No Budget Feature Advice

M

mrblue1022

Well-known member
I know there are some people on here who have shot some no-budget features. I want to hear about your experiences. The good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between. I'm toying with the idea of shooting a no-budget feature and I'm looking for the best advice before jumping into it.
 
No budget or low budget?
Food and Transportation for a feature can be expensive without spending a penny on anything that appears on screen. Patience...lots of patience.
 
I think I'll have to echo Arson's question concerning No-Budget. EVERY movie has a budget. How much money are you calling no budget?
 
If it all takes place in locations you can get free access to, and you can beg or borrow all the lights camera and equipment, and you have enough friends you can convince to show up and help out then go for it. If there's no need to transport people by getting local people and a location thats close to the whole cast and crew then you can not worry about transportation. You can usually bribe people with food, get your mom to cater. Moms are easier to convince than a caterer. If youre the kind of person that can get a group riled up then youd be amazed what can be done for free. We used to pass the hat among the partners to pay for stuff. A 10 here a 20 there can make something happen.
 
Regardless of everything else, your production will rise or fall with the level of your acting. People will put up with a lot, but if you have poor acting, you are wasting your time.
 
Hey, I'm getting ready to launch my first full length surf video this summer. It was NO-BUDGET as well and ended up costing me $50,000. I'd like to add that this figure does not include wages for the camera op, editor, etc. So realistically it's upwards of $80-90 G's, i haven't yet sat down to get an exact figure yet. not bad for no budget.

I'd say go for a short, keep it simple, put more effort into story, lighting, effects stunts and whatever else you can. The bigger your project the less spectacular it will be unless you can hire people to do these other jobs for you.
 
Blaine said:
Regardless of everything else, your production will rise or fall with the level of your acting. People will put up with a lot, but if you have poor acting, you are wasting your time.
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Wisest thing I've ever read on this forum.
 
Blaine said:
Regardless of everything else, your production will rise or fall with the level of your acting. People will put up with a lot, but if you have poor acting, you are wasting your time.
Click to expand...

Can we engrave this on the side of every DVX and HVX sold, please?
 
The no-budget means that I will be borrowing equipment and working with a small volunteer cast and crew. I've done the shorts before and now I'm ready to do a feature.

I also agree with Blaine about acting. Thankfully where I live there is a very strong acting community and I know I won't have any problems finding good actors.
 
Are you a student? If you are, try and use that card. Go to one of your professors who likes you the most and tell them what you're doing. Ask if you can throw around the school's Tax ID # and call it a 'school project'. If you can get that far, things become much easier. Walk into any grocery store and/or food establishment and tell them what you're up to. With that Tax ID #, it is a complete write-off for them. I've done this before. It works.

Besides that little trick, I personally don't believe in NO-budget films. The only fathomable instance where I can imagine a true no-budget film is one where many, many compromises must be made. I think with the right attitude and resources one can achieve much success on VERY LOW-budget films, but limiting yourself to not spending a dime is simply a disservice to the movie itself.
 
IBEJohnson said:
I personally don't believe in NO-budget films. The only fathomable instance where I can imagine a true no-budget film is one where many, many compromises must be made. I think with the right attitude and resources one can achieve much success on VERY LOW-budget films, but limiting yourself to not spending a dime is simply a disservice to the movie itself.
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When I say no-budget, I am talking about working with a volunteer cast and crew and borrowed equipment. Of course I am going to spend money on crafty, camera media and so on.

So, what would your advice be for a very low budget film?
 
mrblue1022 said:
So, what would your advice be for a very low budget film?
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If you ask me, it really all begins with the script. Although this is a commonly known fact, it is important to remember that it will be far easier to make a low-budget film with a small cast and as few locations as possible. Maybe this is why we see so many cabin horror movies from 1st-time directors. As a matter of fact, I just got back from a 6-day shoot... it was a feature-length cabin horror movie. One of things I learned in that process was the difficulty of lighting exterior night scenes. To me, this is where beginners really get exposed for who they are.

I would argue that equally important to a small cast and few locations is to choose a story that can take place mostly during the day. Take The Station Agent for example. One of my favorite movies. But even if you disagree, its hard to argue that this wasn't a great script for an ultra low-budget shoot. Granted, they shot on Super 16 and used notable actors, so the budget was far from nil, but nonetheless, it could have been shot for almost nothing. George Washington is another example. Simple story, good acting (from non-actors), few locations, took place mostly during the day. El Mariachi - We all know that story. Tadpole, notable actors, but the script itself was ultra-low budget. If Reservoir Dogs didn't have that cast it would have cost next to nothing to make. The list goes on.

Also, don't think that just because each of these movies uses public locations that it necessarily increased the budget. The horror I just shot had a scene that took place in a local market. What did we do? Walked right into the local market near the cabin where we shot and asked the owner if we could use it. Within 15 minutes we had secured a location that will give a certain measure of validity to the final output. As the owner claimed time and again, his payment came in the form of getting to hang out on a movie set to see what goes on.

Based on the short list of movies I noted, you can see that comedy or drama is the safest bet. Sci-fi or Action shouldn't even be a consideration unless you are a special effects genius. Otherwise, the effects will look B-grade and it will lower your stock. Horror is something else altogether. I actually think that it falls in the category of sci-fi and action, but since horror movies by nature are dark and gritty, filmmakers can often get away with things that would be considered amateur in any other genre. Personally, if it were my movie, I'd stay away from horror.

Those are just a few points I can think of off the top of my head. Just don't be afraid to ask for favors. You'll be surprised at how many people are willing. Also, I think someone else mentioned this, but another good idea for liquid funds is to ask everyone for small donations. Let's say you had 10 DEDICATED actors/crew (I'm referring to people that truly have a vested interest in this product) and each of them had 10 people that are dedicated to seeing that person succeed. If each one of them donated just $20, you'd have over $2000 over night. Assuming you don't have to buy or rent equipment, that's a pretty darn good start.

E
 
Better to do something than to do nothing...I shot what I referred to as a no-budget film a couple of years ago...it's cost was actually around the $2000 range but it blew out to $5,000 because I decided to do it SAG...still a budget that is barely worth mentioning but it only happens with a lot of favors. You will be surprised at the amount of people that will help you when approached properly. The most important thing in this type of film is the content...ie. story and acting...Blaine is correct that if the acting sucks, so too will the final; product...ultimately though, there are thousands of people that will criticize your work, screenplay, film ideas but ask yourself, how many have actually completed anything... there is a lot to be said for someone who actually completes and finishes that which he sets out to achieve...GO FOR IT...better than sitting at home and dreaming about it...you will learn on the job too...learn from your mistakes and your experiences...

The Sundance Media Group published my book on this topic this week and it was released at NAB...I recommend that you give it a read...if nothing else, for the inspiration...the original movie is included as a bonus with the book and it is a feature...The film is not sweetened in any way to illustrate the value of the content over the technical so you will see it warts and all...

You can get it here www.vasst.com

You can contact me ...I'd be more than happpy to talk to you about it at more length...

Best,
Stan Harrngton
www.xristosproductions.com
www.igfdb.com
 
I've produced two no-budget features both of which got picked up for distribution (which is a long sordid tale of it's own), but my main piece of advice is just do the film. Just do it. Both of which were entirely paid for out of me and my partners wallets.

A million people are going to tell you not to and that you're crazy and that it'll never get done and it will never sell. F#*@'em. Just do it.

The two most important things you'll need are dedication and desire. You are going to need every single person involved to have those things in spades. You aren't paying them so they need to want to be there and you have to be sure that they will be there. If a lesser actor or actress seems way more likely to be there cast him or her. Diva bull$#!t will kill your movie dead. You can cover up a lot in the editing room and through multiple takes. A bad actor who shows up is more valuable than a great actor who doesn't.

The only thing I would worry about spending money on is consumables. Food, batteries, tape and lodging if necessary (by tape I mean media, be it tape or disk or drive). Food will keep your talent and crew happy. No batteries means no power. No power means no movie. If you don't have tape then you can't shoot. Everything else get what you can get for free and use that.

You've never shot a feature so you're going to make mistakes. Tons of them. You'll learn from them and not do them next time. If you can pull off a feature for no money that is watchable people will be impressed. You may not sell it you may not get funding for the next one, but no matter what you'll get something out of it and you will improve for the next one. You learn by doing so get out and do it.
 
IBE and Blaine hit it.

Get a GREAT script. Not "good", not "good-enough", not "has potential" not "cool"

If you don't know what makes a great script work then back up and take care of that. Because really, since you have no marketing machine, no name actors and no multi million dollar effects set-up, people will actually be paying attention to the story.

And then, get the absolute best actors you can find. Not the prettiest, but the best. If you don't know what makes a great actor, see point number one.

Then you have the beginnings of a long, painful, confusing and masochistic experience where you will constantly second-guess yourself, lose you perspective and go insane. But the movie might turn out okay :beer:

Why no budget? Why not raise money?

EDIT: Also agree with mjvolzer. An insane amount of dedication and persistence. No one will give a crap about this project half as much as you do, so don't expect them to. Make the movie, then sleep
 
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