- Write and film a short scene where the subtext is completely different to what is actually being said and done (eg. a couple talking about groceries but the subtext is actually about their troubled relationship or something)
- Short silent film (&lt;5 min, focusing on conveying ideas, etc via images rather than dialogue)
- Film a short action scene. Possibly including hand-to-hand fighting, gun fighting, car chase.
- See if you can obtain some rushes for a scene that someone else shot and try edit three versions, each with a distinct feel (eg a tense version, a fast version, one with very few cuts, etc)
- Make a 90 second film
- Make a short scene with a variety of vfx. Try include some greenscreen, some motion tracking, some rotoscoping, and some compositing of additional cg elements. (Head over to videocopilot.net for some inspiration)
- In addition to these sort of exercises Id also make a list of all sorts of competitions, and make entries for all of those. Things like the Dorito's crash the superbowl comp. www.onlinevideocontests.com has a pretty good list of competitions usually looking for short films or ads to promote companies. These are good because they usually include some guidelines to get your started. Sometimes I find starting with infinite possibilities the hardest and having something to start the ball rolling can help a lot.

