“Everyone is a story teller and everyone can be a filmmaker,” said Mohamed Al Nuhasi, an independent filmmaker and Canon Academy Trainer, at a filmmaking workshop held on the sidelines of the seventh edition of the Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth (SIFF) at Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre (JRCC).

Speaking at the workshop titled, “Tips & Tricks on Basic Filmmaking” held at the Canon Station, Al Nuhasi said with the technology currently available, “it is easier to tell a story visually today than was possible just over a decade ago.”

Sharing his experiences as a filmmaker, Al Nuhasi discussed how children could improve their visual story telling skills with a Canon DSLR & Mirrorless camera. “The dual autofocus feature, for instance, provides smooth and consistent focus for a wide range of photo and video applications.”

He also introduced the young children to the basic cinematography techniques to make the visuals look more professional and advised them to pay attention to light, sound and exposure.

“Some rules are meant to be broken,” he added. “Be open to experiment instead of playing it safe if it comes in the way of telling your story.”

Getting set for a documentary film shoot

The Canon Station hosted a second workshop titled “Guerrilla-style story telling technique” where Hasan Aslan, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Alpha 5 Films LLC in Sharjah Media City, laid bare the essentials of the process of preparing for a documentary film shoot.

“Guerrilla style is a method of shooting a short documentary film in real location with the minimum amount of equipment and resources, and least amount of hassles,” he explained.

Being prepared is key, he pointed out, detailing the four basic steps to follow while preparing to film a documentary. Topping the list is research which, said Aslan, should not be construed as delving into a topic one knows very little about. “Choose a topic you are familiar with and have adequate knowledge of,” he advised.

Interviews are a key element of documentary filmmaking and Aslan discussed techniques of lighting and framing to make the work appear more professional. “The third step, B-Roll, relates to the side shots and extra footage captured to enhance the story while editing refers to making the choice with regard to what to use, what to leave out, and paying attention to what goes where.”

Despite detailed planning and preparation, if things don’t go smoothly, “think on your feet and get creative with what’s at your disposal,” he advised.

More workshops on creating time lapse movies, creative content creation, and others will be hosted at the Canon Station until Thursday, October 17. SIFF 2019 concludes on Friday.