Filmmakers want to make the best film they can make. With a little more time or resources a film maker can make this one that much better. They need to learn to do something better and find some better people. They figure if you're going to put much this much effort into making a movie that it should be the best it can be.

The sad truth is that circumstances conspire to limit what can be done at any particular time as a filmmaker. It depends on what you've already done, what others think about your work, and just plain luck. It's great to want to make this film the best, but this might not be your magnum opus and just a stepping stone. There's a time to stop planning and start doing, and it might be now.

Always A Next Project

If you are serious about filmmaking, this will not be your last film. You either have other ideas already waiting or will come up with some later. This movie is important, but you will have a lifetime of chances to get filmmaking right. This isn't an excuse to throw your hands in the air and stop caring, it's a warning that you need to find the balance between good enough and impossible. You can always do it better next time, improve upon what you've learned with another project. Don't put so much emphasis on this one that it precludes you making one at all.

Skills Will Increase With Experience

You might think you just need to get a little more experience and then you'll be ready. There are just a few things you don't understand that once you comprehend will put you at your pinnacle. The truth is that you will always get better, waiting to get there will mean nothing gets done. Come to terms with the fact that the filmmaker you are now is not who you will be in 5 years and yet they are both good people. Your tastes change, your perception gets keener and your technical skills increase. Get yourself to good enough and just keep getting better.

A Calling Card To Get Better Helpers

You may have a rag tag crew and amateur actors but want to work with professionals. You are only going to convince so many people at any time in your career. You may have to put up with the quirks of an inexperienced team. This is not your last movie, don't despair. Something unique will come through in the final film, it will speak to people, and they'll want to work with you. Your verbal skills will never be as persuasive to a potential crew member as seeing a finished movie that you produced.

Film School Students Don't Get To Make Features

So many people think that film school is a short cut to getting to make movies. Whereas film school students do get taught the fundamentals of filmmaking and make short films, only a few in each class gets to make a feature. So most people that come out of film school are still inexperienced as to how to make a feature. Many of them are also hindered in that they've come to expect that the way they were taught is the only way films are made. They likely learned industrial film techniques that union Hollywood films use and this will not help them get a small, indie film made. They will have to learn all over, with trial and error, just as a film school flunky would.

People Love Seeing An Artist Progress

I like doing my best and don't want to be seen as less than what I am capable. Unfortunately the pace of filmmaking and storytelling is so brisk that the only way to keep up is to do and learn simultaneously. This means that there is no way to make every mistake behind the cover of an educational institution. Inevitably, you will fail in public sometimes. This sounds dire, but is something that can make you endearing to fans. People love seeing artists get up and continue after experiencing a failure. They love charting your rise from unskilled wannabe to master craftsmen. It's daunting, but they will support you if you let them.

This film you're making is important, but so is the next and the next after that. You won't get to the later ones if you don't make this one. Set a reasonable time limit and put yourself out there. Even if this movie is sub-standard, you will do better next time and might get some extra help, too.