Elliot Grove, the founder of Raindance, has created some tips for making a great short film for this competition below.

1. Get Educated
There are a lot of courses that can teach you technical skills, give you access to equipment, introduce you to other filmmakers and potentially support your future filmmaking.

2. Study your Art
Start watching commercials to focus on the construction of videos.

3. Don't Be Over Ambitious
A simple idea well executed is more effective than a complex idea done badly.

4. Film with Style
Be creative when you're shooting. Take advantage of things and events that you normally might edit out. A lens flare, reflections, or backlit scenes aren’t always a bad thing. Also, don't assume that you have to shoot with rapid cuts, extensive lighting setups, lots of filters, pulsing zoom or digital effects in order to make your video memorable. Your project may not call for it. The key is to find a pace that matches your story.

5. Script it out
A commercial, like a movie, should be planned, or even scripted, before you shoot. Do some homework. Study commercials and keep track of techniques that impress you. Try to figure out how and why the directors took the shots and made the cuts that they did. You don't necessarily have to duplicate what you see, but it can’t hurt to borrow some ideas from the pros.

6. Have a Distinctive and Individual Voice
Be different. Do things differently. Having a new way of seeing or interpreting life is very interesting.

7. Beware of Using Excessive Zoom
Unless done with a very steady hand zoom often looks amateurish.

8. Beware of Excessive Special Effects
Even the most basic video editing software has tons of special effects for you to use; color changing, rolling edits, split screens...it's advisable to use them sparingly. A good film isn't a showcase for how many effects you've mastered. It's usually better to use a couple of effects throughout the video to create the feel you’re looking for rather than using as many effects as you can to make your video exciting (if you need effects to do this, it might be time to rethink your idea. or add some more footage)

9. Credits
If you’re going to include credits think whether it fits with the end title card and the whole point of your film. Also beware of credits making your film run over the time limit.

10. Relax and Have FUN
You'll be amazed at what a little fun will do for your film.