Hey Duffy, there is some good advice up above, but I thought I'd go ahead and add my 2 cents (more like rambling actually hehe). As what was already said, it's always good to have a plan. Its like they say, if you don't plan, you're planning to fail.
If you are just starting out, practice shooting short films and make lots of them. You don't need a fancy camcorder either, just use one you have lying around or borrow one if you have to. Creating these videos will help you learn immensely and give you experience. They will teach you what shots work for which situation, which one's don't, how to deal with actors, working with your crew (i.e. the actors hehe) experience working with your goofball friends and trying to get them to cooperate and “get it done”, how to make decisions when time is running out, meeting deadlines for festivals/assignments or contests, etc. The more videos you make, the more needs/wants will arrive. You'll probably notice that the picture is too dark, or maybe the sound stinks. This will motivate you to figure out how to fix these problems and thus the cycle begins and hopefully your next film project will be better than the last. If it isn't, who cares! Move on and learn from your mistakes. It's all a huge learning experience. Don't be discouraged --- you might visualize your movie in its entire Hollywood splendor, but have the final product look like COPS. Don't worry, lots of people face the same problem and continue to work for the look of their movie. You'll probably have to read up on cinematography and lighting to achieve a more cinematic feel and presentation for your film.
Dealing with actors (i.e. friends who think it will be funny to run the wheelchair your sitting on into the wall):
Yes that has really happened to me (note: you can sit in a wheelchair with your camera and have a friend push you to create dolly (moving) shots.) At this point I just wanted to cuss them out and leave, but I resisted. Rather than tell them that I'd rather chew glass than film with them anymore that night, I just kept at it and we were able to finish the project that same evening (by some miracle). I did this by saying, “c'mon guys only a little bit more to do”. Maybe not the most effective method, but it worked for that particular shot. Other times I would encourage them about the film festival and tell them how cool it will be to see them on the screen. Most of the time it was just me pleading and begging to finish the next shot. What I'm trying to say though is that you've got to find your own way of getting the movie done. Until you can work with people who take filmmaking more seriously, you can learn your people skills with the folks your working with at your level. I still wonder how we were able to finish any projects based on all the goofing off, but I guess all that pleading and filming the next shot added up.
Making Decisions:
As a director, you've got to call the shots and make important decisions. Here's an example that I faced:
I was shooting a short film that took place outdoors. The story required yours truly to be picked up by an invisible creature, thrown into a tree, and then dragged to my death. Unfortunately, filming myself being picked up was harder than it seemed. We tried several shots of me jumping off our jeep and using the camera to capture me midair. Ultimately it looked ridiculously bad. We tried to come up with different suggestions for the scene, but time was running out. The sun was going down and we had a deadline to meet. I had to make a decision, and decided to change the scene entirely and only have myself tripped, fall to the floor, and dragged to my death. Although not as flashy, the scene still worked and conveyed the same type of feeling we were going for.
Note: A friend of mine wanted me to film a promotional video of his martial arts school and have shots of the students flying through the air like they were being thrown around. Can you see where I'm going with this? Now given, he had a small trampoline (something I didn't have before) so I went ahead and tried out the shot with the trampoline (which still looked bad btw), but ultimately I knew the shots wouldn't really work based on my previous experience with that type of shot.
Here are some helpful links:
http://www.college-film.com/michael.htm ---(Tizzy's article! Good read)
http://www.rondexter.com/ --- Extremely helpful site, topics range from rigging techniques to working with kids!
http://www.jamesarnett.com/sections.html --- another helpful site --- talks about video basics, pre-production, production, etc.
Also, be sure to check out this forum. You can search for whatever need you have and probably find SOMETHING informative. Books are a good source of information as well --- check out the Film Books section of this site located at the top.
Sorry the post was so long =p
