low budget film barriers

Azmyth

Azmyth

Veteran
I'm going to be shooting a low budget zombie horror flick here soon, in the next 6 months. I was wondering if you all could share some of the things most people don't prepare for that could happen, and how you've gotten past it.. to help us newbies like myself not make the same mistakes..

issues such as:

- locations (shooting in the middle of town, in the country, using people's property, public places such as parks, beaches.. etc. How did u secure them and what issues did you have trying or once you got on set to try and shoot)

- authority (did you hire a cop, how does that work? How does it help?)

- issues with casting?

- issues with props, effects?, crew?
 
We shot a no budget short in my hometown a month back.

I spent 200 dollars out of pocket for food and travel. Cast and crew of 20, full US Army gear for 3 leads and 5 extras. Two street closures. One private location. And one city location.

Honestly, call the town/city you want to shoot in. Usually they will give you a run around or just give you permit info. But try to find someone in the city that has worked with independent film makers before. Search through the newspapers website locally. See if any names associated with the city come up and contact them.

The city set everything else up. Including police, permits, numbers of whom to call for locations, and they sponsored the film and thus waived our insurance requirement.

Cops help in traffic control and especially when you are using prop weapons.
 
You might consider approximating your budget. A $20 feature saves money differently than a $5 million movie (in many ways at least) and both can be considered low budget depending on who you're talking to.

My first piece of advice is hiring a producer that's worked in your budget range before, and created good films there. A good one can be worth their weight in gold.

Don't forget sound. And feed your cast and crew.
 
We filmed a no/low budget Zombie horror film that took place at a high school, though we filmed it at a college since the locations were easier to secure. But if I had any advice its to always bring food - fed cast is a happy cast = don't mind working for free.

In terms of props, in our film one of our main weapons was a Louisville Slugger, and at the end of the film it gets broken over someones back... so we bought 2 bats... 1 that we ran around with and 1 that was pre cut to "break"...

For our special effects we actually "hired" someone who was fresh out of a make-up/effects school. She was looking to build her reel/portfolio and instead of working for a fee I just paid for all her matierals. It ran about $600 - and for that we got a life cast of someones head for a decapitation a lot of flesh being ripped of peoples bodies, blood, the zombie makeup, body disecton and various limbs coming off here and there.

So I recommend finding someone like that.
 
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