ultra-low budget

July 20, 2007

Hi i am a first time film maker who is about to make my first feature film the only thing is i have a budget of £1000.

Im hoping to shoot on 16mm but is it going to be possible for me to make a feature for just £1000 i have

wrote a script that does'nt consist of a cast of thousands or big budget special effects. I have my own arri 16

s/b camera, sennheisher 416 mic, clapperboard, no lights but a reflexter board i am a student so i can get a

discount from kodak but will i still have enough to make a decent film. Any advice will be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

Brian Drysdale · July 20, 2007

In a word no, you should cost out the process with a Lab price list. You'd be tight making a 16mm short film on a £1000, never mind a feature film.

You might just manage something on Mini DV, although at a £1000, you're really still in the budget range of a short film.

Robert Hughes · July 23, 2007

Hi, hippy. This forum guidelines call for poster to use their actual first and last name. Please go to your account preferences and update. Don't worry, we won't report you to MI6.

As for filming on extremely tight budgets, you basically need to put yourself and all your coworkers on rice and beans for the next several months. And shoot MiniDV, because the film processing and transfer costs will break you before you're even into editing mode.

There are lots of useful "guerilla filmmaking on a shoestring" books out there; go read up and find out what all is involved. If you truly mean "feature" film as in 90 minutes of tight, action packed and emotionally rivetting material that's intended for big public showings, you're going to have to dig deep into your physical and psychological reserves to fill in for the lack of funding.

Question #1: Who is your audience? And all the ancillary questions: How will you get them to see your opus? Will they be so inspired they'll tell all their friends to see it? What if nobody shows at your opening - what's your plan B? and C, D, E? Can you accomplish more by putting your idea up as a series of YouTube episodes? How can you convince some Hollywood or Indie hotshot that you're the biggest, bestest unknown on the scene (because sure as hell everybody else is saying the same thing)?

And more questions: Are you and your friends so jazzed on your idea they will drop other committments to help you? Some people have to work, some have family obligations, others are fair weather friends who get bored easily - you don't want one of your lead characters decide to pack up and split halfway through the shoot. How can you reward the people on your team for all their hard work?

Or is this just a pipe dream? That's not a bad thing, it's fun to dream big, even if you're not ready for prime time. If you think it's all too much, scale back your efforts to something you can handle without driving yourself and everybody around you crazy. Start making video blogs, or join the local film coop and crew on other folk's shows, develop your network.

Best wishes. And get your name straight. Nobody listens to hippies anymore.

Hal Smith · July 26, 2007

Any movie worth ten cents starts with a good, tight script. A good script informs everything about a movie, the cinematography style, art direction, locations needed, acting styles, etc. I'm a firm believer in the principle that if you've got a script vivid enough that you can see your movie in your head before you've rolled ten feet of film or tape, you're on your way. If you can't write at that level, find someone who can.