One-Man Production: The Journey of Solo Filmmaking

In our third year as Communication students, we embarked on a challenging journey to create a social media campaign video entirely on our own as a final requirement in the subject Social Media and Marketing Technology for Communication Campaigns. In this blog, we will take you through the intricate process of planning, making, and executing our one-man production for the intricate project, shedding light on the various phases and lessons we learned along the way. 

Every campaign starts with an idea. We explore concepts of the complexities of social media through a short campaign commercial. And as communication students, we must know the first step of every project: scriptwriting—which serves as the backbone of our projects. The pre-production stage is the part where we have to wear different hats. Planning the concept, location, and props were all part of our responsibility. Filming as a one-person crew was both liberating and challenging. The camera became the extension of ourselves while tripods and gimbals were our trusted companions. We played the role of the camera and the director, ensuring the quality of shots captured the essence of our vision. Time is very important and we must adapt to unexpected changes on the fly. We also applied what we learned in our film and photography class in adjusting the lighting, framing, sound, and camera movement. The process simply allowed us to hone and developed our directing and cinematography skills. 

Lastly, the post-production. The part where the magic happens. It's the part where we spent hours of crafting a story from the footage that we took. As a one-man production, we individually faced certain challenges from managing our time to fixing some technical difficulties. However these challenges our valuable learning experiences. We became better communicators, and developed a keen sense of storytelling. 

The journey into the world of one-man production was a remarkable adventure filled with creative challenges and personal growth. It exemplified the idea that with dedication and a clear vision, a student filmmaker can overcome the odds and create something meaningful. As  we look back, we are excited about the potential for future projects and the lessons we’ve taken from this project.