The Future of film: how young filmmakers create their works

USC has a reputation for attracting talented artists across mediums. Notably, student filmmakers make up a large portion of the creative population at the University. Whether a feature-length piece or a short film, a work’s creation includes many components and the process almost never starts with simply picking up a camera.

“There is no better art form than film because there’s so many different aspects of it,” said Lexi Brandt, a sophomore majoring in writing for screen and television. “There’s sound, there’s lighting, there’s cinematography, there are so many different art forms in one.” 

With all these different pieces in the process, filmmakers need to decide where to start. Almost always, the process begins with a script. 

“I like to know what I’m making a film about, why I’m making it before I start writing the script,” said Cameron Kostopoulos, a senior majoring in film and television production. “I start very abstract, very big picture.”

Screenwriting can be a long process, with different creatives having different ideas of how to proceed. Given that all workers are students with busy schedules who are often volunteering their time, developing an idea and writing the script can be one of the most tedious parts of the process. Often, students may collaborate on a piece to combine time, effort and creativity.

“I love being a part of the world building level … I love collabing with other people, bouncing ideas off each other and just seems like a melting pot of creativity,” said Taylor Crawford, a senior majoring in cinema and media studies.

Writers, therefore, become the overall determining factor of whether a script can even move toward production, because, if a writer doesn’t like their own script, they aren’t going to pass it on to a producer. So to fill these positions, many creatives end up relying on clubs or personal connections. 

One creative team formed through personal connections is student film company 4085 Productions. Kaleb Manske, Alex Nimrod, Maximus Jenkins and Jordan Rice started this production company, and although they do write their own material, they will often outsource scripts to others in the field.

“Our next short film that we have coming out is going to be written by someone else. We particularly found someone that we wanted to write it. We had the idea, but we’re outsourcing the writing of the whole script, and that’s going to be done by someone else,” said sophomore Kaleb Manske, co-founder of 4085 productions.

While the writing or sourcing of a script is the first step in the production process, the film isn’t nearly done with what filmmakers refer to as the “preproduction” phase. 

“Preproduction is everything from starting with an idea to writing the script, to revising it, to finding the actors, finding the locations, finding the gear, rehearsals, everything until the cameras turn on,” said sophomore Maximus Jenkins, co-founder 4085 Productions.

But when it comes to gear, prices aren’t exactly student-budget friendly. Luckily, many students taking classes in SCA can borrow equipment. And, if they cannot get it from class, many students borrow it from other classmates or outside sources.

Along with figuring out equipment, students are tasked with creating sets to look just as realistic as any big budget production. “Set building” can be as complex as setting up a sound stage or shooting on location, but frequently with student budgets, it can be as simple as getting actors to embody the world of the film within the chosen filming location and moves around some chairs and tables. What traditionally means building a stage from the ground up can just be high quality set dressing for students.

With all the different steps in the filmmaking process, even for student films, there are many components to consider. Some of these aspects include the elements of lighting and sound. 

“Especially if you have an understated film … lighting and cinematography and all of that is very important to the way you tell a story,” Crawford said. “Movies are a visual practice. If it’s not fun looking, if it’s not visually pleasing, that’s really the whole point.”

Lighting and shadows can be changed using different kinds of angles and positions of light and can range from lighting already existing in a given space all the way to specific lights set up to get a certain shot. Many productions employ a Gaffer to help bounce light to get a visually pleasing picture.

Productions face complications throughout the whole process, from shooting to lighting issues, some occurring even during writing. 

“When there was a conflict, I had to learn, trust my gut,” Kostopoulos said. Like other student creatives, Kostopoulos has to work with his peers to solve an issue quickly so the production does not fall apart.  

Through the whole filmmaking process, the challenges and triumphs, artists are able to learn and grow to create future productions and change the industry — including the industry’s representation.

“I am a Black woman in film, and I would love to see more diverse stories about us,” Crawford said. “A lot of our Black film is traumatic, just because the history is, so it’s naturally going to be traumatic, which is fine and not fine at the same time. It’s okay, because it’s true, but no one wants to be beat over the head with oppression on TV when we can just go outside.”