Do you think it's possible to shoot an AMAZING feature for under $10,000?

[Jawa Ex Machina]

Sorry, wrong.-

It depends on what you call amazing.
I call a amazing story amazing. If you have an amazing story, you can shoot it in one room with minimal equipment.

Actually, can I change my mind?

How about this?

If the audience (not counting your friends or family) says it's amazing, that's a good enough definition to me.

 

[Kholi]

I agree Primer is above and beyond both El Mariachi and Clerks, but those were not my picks.
Obviously a decent film made for ten grand can get picked up for distribution.
.

Alright, so basically the only thing that's separating the masses is the keyword AMAZING

Let's say we all agree to ignore the word Amazing in the title and change it to one of the following: Decent, Good, Sell-able, WATCHABLE, or even Theatrical-Worthy. Theatrical-Worthy doesn't mean amazing, I think we can all agree on that.

Under those terms, it seems like most people here agree that 10K spending cash and a lot of donated favors or time is enough to do something decent or good with today's tech and resources.

Me thinks it's time to see it.

 

[Kholi]

... The goal for the film would be for it to actually be sold, not art for art's sake.

Well, I dunno what indie planet you're from but you can't call yourself an indie if you're trying to make something that sells to an audience. Once you cross that border you're no longer part of the movement.

>

 

[Brian_Rice]

Well, I dunno what indie planet you're from but you can't call yourself an indie if you're trying to make something that sells to an audience. Once you cross that border you're no longer part of the movement.

>

I just thought it was worth clarifying if/when something like this were to ever happen that the script choosing process would want to be based on shootability as well as salesability not, necessarily, on its "amazingness"

 

[Kholi]

I just thought it was worth clarifying if/when something like this were to ever happen that the script choosing process would want to be based on shootability as well as salesability not, necessarily, on its "amazingness"

Haha! The > Face meant I was being facetious.

If I were to ever break my neck and spend money that I earned/saved on something, you'd better believe I'm going to do everything within my budget and power to make sure that I can sell it to someone. Even if it makes me feel that I'm not in the true indie spirit.

 

[keylight]

So, what I'm getting from this is -- a lot of people saying you "can" do it, but not a whole lot of evidence. And a lot of people saying you can't do it, which the "can" folks think is negativity.

So let's take some of the "can's" - Hudson, Hicks, and Callaghan. Gentlemen, start your engines. Callaghan, pen a brilliant script that takes place in one location. Hudson will direct it, Hicks will shoot it, I'll exec-produce, and I'll bring the ten grand and a vanload of camera, lighting, and sound gear. Not a 10-ton truck, maybe 1/4-ton, but enough to get it shot.

Just has to be do-able on the budget, and I'm not gonna want to work that hard, so -- one location. [SNIP]

Offer on the table.

Very generous offer. Make sure you have everyone sign contracts so you can protect yourself and your investment (ownership, copyright, liability, indemnification...). Given the sureness by these folks that it CAN be done, you'll want to hire a lawyer to write up contracts that are tailored to this project so everyone is on the same page. That'll eat into the $10K of course.

 

[CallaghanFilms]

Can't talk...researching the home fumigation process.

 

[Kholi]

Very generous offer. Make sure you have everyone sign contracts so you can protect yourself and your investment (ownership, copyright, liability, indemnification...). Given the sureness by these folks that it CAN be done, you'll want to hire a lawyer to write up contracts that are tailored to this project so everyone is on the same page. That'll eat into the $10K of course.

Again, never said I could or would do it. The stuff that I'm interested in? The baseline quality that I would want? I can't do it for less than thirty to fifty thousand baseline. I've got a one-location feature that I wouldn't try for less than 75K, and that's a "this is all you can have" scenario.

But, I do not doubt that there is someone even on these forums that can put together a good project (or decent) for that amount of cash spent.

30-50K? Different story for me. 10K? Well, I'm rooting for whoever wants to do it!

 

[keylight]

LoL! Hey! I already said I wouldn't try to do it below 30-50K. I am just saying that some little filmmaking team out there, with skills in all areas, could probably make a decent or good little feature if they had ten grand in spending cash.

I personally would not do it.

Besides... I've got a better one location script that I've been working on... I'll send it over. >:]

Since you're changing all of the terms of the original question, I created a new poll for you:

Do you think it's possible to shoot a DECENT LITTLE feature for under $10,000?

 

[Kholi]

Since you're changing all of the terms of the original question, I created a new poll for you:

Do you think it's possible to shoot a DECENT LITTLE feature for under $10,000?

Eh, I'm not sssuurrreee we need another thread to go through the same thing over and over again. That's what this one is for! haha. The same people saying no will say no, same people saying yes will say yes.

Call it what it is, agree to disagree!

Somewhere else someone is saying you can't do a decent full length feature film for less than 250K. Well, maybe they're right!

 

[keylight]

Eh, I'm not sssuurrreee we need another thread to go through the same thing over and over again. That's what this one is for! haha. The same people saying no will say no, same people saying yes will say yes.

I really wish I didn't have to disagree with you again, but you're wrong. 2 people who said NO in this thread have already said YES in the new one.

Okay, and for the sake of having something we agree on.... Yeah, we don't really need another thread.

 

[J.R. Hudson]

im in

 

[J.R. Hudson]

Very generous offer. Make sure you have everyone sign contracts so you can protect yourself and your investment (ownership, copyright, liability, indemnification...). Given the sureness by these folks that it CAN be done, you'll want to hire a lawyer to write up contracts that are tailored to this project so everyone is on the same page. That'll eat into the $10K of course.

Barry is my main main from Amsterdam Keylight.

 

[CallaghanFilms]

im in

WE're in

 

[J.R. Hudson]

I feel the need

The need for speed. :cheesy:

 

[Eric Boellner]

Would love to be kept up to date with this project. If you guys happen to shoot in or around LA, I'd be more than happy to help out.

 

[J.R. Hudson]

San Diego. Gotta be San Diego Barry !

 

[ugafan]

Just has to be do-able on the budget, and I'm not gonna want to work that hard, so -- one location. Lots and lots of things can be done in one location. Just make it a location they can't get out of, for some reason -- like "Cube". Or, they're quarantined because of a medical outbreak - either they've got it, or everyone else in the world has it so they're quarantined inside a lockdown to keep from getting it. Or they're trapped on a spaceship (let's re-use the "O2" set). Or, they're chained up in the basement of some place. Or, it's a courtroom drama. Or, they're locked up in prison. Or, they're some dumb kids who decided to go into a house that's gonna be fumigated, and the fumigators started while they were still inside. Or... they're human trafficking victims and it takes place inside the cargo shipping container they're stuck in. Or... they're lost at sea and sharks are circling them (wait, that's been done... on a VX2000... and made it to international theatrical release). Or... they're trapped in a Night of the Living Dead house, and whatever the heck is going on outside, we can't see, but we know it's bad, and maybe one of them has already been infected or possessed or whatever but we don't know who, so it's a paranoia thriller... or... well, there's a million different scenarios. Just takes some brilliant writing to craft a screenplay that would hold the viewer's attention while we can't get out of wherever it is we're trapped.
Offer on the table.

a small group takes a weekend vacation to a lakehouse. what they don't realize it is home to an evil aquaman that starts killing them one by one.

 

[vcassel]

I like the positivity for action that Barry's introducing here. Someone asked who's going to handle post and score; I have a BFA in Computer Animation. My focused strength is Particle Flow in 3ds Max and compositing. Also, for 10 years before I even attempted to get into filmmaking, I was a musician/producer who held my own budget warehouse studio. I'll gladly do all that for free on a project we can all deem worthy.

Also, I know of a pretty cool filming location on Willow Street in the Arts District downtown. It looks like an old building from the outside, but inside there is a full nightclub set, living room, bedroom, jail cells, interrogation room, etc. I've met the owner a couple of times and he gives discounts to indie productions. The screenplay I'm currently writing actually utilizes the photo studio there.

I'm already writing a low budget script. I'll have the first and second drafts completed by the end of May as I'm aiming for 6 pages a day. It's a drama I'm planning to film at my apartment, on the Metro (I'm hoping to steal this particular shot), walking down Alameda Street downtown from Union Station (won't be able to steal this shot), the photo studio in that building on Willow Street, and an undetermined restaurant.

Even if my story doesn't fly for the people here, I'm fully in on whatever project that does. So I'm in with what I can bring to the table. I can get a hell of a lot of post work done and I'll add my camera to the mix as a b camera if necessary (it's a GH2). Hell, I'll even cook everyday for the cast and crew.

 

[Kholi]

30-40 minutes is NOT a feature film. And who are you to decide how many stars is decent? Maybe someone thinks that 1 star film=decent. Someone might think that decent film should get at least 3 stars. Who decides the amount of stars for each film so we can decide if it's possible to make a DECENT LITTLE feature film that's actually a short film? IMDB rating? Ebert? You? Everyone? I'm confused.

Yeah, the other thread was also a bit arrogant sounding. 30-40 minutes? Not a feature. Anyway, regardless of HOW MUCH it takes to complete a feature film, the only thing that matters is doing one to begin with and putting your work out there.

No matter which camp you're in, I guess do what you need to do.