5 skills you should develop to become a great filmmaker

Want to become a filmmaker? Here's how you can develop yourself.

As Steven Soderbergh said, "Cinema is not about format, and it's not about venue. Cinema is an approach."

Becoming a filmmaker is not so easy and it requires a lot of hard work. Apart from being creative, you are supposed to know at least little of every aspect of filmmaking. For that, you need to watch thousands of movies and read a lot of books. But that's not really enough, so read on to find out what skills and qualities you should develop to become a great filmmaker.

1. Creativity and vision: Filmmaking is not just about storytelling; rather it's a visual representation of that story. So, even before starting the shoot, you need to have a proper vision about how every frame, scene and sequence would look on the screen. You should develop a clear idea about how you would narrate your story to the viewers. Remember, a great filmmaker is not a regular person who goes with the flow, rather a genius who always thinks out of the box and loves to experiment something new.
2. Leadership and communication skill: Satyajit Ray said,"The filmmaker is the only person who knows what the film is about." So as a filmmaker, you have to lead each and every other member on the set and help them have a proper understanding of your vision. You have to give proper instructions to the actors and make them feel comfortable on the set. Also as you have to give full attention to each and every detail about the film, developing a great management skill is a must.
3. Technical Knowledge: You don't really have to be expert in every field, but you should have a proper idea of all the technical aspects of a film. If you don't have any idea about camera, framing, lighting, editing, sound and all the other things, then you can't properly instruct the experts about what you want and eventually, the end product wouldn't match with your vision.
4. Problem solving: As filmmaking includes a long complex process, some things might not go according to the plan. A great filmmaker is someone who stays calm even in the toughest situations and finds quick solutions. You should always be prepared for the worst things and only then, you can solve them.
5. Being a self critic: Well, it may sound a bit odd, but you have to be a self critic in order to become a better filmmaker. Learn from your mistakes, find out the flaws in your previous works and try not to repeat them in your upcoming projects.

Lastly, to be a filmmaker, it requires immense love, passion and dedication towards cinema. If you have that, then nothing can stop you from achieving your goals.