Filmmakers Should Use Books.

Back in 2012 on my college course, we needed to make coursework books to show how we were developing the idea of our film.

I found that using books to make films was more than a great way to assess a college project. They allowed me to slow down my thoughts and develop a tone that I could store in a books for me to open up before any shoot/edit session for me to get back into again so that I was in the right head space.

Filmmakers Should Use Books

Things you can put in your book might include:

- Questions about your film.
- Questions about your character.
- Drawings of your location.
- Drawings of your characters.
- Drawings of an item in your film.
- A picture that inspires your idea.
- Pictures that make you feel the way you want your audience to feel.
- Pictures of potential cast.
- Drawings of scenes in your film.
- Thought stream of anything that comes into your head (best when you're already in the tone of your film).
- Key dialogue.
- Conversation between two of your characters.
- Colours.
- List of locations you like.
- Drawings of costumes for your characters.
- Poster ideas.
- Conversations you could have with your character.
- Pre-stories.
- Character motives/wants.
- Character profiles: beliefs, age, sexual orientation, hates, loves, goals, inspirations, fav. music, fav. film, fav. food, home town, family, friends, workplace... etc.

There is so much you can put in these books to help you develop your film project and I have only scratched the surface! So get creative and lose yourself in your film project. Just be sure to capture yourself in the book so that you can come back to your thought space in the future.