Choosing to make a movie is not as hard as it once was: You do not need special equipment, editing software and a whole crew anymore! Now with a simple, affordable camera like a FlipCam or a Kodak Pocket Video Camera, and cheap or free editing software like iMovie or Final Cut, making a movie becomes an accessible goal for everyone.

Get started: First thing’s first – choose a subject. What is the topic of your movie? Is it fictional or non-fictional? Draft a loose, starting script for the film. Set out a storyboard, if possible. A storyboard is a rough set of sketches and notes to plan the movie scene-by-scene and does not have to be too specific, it can be very general. For instance, “Scene 1: Wide shot of house, zoom in to the front door. Scene 2: Close-up of interview subject talking. Scene 3: Medium shot of back yard.” etc.

Get filming: Once you have a plan, get filming. Do some practice shots first – test zooming, panning, what light works best, how to frame a shot and – most importantly – how to work the equipment. You can find much information online on how to approach basic shots, the Rule of Thirds and best practices for lighting. When shooting your footage, always be aware of where the natural and artificial light is coming from and if there is distracting background sound.

Upload: Most new cameras make it foolproof to upload your material to your PC or Mac (it is usually a case of getting plugging in the USB cable and dragging the footage over to the desktop). Save the raw footage somewhere and do not delete anything until your entire project is finished: You do not want to have a mistake and not be able to get back footage that is now deleted.

Edit and export: Do some test editing on your software before trying the real thing. Each editing program is slightly different, so always read the instructions first. Put your film together and when you are happy with it, export in an appropriate format (.MP4, .MOV, .WMV, for instance). And you’re done!