Greetings, I am Shayla Raquel and I'm a director, writer, born and raised in the state of smiling faces and beautiful places, South Carolina.

I'm joining other South Carolina film makers to walk you through six key areas that bring every film to life.

Each of these pieces matter, but they all serve one thing above everything else, the story.

A story has structure, a clear beginning, middle, and end.

It has characters we care about, a conflict or obstacles that challenge the characters while they are on their journey, and last but not least, a major change that makes the journey worth watching.

Let's take my short film The Off Brands as an example.

We meet Constance, who considers herself an off brand, invisible to her classmates, being met by conflict and obstacles like mean former friends, her chronic illness, and keeping her hair cute.

By the end, something in her completely shifts.

So before you pick up that camera, build your world on the page.

That's where the true filmmaking magic begins with story.

For more filmmaking resources and to submit your own short film, visit scetv.

org/nextlens.