Dr Chris Nunn shares his top tips for aspiring filmmakers
We've asked Dr Nunn to share his best advice for anyone looking to make a film.
From working on feature films to directing Screentest, the UK’s National Student Film Festival, Dr Chris Nunn has seen first-hand what it takes to be successful in the film industry. We’ve asked him to share the five things anyone looking to make a film should be doing:
- Observe. Films are, more often than not, stories drawn from real life and the world around us (even if dressed up into science fiction or fantasy). The Victorian art critic John Ruskin frequently said that painters were taught to look, not to see. As filmmakers, your role is to observe and immerse yourself in the social world, where the stories you eventually tell might be a way of interpreting what it is you’ve seen.
- Listen. Not only to those you are observing in the social world but to those around you, your friends, family, and peers when making a film. You need to be a sponge with a willingness, and desire, to absorb what you hear around you and decide how to creatively deal with that (be it an issue developing your film, or a problem that arises while making it).
- Communicate. Your collaborators on a film, whether documentary participants, actors, or fellow crew, are integral to the success of a project and you need to ensure clear channels of communication with them. Beyond the immediacy of making a film, there is also the need to clearly and concisely communicate your film ideas. Try a 60 second “elevator” pitch for your ideas and see how you get on!
- Network. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. The more you are able to put yourself out into the world and make connections, the more projects and opportunities will open up to you. My last two feature film projects have come that way, as quite often people will gravitate back to people they know they can work with.
- Be Passionate. It almost goes without saying but for the sake of another cliché, be passionate about what you are doing. As the saying goes it is easier not to make a film so if you’re going to do it, if you’re going to push that boulder up a mountain and work to ensure it doesn’t fall back down on you, then make sure it’s something you’re committed to doing. Collaborators will sense this, and it can quite easily make or break a project.