About Home Movie Making

What is Home Movie Making?

Home movie making is an enjoyable and rewarding hobby. It involves coming up with a movie concept, whether it's an original one, a parody of an existing one, or a fan job based on a story or concept you like, and making a personal movie from that concept.

Why even do it in the first place?

There are a lot of different reasons why people get into making home movies. For some, it's just a means to pass the time and a great way to make new friends. Others, like fans of a certain game, book, or cartoon, make a movie set in the fictional universe that they admire. Still others are aspiring movie actors and film directors who want to get an early start into their careers by making amateur videos for practice. Whatever the reason, home movie making has blossomed into a small niche of talented and dedicated people.

How can I get started in Home Movie Making?

Well, first you need to have a movie idea in mind. Think about a theme you'd like, whether you want to make a horror movie, fantasy, science fiction, situational comedy, etc. Once you've got a basic genre picked out, it gets a bit harder - you need to come up with a good plot, which forms the core of the story. Then naturally, you have to flesh out the story by picking characters for the story as well as getting into the actual sequence of events you want to happen in the story, from the beginning to the climax. Then you have to divide the story into scenes, and write dialogue for each scene. Oh and yeah, don't forget to do little concept sketches drawn like comics, for each scene so you can also determine camera angles. It's a lot of work, but really fun once you get immersed into it.

What follows after making a plot and story?

Lastly, you need to consider two things: equipment and your cast. As far as the cast goes, you can either badger your friends into helping you or check out local amateur acting guilds for potential recruits. As for the equipment, you'll need a video camcorder, naturally, but you should also take into consideration any video and audio editing equipment you may have lying around for use. Then you've got to do a quick tally of the costumes and props you'll likely be needing. Once you've got everything together, don't fuss too much over the details - just go out, shoot the movie, and have fun!