Film-making... Where to Start?

My ultimate career goal is to become a film director, and I recently bought a book that introduces you to the business of independent filmmaking. While I hope to be involved with larger film companies like Universal some day, the bussiness of independent filmmaking is very similar. The book is great, and I now know how to write the script, and all that stuff. I have a camera, so basically I have everything I need to make my own good, if low-budget, short films.

The problem is this: I just don't know where to begin. Should I begin by making short, experimental five-minute films just to explore the possibilities? Or should I start by doing something with a plot and a begining, middle, and end? I have tons of ideas, but no idea how to use them. If somebody knows anything about this and can help me out, that would be great.

I'm no expert at this sort of thing, but as with any story-based form of art, it really depends on how you want to make it come together. What a lot of people do is think up a basic idea for a story, build an outline, add details, perfect it, make a script, then shoot it. But with movies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, they just made it up, one scene after another. I would know what it is you want to do though, before you get actors and all that involved.

Start getting into it? Or starting your first project?

Best way to start getting into it would be to try out a few different things. Try out different themes, plots, characters, etc. Find your own style, something that you like to do that would help enhance your story. Many directors have their own thing, like Quentin Tarantino's "in the trunk" shot. In any case, I think you hit the nail right on the head. Try testing out shorts, five minute deals. Get some feedback. See what you did right, where you went wrong, and work on it.

As far as starting your first thing, make sure you have some kind of script (unless of course it's strictly improv) then character outlines, and if it's a serious plot, then storyboards help a lot. Best of luck to you, and never hesitiate to ask questions!