How do you guys work to minimize the budget of your films? Lets have a fruitful discussion.
Filmmaking / Directing : Small Budget by Xahid Khan
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Write the script around interesting and unique locations that are free and already contain props. Get antique stores to lend props in exchange for film credits and put the owner in the credits as "historian". Give each actor and crew member % of films profit in exchange for low or zero pay up front.
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Nastassia that's cool. Love the line put the owner in the credit as "Historian"
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We did just that for SETESH
Great Nastassia Haroshka
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I love playing with single-location scripts
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J.M. Gulmire Me too that's my first mantra. Single Location, Maximize the shooting time, Less break ( within comfort zone), Less people at the location.
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Single-location scripts are my go-to, J.M. Gulmire.
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Few locations, few special effects!
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Using as much natural/existing light as possible, as lighting is the thing that will take most of your time on set to get right
Kyler Boudreau True indeed.
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@Lyndon This one is really important. shifting lights and settings takes so much of time.
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Limited locations (I prefer EXT. for lighting), limited cast, limited crew. Build your own cranes, dollies and other equipment as you can. I only produce shorts but I feed my cast/crew well.
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My 0 cost shorts were filmed in a house, at a building rooftop, etc...so basically minimum locations and mostly indoor...I think that be most cost saving...however that fits mostly short film concept, dunno bout the features, but I'd say focus on contained talkie stories...
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Tiny locations, tiny cast. Write for locaitons you can get for free - SO many of my earliest things were done in my literal house.
Do lots of favours for other people for free - they might be able to repay them - for free. Food and drinks - make 'em yourself.
I made pizza for everyone when we were filming in my house.
Do NOT do set pieces, don't write them, don't even think about them. As you are writing, you already calculate how much each scene is going to cost. How many days, etc.
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Learning alot from this thread about filmmaking on a shoestring budget. Personally I have produced over 100 shorts or series episodes with each having a budget of less than $1000. To do so while still retaining audience attention, I focus on character development and add suspense through dialogue to substitute expensive action sequences and costly CGI/VFX.
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Thank you for all your responses. Here is my story how I made my first zero budget one. It may help you.
https://xahidkhanzero.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/first-blog-post/
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Have you seen my work?Please make my
script FiIm
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@Xahid Great blog. Thanks for the share. Sod's law was certainly in full swing with the things that went wrong prior and during the shoot you mentioned but like a true artist you turned it all around. True, we can make the best plans of mice and men and yet plans themselves are not tangible things, a film is a living breathing changing entity. One director I trained under quoted "A film is a runaway train you just have to hang on." (John Boorman) In the past I got permission for crew to park up outside someone's big quirky house and walk towards front door but inside scenes are somewhere else. It wasn't even a location as such, it was done spur of the moment and we were there minutes.