manifesto for no budget filmmaking

Well I think this guy was doing someone a favor and was then miserable but had the character to stick it out anyway and not make it difficult for the rest of the crew by abandoning his post.

But, I think the "why do this if its not fun?" thing can be a little dangerous though as people can interpret that differently.

The "not being easy" part is what's rewarding to me ... the continuous challenges in the short term and the continuous learning curve in the long term.

Having drinks with my friends, watching DVD's and eating cocoa pebbles with an ice cold coke is fun.

Filmmaking is a gruelling stressfull challenge that I enjoy because it is such a challenge. Sometimes it is fun, and often it is not, but it is always rewarding and worthwhile just like anything you commit yourself to and put your heart into. And for me at least (check my custom member status name) it can be hard to keep a level head at all times during the process.

Now having said that, while I don't always succeed in having a frictionless set, treating everyone righy it is certainly a HUGE priority and I carry around a bucket of guilt for the few times it's gone the other way.

But I think the "fun" buzzword can be dangerous. My idea of fun is nearly killing myself to make a movie ... and if people are working for free you have to make sure that is their idea of fun as well before you go boldly forward, and if its not then you need to adjust the manner in which you go boldly forward -- because that's where tension often arises, not just from the guy in charge being an asshat like the infamous director being lambasted in this threads first post, but when people's expectations are different about how tough the shoot will be and when what they expect to get out of the experience isn't gelling with what they are getting.
 
Last edited:
JD, I totally agree, my comment was not towards the original poster, but more towards the punks he had to deal with.

I felt bad that he sacrificed his own time, and had a pretty crappy time. You think that if you are doing something like this for free, at the very least you'll enjoy yourself... it's just too bad that he wasn't able to because of this director (and I use the title very loosely).

I realized after I posted, it might be interpereted that way (dangerous), but I thought JD's a mature man, he'll understand... guess I was wrong.

Kidding.

I guess by fun I mean "enjoyable" or "rewarding" or "buzzword"...

Ok, I'll stop now. :)
 
lol, of course I undertand. :laugh:

just had that specific "fun" issue come up before, and am trying to learn from it and proceed accordingly
 
I agree with you on most everything except for one point. Mr. No-talent-nobody-horrible-slavedriving-idiot director with a horrible movie is actually my nickname most of the time, but I have learned one thing. When you have a crew, use it to best make the movie. In one of my first big projects I did everything, I didnt have much of a crew but even with the few people I had, I DID IT ALL. I set up every light set up the audio, directed the actors checked the script did all the set design shot the movie...and the list goes on. I think about it now and cringe, remembering how I would set down the camera and climb up a ladder to turn off and on a light up in the rafters of the barn we were shooting at, a rediculous amount of times during every shooting day there. And what were the actors doing while I did this...not dilligently rehearsing lines like I asked them, they were just sitting, watching me run around like crazy haha. So sometimes it's be an a**hole or look like an idiot.

Since then I've learned the lesson of delegating, and if in setting up a scene, I have a crew enough to do it, I WILL let them do the physical work unless I deem getting the physical work done my number one priority. The kind of actors I normally end up working with don't just learn lines on their own, and I'll go as far as saying that no actors learn their lines the way you want them to on their own. So most of the time if I have a crew large enough to set up the scene on their own, I'll have them do that so that I can make sure the actors are making progress, because one thing worse than having to do physical work is standing around a set up set wasting time because the actors and or the director has no idea how the scene is going to work. Now I always try to thank people and I always tell people how I'd like things set up but in many cases there is a better more creative use for the director than the purely physical end of setting things up. So sometimes, it's be an a**hole or waste everyones time and lose quality.

Also, I know you hate him, and I don't blame you but give this director a little bit of credit. As I'm sure you know, making a movie is tough and stressfull so although its not cool, try not to hate him for being uptight and stressed. I tend to agree that if you arent paying people you shouldnt yell at them, and really you don't have the right to BUTTTT. I just finished my first feature(which was no-budget) and I didn't yell at anyone the entire time, but let me tell you it was tempting. What am I supposed to do when on the biggest day of filming (based on the importance of the scene, the amount of money spent, and the time commitment involved) an actor just decides to not call me, not answer his phone and just NOT show up at all. I shot around him(taking a big hit on quality)....and later didnt say anything negative to him at all which honestly made me seem weak. And believe it or not the same thing had happened before on a less important scene and all I said was something like "It's alright man, but you kind of screwed us over" maybe thats why he thought he could do it again and this time REALLY screw us over. So sometimes it's be an A**hole or lose respect and be seen as weak.

Finally there were times where I had to be a jerk and break up the fun, most days actors would just screw around and be goofing off all the time and then complain that things werent going that fast. Most of the time I didnt wanna be an a**hole and ruin everyones fun. But some times there were deadlines and times people had to leave by and I had to force people to buckle down, shut up and work...and everyone hated me for it...but sometimes you have to know that they would hate you even more if the scene wasnt finished and they all had to come back another day. Honestly if I hadnt chosen times to push my people the movie might never have gotten finished. So sometimes, its be an a**hole now or be an a**hole later, and other times its be an a**hole or don't finish the movie.

In conclusion...sometimes being a director means being an a**hole, I guess its just something we all have to deal with.

PS. I definately sympathize with your situation and don't want you to think otherwise, and if the guy is as bad as all that then you can rest assured he won't get anywhere and just never work with him again...sucks about your wasted time tho
 
If you get farther by not being nice, maybe you should just be the biggest a-hole that ever lived. The Weinsteins are notoriously "not nice" and they got pretty damn far. James Cameron is supposed to be ruthlessly not-nice and he's done pretty well for himself too. The list goes on and on. I just don't respect it. But I've also met some very admirable decent people who are sane and civil. Clint Eastwood is supposed to be a real pro. I met Peter Casey (creator of Fraser and Cheers) and he's the most decent, professional gazillionaire producer around.

Oh, and I wasn't looking for sympathy from my original post. Honest. I re-read the original post now, and it sounds bitter, maybe like I was much more "affected" by the experience than I am. I'm very over it, believe me. I've been through way worse. But I did find it morally reprehensible. And I try to spread the gospel that decent, respectful and very talented people should get ahead, not users and abusers. I can't keep my mouth shut when I see people behaving insensitively or unjustly (and sometimes I'd do well to keep that mouth shut, no doubt).

Anyway, on a stressful shoot, we all can lose our cool. Losing your cool because an actor just decides not to show is justified. I would too. I'd probably never forgive him. That's a lot different than the guy who shows up on your set and busts his butt and doesn't do something to your imperious satisfaction. My original post was really about ruminating about how one should run a no-budget set in general, not just a critique of this one nobody director (though, for me, he served as an excellent starting point).
 
The kind of actors I normally end up working with don't just learn lines on their own, and I'll go as far as saying that no actors learn their lines the way you want them to on their own. So most of the time if I have a crew large enough to set up the scene on their own, I'll have them do that so that I can make sure the actors are making progress, because one thing worse than having to do physical work is standing around a set up set wasting time because the actors and or the director has no idea how the scene is going to work
Click to expand...
This is a very interesting point from Nobody356, that I would remember on my film project.

But at the same time……
Agreed that it is not a democracy on the set, but from the original post in the thread I get a feeling that the guy was really insulted, also others where treated badly (of course it’s my guess). I don’t think anyone has an artistic license to hurt others emotionally so much that the guy feels bad enough to come in a public forum like ours to vent it out.

P.S. Even though I manage other kinds of projects, my exposure in moviemaking is null.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top