As a student in the filmmaking and scriptwriting industry, one of the biggest challenges you will face includes creating film. So many film ideas might swirl around your head, but can you be sure they are of the right style and suitability for your academic assignments?

When you are asked to take part in creating a short film, for example, you need some useful short film ideas that you can put to immediate use. To help you start creating successful prompts, read on. We will cover some of the essentials you need to know about creating the best short story ideas for your upcoming assignment.

Before You Act On Your Short Film Ideas…

Ask yourself the following questions:

· How suitable is this idea for the assignment that you have been provided with?

· Do you have the tools and the talent to make these short movie ideas work?

· Is the length of time you have suitable for telling the story that you have in mind?

· Would you need to adjust or adapt the plot in any way, shape, or form?

· Will you create this screenplay/film alone, or is it collaborative?

· Do you have any specific guidelines or requirements from your lecturers?

Ask yourself these questions, and you might find it easier to start putting together good movie ideas that actually work for you. Now, let’s look at some useful concepts you could use in your student filmmaking.

Short Film Ideas For Students You Can Use Today

Silent Action

One of our best options, particularly when you need something really short – such as a few minutes long – is silent action. For example, you could create a short film based on something we need to overcome. A common example is someone climbing a mountain: the idea here is to create a silent movie that shows how challenging such an activity would be. So long as the focus is on the action and the emotions that action can generate, this can work well as a student film idea.

However, silent action can take many forms – you are not limited to just this typical choice. Many 3 minute short film ideas, though, will be based on using silent action to get the message across purely through movement instead of words. Think about your hobbies and interests. For example, if you like martial arts, you could show the same kind of silent action via martial arts. Showcase the discipline required and the challenges faced. With the right post-production music, this can come across as thoughtful and quite epic.

A Snippet Of Something More

As a student in this industry, it is natural for you to have a little ideas book littered with concepts. Students who are passionate about their craft will likely be working on a kind of ‘feature film’ idea they would love to produce. Well, why not take a snippet from that and base your short story topics around that?

Look for something that you could use from your main ideas and features and put that to good use. Pick a scene that you believe is one of the most pertinent or important in your overall vision. Craft something around that – you need to provide context and trim some edges, but it can work.

This allows you to showcase something very interesting that you have been working on for a good while now. Another bonus of this choice is continuity. You can then return to this same idea for future projects, bringing people into the world you have created.

Fear Comes To Life

Another useful idea that we have when evaluating short film ideas for students is to look at something horrifying. For example, have you ever found yourself reading something scary only for there to be a chap at your door?

Think about how often you might have found yourself so engrossed in a horror book, and then something breaks your concentration. In a short film, you can convey that sense of being so engrossed in the horror – perhaps a narration over the top of the person reading? – only for the door to go.

You then decide if the ‘chap at the door’ will be something scary – such as the individual from the horror book coming to life. Or, if you want to go down a more comical route, you could have something like the mailman or someone selling cookies. Create that suspense quickly!

Homage To The Classics

If you are short on time, the best thing you can do is create something akin to the old 1920s silent movies. This can be a good way to help you showcase your scriptwriting skills, as everything will be told through card prompts and the like.

The main challenge here is ensuring you get the tone and style right, but this kind of nostalgic design can be very useful. As far as short story ideas go for this, you can be as creative or as simple as you like. Inspire yourself by watching some of the masters of this craft – experts like Charlie Chaplin, to name but one.

These short films can be designed quickly and easily and allow you to showcase your ability to tell a story through actions instead of relying upon a detailed spoken script.

Making The Right Decision

Hopefully, the above short film ideas for students will have your mind whirring with opportunity. The challenge you probably face is deciding which statement suits your own personality and style best. The difficulty also stems from the fact that you want to choose something that will garner interest from lecturers and fellow students alike.

The last piece of advice, though, is quite simple: do not get in your head too much. Focus as much as you can on simply creating something true to the person that you are. Do not try and create something to impress a lecturer alone; create something that speaks to your own mindset and thought process. You are far more likely to gain positive feedback if you are true to yourself instead of trying to create something specifically for your lecturer or your student audience.

Creating short stories as a student is difficult, but the above prompts can hopefully spark something in your mind. The main takeaway is this: the world is your oyster; you must decide which part of the world you wish to portray!