Filmmaking / Directing : A Promise of Light - Ultra Low Budget Fantasy Short by Timothy Moran

Hi Tim, very imaginary awesome

Incredible film, Timothy Moran! It reminds me of Fantasy movies I watched growing up like THE NEVERENDING STORY. What are some of the things you did to keep the budget so low?

Maurice Vaughan thank you so much... I was really trying to emulate those fantasy films of the 1980's! Honestly where I found the biggest win for me was in keeping the budget down was in pre-production. I did over a year of pre-prod on my own, planning out every shot and figuring out how to achieve some more complex shots with some simple in-camera tricks. Believe it or not there are a lot of miniature shots in the film - and the building of the miniatures was very inexpensive. I used the miniatures a lot in forced perspective shots. Since I knew how to achieve a lot of the VFX on my own, the budget went all into paying for production. Also, I wore a lot of hats which kept the cost down too... I'll be putting out a BTS video next month that will talk about how me did the film on such a low budget. I'll make sure to follow up and post it here! Thanks for watching!

Congrats Tim! What are some of the obstacles you faced on the shoot and how did you overcome them?

You're welcome, Timothy Moran. Thanks for sharing the advice and insight. I subscribed to your channel. Looking forward to seeing the BTS video and your other work.

What great work here, Timothy Moran! The film feels so much bigger than the budget - you did it! Really powerful use of color grading, terrific performances, stunning effects for this budget and a great sound mix. So cool to see how much you can accomplish with vision and skill and the tools currently available. It reminded me a little but of ENEMY MINE in spirit (a film I love). Bravo! Did you do all the post production work yourself or did you have a team that helped you execute?

Thanks Amanda Toney ! Honestly one of the biggest challenges that I faced was game planning for the world-building that was going to be needed for the film to work. Being limited by such a low budget it was really about finding a unique and ingenious way to pull off each shot/effect. There is literally a long list of obstacles that kept rearing their heads that I could go on about here but honestly it would be a novel!

Sam Sokolow thank you so much! I did a lot of the post production myself, editing + color + and some VFX. I did have some key collaborators on the VFX as well but I spent time learning Blender and Fusion so I can help out on the VFX end as well.

@Timothy Thanks for the share, awesome fantasy in a unique world. Inspiration for all low budget filmmakers that determination can work miracles. Did not realise at all about use of miniatures till read above posts & agree on great sound/light. Enjoyed acting performances & storyline with false ally & switch etc. Good too the music did not overpower the narrator, heavy sound intros that deter rather than highlight set up I find disconcerting.

Thanks so much Debbie Croysdale ! Glad you enjoyed it!

Timothy Moran Huge congratulations!!

Thank you Navid Lancaster ! I appreciate it!

Congratulations! Beautiful work. Definitely enjoyed watching it.

Congrats, Timothy Moran on the great work!

Thank you so much Evelyn Von Warnitz !

its amazing... i love it and this is so inspiring.. Congratulations Timothy Moran

Thank you Perelle Ornela ! I'm so glad it has inspired you - seeing everyone's response here has actually done the same for me! :)

Thank you very much David Abrookin !

Big congrats Timothy Moran! Especially on such a tight budget. Well done.

Thank you so much Nick Waters ... it was a wild ride to make it all come together but so satisfying in the end.

Wow Timothy Moran! I can't wait to see some behind-the-scenes action because I am blown away that you could produce something that stunning for only $6,000. You are clearly very talented and I hope this opens a lot of doors for you!

Congratulations and I am in awe with this low budget.

Hi, congratulations, I wish you success! I hope things go the way you want!!

Thank you Vincent DeVito ! That was truly one of my hopes behind making this, to show what can be accomplished on a limited budget and maybe have some doors opened along the way!

Thank you @Asmaa! I'll be releasing a BTS in November which will show how we pulled off the film on such a low budget!

Beautiful story and cinematography for such a low budget! Well done!

Thank you so much Eleni Papanou !

Ohhh, I love this! Wow, watching fantasy films in the middle of a workday (shhhh).... You know, I cried all the way through this. Usually, for me, fantasy is sooo edgy, so likely to be mistreated and misinterpreted that it falls into kitsch and is embarrassing. I actually thought there was more to this, and I really loved this little story...its reminders (again, just for me) of certain fundamentals of life and death touched my heart and gut both. So thanks. :)

Lynelle Paulick thank you so very much! I'm so humbled by what you wrote and am so glad that you enjoyed it... and what you took away from it was exactly what I was hoping for! I feel fantasy is something that has such potential for relating themes that speak to us at a soul level. I've been developing a feature film based on this short and hope to have what you felt carry over into that film as well as that is what is part of what is driving me forward.