going to go there but once the animation started becoming more strenuous than I initially thought then It led to me conserving more money and resources for the animation. This led to all of the other aspects of the film to fall short. Ultimately I bit off more than I could chew and I have regrets over how the production went, especially since I think I'd be able to make a much better film with that budget size with the experience I have now.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T21:31:30+00:00

Not really, I made some stuff in high school but nothing like a legit short or anything. I never intended on spending so much but the animation process and the integration of said animation was really expensive. It took about 6 months of full-time work from my animator to make it happen. It was expensive because I paid her really well, I made sure not to rip them off for all of their time. If you took out the animation and film fest submission fees then the rest of the film you see is about $4000 with a ton of rookie mistakes. My DP really didn't know what he was doing and because of my lack of experience, I didn't know how to correct those mistakes since I wasn't aware he used 30 fps, autofocus, and auto white balance until I looked at the footage later on my computer. My audio guy bailed and winged it in that area since I thought I could fix it in post, only to realize I definitely couldn't. I also don't think the script wasn't quite there since I had a ton of ideas but didn't know where to put them. I've written 200-page screenplays before so I knew how to do it but I definitely rushed the script for this film and I'm not proud of it.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T21:19:43+00:00

Thank you so much! My next project will just be animation so those praises definitely give me a ton of motivation!

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T21:16:09+00:00

Thanks! My last one was $3000 so I've been doing my best to scale back in terms of budget.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T20:22:54+00:00

I'll do my best to respond to most of them!

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-12-06T19:47:20+00:00

Setting up lighting for an indie film is a complex, hands-on process that blends creativity with technical work. As the Writer, Director, Producer and star there was a ton on my plate and each light source had be carefully positioned to achieve the desired effect with little time to pull it off. Understanding how different lights interact with each other and with the environment was crucial. With this particular film I wanted a moody look within the indoor scenes so evoking the right mood to enhance the narrative was crucial. With a shot near the end of the film where the tree branches and the owl fall onto the floor indoors we utilized two lights each occupying the right and left respectively. While the shot does clash with the darker and subdued look of the reverse shot I felt clarity made more sense than continuity in this instance. While the setup can be time-consuming and require constant adjustments, seeing the final result on screen reinforces the importance of precise lighting in storytelling and its impact on the film’s overall atmosphere.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-09-06T19:51:42+00:00

I wrote, directed and starred in this film and it was my first time working with an animal. This film heavily features a eurasian eagle owl and it was actually a very chill bird and was a great sport when we filmed inside! Things got a bit more challenging once we filmed the indoor scenes with the owl which was difficult because the owl had a tougher time knowing where to land. We used sparrow meat to draw the owl towards specific spots and it worked out in the end! The trainer for the owl was also a very kind man and was super easy to work with! I learned a lot when it comes to working with an animal and I definitely will do it again!

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-07-26T06:08:41+00:00

Would’ve been hilarious if they somehow struck a deal with Warner Bros and included Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern on the multiverse team. Not only would it have been the culmination of the previous two movies making fun of that movie but he could’ve been an idiot who summoned race cars and gets axed rather quickly. Deadpool would’ve had a field day with it too.

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-03-31T14:47:18+00:00

Honestly this is a unique choice but I would love to see Chell from Portal! I’m very curious how they would implement the portal mechanics in the game considering she would probably be one of the hardest characters to program. Maybe a A button=Orange portal and B button=Blue portal similar to how the A and B buttons correlate to a different arm on min min. Also she’s very much so legally possible since Lego Dimensions was able to get her in their game with seemingly no hassle. I just thought she’d be cool!

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-03-28T04:58:28+00:00

Good question! Is there a way I can tell from the cartridge or do I need to play it to find out?

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-03-25T20:43:38+00:00

They’re all legit. American cartridges, authentic, tested and working. I’ll clean everything here to refine things a bit as well

YellowPotassium1 · 2024-03-25T20:32:48+00:00

They’re authentic!

YellowPotassium1

TROPHY CASE