The clichéd image of a director sitting in a chair with their name on the back, calling instructions through a loud-hailer is probably the one that most of us imagine when we think about who has made the film we have just watched. The reality is that to bring a film from concept to cinema screen it can take either a vast number of film makers or a single individual with many talents.
In its simplest form, making a film can take just one individual. Student film makers are often those with the most determination and the smallest budget, meaning they must use solely their own talents and the minimum of equipment and technology to bring their film idea to fruition. In these circumstances the film maker must conceive an idea or story, write a script for any dialogue, design the visual scenes and shots for the film, find a location and source equipment, film the scenes including lighting, edit the footage and sound, then market the film to the intended audience.
Film-making as we understand it best is a massive industry dominated by the United States of America. It is known as a fickle business where both film makers and actors can be highly popular one year and struggle to work the next. The process of making a ‘Hollywood Blockbuster’ is massively complex and requires a huge budget. It is for this reason that script-writers often struggle to get their film made despite what may be an original and innovative concept.