Course Description

How do you start from an idea and 1 you to 40+ crew members, and with more than 10,000 audience members and viewers of your short film?

If you aspire to make a short film that is not just going to be unseen, this course will reveal the steps, tips and tricks to making a professional short film that goes beyond the amateur film space and into the limelight of being seen.

Learn How to Create Your Short Story from Scratch, Avoid the Mistakes Made by Amateurs.

Learn through my very own directorial short debut sample The Painter (2013) on the extra steps and care that goes into creating a professional short production, as well as detailed production information you may need, to eventually work on bigger productions of your own.

Why This Course?

  • Taught by someone who used to be in your position, but has amassed 40 crew members out of nowhere, screened at multiple film festivals, all this, being just her first directorial debut short film
  • Step-by-step guide with actual production information and documents used
  • Detail insights and know-hows that would save you time and money when producing on a shoestring budget
  • Networking and open collaboration opportunities with instructor and students

Learn How to Become the Professional Short Filmmaker Everyone Wants to Work With.

You will Learn How:

  • To develop your own story idea
  • To plan for development and pre-production
  • Storyboards, budgeting and documentation come together
  • Find your cast and crew with little to no budget
  • Film insurances work
  • To shoot and wrap-up production
  • To plan for visual effects and sound in post-production
  • To plan for your short film release

Complete with additional resources, and a fun and engaging teaching style, students who complete the course will also be awarded with a bonus section - kind of like that bonus clip is you sit through the entire credits roll at the end of a film.

If you participate in this course, you will walk away becoming more enlightened and empowered with these new insights and knowledge on how to professionally produce your own short story idea in your head to the silver screen.

The best part of it all - this course is utterly and ridiculously FREE.

VFX Professional, Emmys 2014 Attendee, TEDx & SMPTE Speaker

Vicki Lau

Vicki started as a humble student of digital media back in the small city of Singapore with a background in visual effects and programming in film and television. Without any contacts or connections in the United States, she began her career at the age of 18 from Singapore, working her way up into the Hollywood film industry and landing her first break working on AMC's hit series, The Walking Dead (Season 4), as well as other movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the recent Alice Through the Looking Glass.Already recognized by her country and by major organizations as an expert in her field, Vicki has made great strides for someone her age, being in consistently high demand for jobs - averaging about 4 job offers and requests for interviews per freelance month(s) of availability (even prior to graduation), hitting a record number of 11 job offers per season of availability in the early summer of 2014, whilst her college peers are still struggling to find their first entry-level position in the field. At only 24 years of age, she was one of the youngest speakers and presenters at the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference in its time, where she was a panelist and speaker for virtual reality in motion pictures.She gave a TEDx talk on visual effects and virtual reality in May 2016 at Napa Valley, CA.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Your Story Idea and Development

    • Introduction

    • Who am I and Who are you?

    • Your Story Idea

    • Character Development

    • Outline and Treatment

    • Pre-Production Planning - Timeline

    • Pre-Production Planning - Crew, Cast, Locations and Other Resources
  • 2

    Pre-Production

    • What Makes Pre-Production

    • Script

    • Storyboards and Concept Art

    • Budgeting

    • Production and Shooting Schedules

    • Cast and Crew Contracts

    • Finding Cast and Crew

    • Finding Locations and Scouting

    • Production Design and Prop Prep Work

    • Temp and Rough Draft Visual Effects

    • Film Insurance
  • 3

    Production

    • Lights, Camera, Action!

    • Call Sheets and Shot Lists

    • Principal Photography

    • Wrapping Up Production

    • Pick-Up Shots
  • 4

    Post-Production

    • We'll Fix it in Post?

    • Continuity and Scripty Notes

    • Rough Cut with Temp VFX to Final Cut

    • Visual Effects Post-Production

    • Foley Sound and Sound Post-Production

    • Music Composition
  • 5

    Showcasing Your Short Film

    • It's Show Time!

    • Film Festivals

    • YouTube Release

    • Conclusion
  • 6

    BONUS

    • Networking

    • "How to Get a Job in Hollywood" - Udemy Promotion