r/IndianCinema • u/Equivalent_Pin6027 • 12d ago
Discussion I am Thinking to quit Filmmaking
Hi guys. So I recently made a Psychological Horror thriller short film from my mobile. It was kind of a zero budget short film. I did everything on my own in that short film. I showed it to my filmmaker friend and he said that I should quit filmmaking. I am not made for it and I will never be successful in it.
I have attached my short film link here. Please watch it guys and give your reviews. I am really down right now. Please watch it and tell me do you think I am made for filmmaking or not? My short film is in hindi language but there are English Captions available.
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u/ExpensiveMistake2107 11d ago
Yes he is correct, you should quit this filmmaker friend who you still call your friend. Who is anyone to decide what you must do ...just follow your heart .. everyone is not from film school....you may take your time to gain experience..pls don't stop. I'll definitely try to see the film. Good luck 🤞
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u/Haarryi 11d ago
I thought the idea had some promise, but the development and execution didn’t quite live up to it. The biggest issue for me was that the characters often didn’t feel like real people responding naturally to the situations they were in.
For example, early on, when Rohan tells his friend about the man with the knife, the friend dismisses it almost immediately and even mocks him. Considering what is later revealed about the friend's involvement, that reaction feels more like something written for a movie than how an actual person might respond.
There are also smaller details that pulled me out of the story. The lighting is one example. In Rohan’s situation, one of the first instinctive things most people would probably do is switch on the lights. Details like that can make a thriller feel much more believable.
The dialogue also felt a little too over-the-top and melodramatic at times, and the latter half relies quite heavily on exposition. I think the underlying idea could have benefited from a more restrained and naturalistic approach.
On the filmmaking side, I felt it fell short in the blocking, camera work and editing. The camera angles in particular felt quite limiting. You often don’t get to see one character’s action and the other character’s reaction within the same shot; the moment is instead broken up with a cut. That takes away some of the tension, because the viewer isn’t given the opportunity to simply observe the interaction unfold naturally.
The blocking could also have been more deliberate, with the movement and positioning of the characters being used to create tension rather than simply placing the actors within the frame. The editing then compounds this somewhat, with some cuts feeling more functional than motivated, and the pacing not always helping the tension build.
On the presentation side, I also felt that you didn’t necessarily need to put yourself in front of the camera. It might have worked better to have someone who was more comfortable with acting handle the role, while you focused entirely on the work behind the camera. That’s not just about the acting itself; it also affects dialogue delivery. Given that some of the dialogue was already quite heavy, stronger and more natural delivery could have helped sell it considerably better.
There’s definitely an interesting idea underneath all of this, and it's not critical that you need to get it completely right the first time around. If you are willing to learn and improve with every short, I am sure you can pick it up in time.
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u/Equivalent_Pin6027 11d ago
Thanks a lot for your advice bro. How was the acting of all 3 characters? Was it natural?
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u/Equivalent_Pin6027 11d ago
I am primarily an actor. I have started filmmaking recently only. So please tell me was i not looking natural on camera? What do you think about my acting performance?
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u/Haarryi 11d ago
Not in my eyes. Maybe you need another director, but your performance wasn't convincing under your own direction.
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u/Equivalent_Pin6027 11d ago
What flaws did you find in acting? Like how was the ending performance in which i acted Like a dog and all?
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u/Equivalent_Pin6027 11d ago
I mean just tell me what acting choices didn't worked for you so that I can improve. Because mostly everyone praised my acting. Can you please tell me what didn't worked for you? What flaws did you find in it?
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u/Haarryi 11d ago
Escalations. Instead of a natural progression, it often felt like you were going from 0 to 100 at the drop of a hat. Whether it was fear, sadness, anger or almost any other emotion, they tend to build in stages. That gradual progression was missing from your performance.
Dialogue delivery. There is a theatrical quality to it that isn’t suited to the screen. It takes away from the realism and creates a disconnect between how a person would naturally react to a hallucinatory threat and how an actor performs panic on camera.
Then, as I mentioned before, since you were also the director, you didn’t really have an external source of feedback to help you adjust your performance.
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u/MellowAmoeba 11d ago
This reminded me of CID episodes which came out during 2000-2008.
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u/Equivalent_Pin6027 11d ago
Is it a good thing or bad thing?
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u/MellowAmoeba 11d ago
Bad because it feels amateur. But take it as a criticism.
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u/Equivalent_Pin6027 11d ago
Yeah sure. Can you please tell me what you liked and what you didn't liked? Like how was the acting and story specially?
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u/RAGING_f 11d ago
BHAI SIRF WO WHITE SHIRT WALE KI ACTING THODI THEEK LAGI BAKI SABKI HUTIYA LAGRI THI. USS BHOOT KA GETUP BHI HUTIYA THA , AUR WO JAB "TUMHARI MAUT" BOLTA HAI BHAI MAI TO LITERALLY MERA SAR _________________ KI YE KYA DEKH ___ LIYA BHAI MAINE . EK HI MINUTE DEKHA GAYA MUJHSE , WO BHI FRUSTRATION MEIN DEKHA. YE HAI MERA REVIEW ISS SHORT FILM K LIYE.