Wilfred H Shipley

In the world of filmmaking, it has been widely seen as an art form involving an entire crew, but most of my life I have taken a different approach and primarily produced all my projects, solo. Over the course of 20 years I have a good sense of my strengths and weaknesses, if I’m good at it I’ll do it myself, if I’m not, then I will hire someone.

My process is simple, it starts with an idea, which I then write and develop into a story. I then storyboard my scripts since I typically film (cinematography) everything I direct. I carry a “director’s script” with notes of how things will be filmed, what songs will be used, which transitions will take place, and what the lighting will be in the shot. This is because once the production of the film is complete, I then also edit the project and the notes match with what was captured on camera.

I love all forms of filmmaking, big-budget movies, small independent films, commercials, music videos, it doesn’t matter, as long as there is a great story told with dynamic visuals that enhance the story. I spent my adolescence (early 90s) in the middle of nowhere (countryside) with nothing to do but read comic books or watch TV thanks to a satellite dish. I think these two things help me see things visually. Comic books are just stylized storyboards, and some of the movies, commercials, and music videos I watch were from other countries exposing me to unique content and film styles most people in the United States didn’t watch.

I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker from the age of 18 and I haven’t tried to do anything else. I’m self-taught, never studied it in school, yet was able to get a job at a Fortune 35 company producing video projects. I still push myself every day to create, to improve in my craft, and I study the newest trends or technology to stay competitive. If I find myself struggling to be creative, I’ll do whatever is necessary (usually extreme boredom) to get my creativity back. One major reason I don’t have social media or like social media in general is because I find it affects my creativity and attention span, so I stay away from using it as much as possible.

I also constantly critic my work and look for ways to improve or question why a project didn’t turn out the way I anticipated. By doing this I recently had a revelation with my work and made a list of “do’s and do not’s” when it comes to my work. Such as ”always include voice-over in my scripts from now on.” Roman, my latest short film was written with this list in mind. I realized all my best work has been voiced over, I think this is because I am a strong visual storyteller and because I work on tight budgets. Including voice-over in a script allows flexibility in editing and budgeting when I can’t afford to achieve something I wanted to do originally. 

Although I’ve been making films for some time now, I may be more excited about my future as a filmmaker/artist than ever. Some people are geniuses and their work is recognized right away, I was never going to be like that. I always knew I was a perfectionist who enjoyed experimenting and would continue developing and refining my style for years until I felt I had tried everything. Now I’m never nervous, I never question any of my choices or my capabilities, I’m an artist who is entering a new chapter, and I plan on writing in it for another 20 years.