Lessons for the No-Budget Feature
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- In the late 1980s and 1990s, there was a great movement in independent cinema of no-budget filmmaking that was the beginning for some of the most successful and popular filmmakers of the modern day. Let's take a look at five features from that movement and see what lessons we can learn on how to make a great film with as little money as possible.
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For educational purposes only. Press the CC button for film titles.
Interviews/Documentaries-
Good Taste Meets Bad Taste (1987) - bit.ly/2eHFh02
The Making of El Mariachi- The Robert Rodriguez Ten Minute Film School - bit.ly/2fne18w
Christopher Nolan on Following- Conversations Inside the Criterion Collection - bit.ly/1tNbuSH
Richard Linklater on Slacker - bit.ly/2fD6INs
Mark Kermode reviews Inglourious Basterds - bit.ly/2eHC8NX
(and hello to Jason Isaacs...)
Further Reading-
Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez - amzn.to/2fpAjVJ
Spike, Mike, Slackers, and Dykes by John Pierson - amzn.to/2fLXeyB
The ABC's of No-Budget Filmmaking by Peter Broderick - bit.ly/2fDeG9t
You can follow me through:
Twitter- / andymsaladino
Vimeo- vimeo.com/theroyaloceanfilmso...
I think it's more difficult today in a sense that we live in a culture where everyone needs to broadcast themselves constantly. Back in the 80s and 90s, you could make hundreds of low budget short films that no one ever saw. This gave you a chance to actually build up your chops. Today, people want a feature length film right off the bat. Telling a story is the most important part of film making, it takes just as much time to learn how to do this through the camera than it does to actually understand the technical elements of film making.
It’s easier to find 5 cats that own te latest and greatest cameras than finding 1 dude that understand storytelling and knows how to write a compelling script. Anyone can shoot but not anyone can write.
think creative.
no excuses.
do it anyways, never give a fuck.
remember why you started filming.
protect the talent and never let it go.
There should be more comments like yours man 😄
yours is the best comment i have ever read
Don't talk to me I'm 90 yr old
I hate u
@@rulebritania5391 well you don’t spell like your a 90 year old, or do you act like one
"Let your limitations guide you" includes script writing. Big budget film makers start with a script, knowing they have the whole world to scout for locations and swarms of acting hopefuls wanting to be in a big budget movie. A micro-budget film maker has to go the opposite route: First, scout to see what locations are available for you; and look at the capabilities of each actor you have and how they can work together. Build your story around available locations and available actors.
Werner Herzogg would probably tell you that filmmaking itself is the problem solving device itself that you can lean on; it’s a good idea to set up realistic expectations certainly but also not to diminish the ability of the craft to rise above heights one might perceive as possible. You just have to solve problems creatively.
@@xenoherder6491 That's an excellent point. When a low-budget (or, in my case, "no-budget") filmmaker writes a script, there's the temptation to omit some good ideas because they don't seem possible. My approach is to put the idea in the script anyway. Every script undergoes some changes during the filming process, anyway; so, keep it in unless you have to change it then. By the time the scene is to be filmed, you may discover a way to make it possible. I'm currently working on a short film on how to create otherwise unavailable filming locations by using commonplace technology such as PowerPoint and Paint. I intend to release it around January 2024, concurrent with another project.
Two months ago I shot a 3 to 5min short film on my apartment floor with my Lg stylo phone. I showed a couple of people and thought I needed a better camera and a more clear story. I was so worried that I needed a dslr and all this expensive equipment. I got frustrated and left it alone for awhile.This video gave me more confidence to keep trying and have fun.I am in the process of finishing it up now.
Rica Smith pls let us now when you are done c:
I wish you the best.
That's awesome
Good luck !!
I know this comment is 4 years old, but just know it's never too late to try again (assuming you never finished it). This comment is more for everyone. Spend the next weekend writing a silly script and apply it to film. Notice the excitement you feel when you stop worrying about how it's going to turn out, and start focusing on the process. It's fun! It's exactly the reason you started out to begin with. You won't get better without making incredibly bad films. You could be the most ambitious person, you've wrote 20 different scripts, but when it comes to filming what happens? Your expectations come in and you hit a wall. It's hard to internalize, but I'll say it simply.. The quicker you understand that you're not going to make a good film immediately, the quicker you'll have something finished and moving onto the next. And then in a few years you'll have something you're truly proud of. Stick to it and apply, apply, apply! It's less about making something good, and more about enjoying what you're doing.
I hate short student films about 2 very serious "criminals" with no character, having a very slow and serious dialouge exchange with one of them at gunpoint filled with unnessecary silent pauses for no reason other than "well Quentin Tarantino does it so that means that's how you make a scene suspenseful"
Tarantino worship is the single worst thing to happen to first-time filmmakers and filmmaking in general. If you have to ape somebody else's style, at least pick someone everybody else isn't already aping.
amen, brother
Following is an awesome film, actually. It's not at the level of Memento, but still a solid 7.5/10.
@@patbastardandthespurious5822 why does Tarantino get slack for "ripping off" other directors even though all famous directors do it?
I hate clowns that cry about their hatred of other people's films
I completely agree with "don't take yourself too seriously" Especially now trying to find low budget features to help inspire me always end up being boring horribly acted/written romances or dramas. When you have NO producers or other influence's to tell you what you can and can't do why not try and do something different and experiment? You know trying to make art, the whole point of filming
I have so many ideas for a film that I want to do. The problem is I have no friends that I can shoot it with, and I'm camera shy.
Edit: 4 years later, and I'm currently writing my first film, and I'm planning on shooting it very soon. Really, the problem with me was that i didn't have my own income. Now, I don't need friends, I can just hire actors.
EDIT 2: The main actor/co writer to this film turned out to be a massive creep so i cut off all ties with him and now I'm back at square one
Joe Kerr I have scripts and I wanna be an actor too but my problem is the same as yours , I don't have that many friends haha , also I don't have money to buy a good camera :(
Joe Kerr best advise and it's what I'm gonna do in about a year just move somewhere with a lot of film buffs and people passionate about it (film schools or major cities) just gotta start doing basically
Mario Alvarez I'm in high school. Where I live is not currently in my power.
I'd say, if you have a camera (including a phone camera), just to try and film something yourself. Act out a small bit of your script, or figure out a way to write a film that will work with just you as an actor and the places you can film in as a set. You don't have to show it to anybody, but it is hands down the best way to build talent and confidence. Then you can build up to the projects you want to make. Don't worry if your first film isn't great - nobody's is. It takes practice to get good, and you can only get that by making films.
Plus, it's just a lot of fun :)
Max Power Oh, and I do think having a top end camera is overrated. Films with a better camera will be better, yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't make good films with a cheap camera. The example everyone uses is Tangerine - screened at Sundance, shot on a phone.
"you have to let your limitations guide your story."...that is on point. Everything if have written, with purpose to shoot, was motivated by what I had access to...i.e actors, locations, equipment.
Every time I doubted myself on making my first film I come back to this video. As I’m about to start filming in the next few weeks I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for providing the perfect amalgam of both examples and inspiration to start my journey of filmmaking. If it weren’t for the stuff in this video, I’d probably still be sitting on my ass dreaming but now, I may just have a shot.
The last advice was great, i written and directed a short film on my grade project about time travell and i put some comedy elements on it. My crew were very upset about that and they were reluctant to film it. At the end my script was the only option to film and we done it. The presentation day of the grade projects was awful because all the directors take their films so seriously that they were boring as hell, until i presented mine with silly jokes and special effects. People were laughing and enjoying the film, so awesome. By the end of the day i didn't win best film because there was a comrade director that made a really fun horror short film that was better than mine, but still was a great expierience.
Fabián Mozo r u still making films
Feno Mozo that’s awesome dude there seriously needs to be more fun movies from both indie and studio filmmakers
What about movies like Primer? How the hell did Carruth craft such a wonderfully shot, edited, scored, and written film? I get he did the bulk of that and knew the actors (who weren't anything special) but it astonishes me how such a professional looking film can be shot on such a micro-budget.
he had a university in his hand. He was still at university at the time, he probably used there resources
Carruth taught himself photography so that he could shoot the film. That's why it doesn't look like Clerks and the others. The DPs of those other films either had zero experience or had only shot shorts. Carruth on the other hand had been shooting test projects for years to refine the look of the film.
@@AreaCode000 Listen to his commentary for primer, he talks the nuts and bolts of getting shots/lighting right and shooting on film
Yeah, and "The Florida Project" which is beautiful and somehow was filmed using an iPhone!
@@zetetick395 i mean in all honesty TFP and Tangerine look like complete shit
As a filmmaker going from $100K+ Music Videos [2 day shoot] to $100K Feature [10+ days] where I'm also the Cinematographer, great little reminder of what's important/prioritize. Man nothing get's your blood & brain pumping like low-budget narrative filmmaking. Cheers for the vid.
And all this great advice is practically ignored by most people wanting to make films and trying to get into "the industry" in the age of a new 4K camera coming out every other week, technophiles and people who believe that if you aren't making a film exactly the way Hollywood would, you "aren't being professional".
2:15 poor harry potter
He got his revenge at 8:37 ;)
Trae B Yeah, that *does* look rather Excruciatus.
Lmaoooooooooooooo
One for slytherin !
I guess you can argue that you're limited by the size of your sd card. If you want to force yourself to be more frugal, precise, and thoughtful with your cinematography, get a small size card.
i was thinkin that, for students somehow take away the delet photo button and get like a 25MB SD card ahahaha
That's true 👌
I used to watch this video at least twice a year since 2016. 5 years later and I'm watching this video again but this time I finally have a feature film under my belt. Times have changed drastically since the films mentioned in this video were made. Sales agents and festivals really couldn't care less about a no-budget film with no stars. If you're going to make a no-budget feature film, it needs to be one of the best films ever for you to have any chance of breaking out. Best of luck to anyone reading this.
Beautiful! I have shot, edited, recorded, written and directed no budget films before and have experienced a lot of what was said in this essay, using locations and what little you have to your advantage, and working with just precise footage (enough to carry the scene) and not having a master to work with. Now knowing so many famous and acclaimed directors have done the same filled me with a great sense of joy and it makes me feel better about the work I have done. Amazing video Andrew!
Love Slacker and that style that was carried forward into other Linklater films such as Waking Life.
Most of the video was great, but one of the things that pisses me off about modern cinema is that they DON'T take their selves seriously enough. Every fucking action movie has to have a couple of jokes before the climax. It's really annoying. For me that is being pretentious.. having a 400 million dollar budget, making a film that will reach the entire world, yet you HAVE to make it make fun of itself cause you're just oh-so above any of this fictional shit!
I feel it's actually more accurate to say: don't make a big deal out of your personal drama kid, everyone has a hard time. What almost all pretentious shit movies have in common is that they try to make an enormous deal out of a break-up or something else that is pretty meaningless. But when you're doing action.. fiction.. every single aspect of your movie has to belong inside that world.. like Miyazaki's movies.. they take themselves 100% seriously, in ridiculously fantastic stories, yet they are believable and great, because the entire world is built in the premise of it being a real world, a real story.
If you are pointing at the audience and shouting "H-hey guys!.. you know this is just a movie right?! Don't get too excited or scared!" you're shooting yourself in the foot, unless you're specifically doing comedy.
If you disagree name me one fucking Marvel movie that doesn't at some point throws a stupid joke in an otherwise suspenseful scene.
I think that's part of the last tip. It's a bit more convulluted to get, but back in the 80s you had b movie flicks that were so bad they were good, yet nowadays all that seems to be done in this self aware wink at the camera kinda way, somehow trying to elevate the work by being self aware. Thankfully we still have Neil Bren.
Anime Critical Thinker
Praise be to Breen.
Yeah, I like silly movies too, but they are just completely different. One movie that has comedy, goes over the top in multiple occasions and yet still can take it self seriously and deliver powerful punches is 7 psychopaths. I recommend it to anyone trying to understand what the fuck it is I am saying.
tabundo001 MAD MAX
I loved Mad Max. It's 100 times better on cinema than on a small computer screen though. Anyone that just saw it on their laptops needs to see it with a decent 5.1 sound set-up and a big-ass screen. It's a great experience.
2:10 did I just witness harry potter's death?
HAHHAH
ive been watching youtube videos on how to make a short film/ no budget film every day for like 3 months straight and this is by far the best one, and had lessons and tips that I had never heard before. thank you so much
I re-watch this video every couple of week just for inspiration. Thanks for making such a great video!
Same!
Yet another great video essay Andrew! I love the way you present each video I'm able to learn so much !
This is so encouraging. Thank you. I watch it over when I'm overwhelmed or discouraged.
8:18 An essay on that would be interesting.
This is one of the best videos I've seen in a while, great job.
Absolutely correct. Thank you for the encouragement. Cause it does get a little daunting. But something in you say No you can’t give up
I like Bad Taste, but Brain Dead / Dead Alive is amazing.
I just found your channel and your stuff genuinely gives me the push i need. Thank you.
This was fantastic. I will recommend this to film friends far and wide. I released my first no budget feature film Son of Clowns last year and man can I say that when you just embrace your surroundings and give up on a million and one ways to make it look like some big to-do you finally unlock something even better. The truth. Comes through performances too. Keep making stuff!
I've found every excuse in the book and wrote another book just to catalog more excuses. Doing my first short this December. Been through hell these past two years but watching this has given me hope. I have a very good cellphone and filmic pro. Time to make history.
Thank you so much for this video Andrew, it was incredibly inspirational.
These videos are absolutely amazing! Great work!
as a total beginner in filmmaking, I must say... this was quite inspiring....
This is so incredibly refreshing. Thank you so much for making this video
Describing a peace of world, hometown, and talking about what makes it specific, unique, characters into it! This is a huge advice. It really helps me. Thank you !
I've seen a lot of videos, that have inspired me to become a film maker, but this by far has inspired me the most.
I love your channel. Keep up the good work! Very inspiring stuff.
Hey, loved this viedeo. As an independent filmmaker i assure you this was my first idea for my no budget film. Just didn't know it was this deep. Thanks man.
This is invaluable. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
great video!! i would reccomend YMS' interview with Matt Johnson (Dir. The Dirties) for some low-budget film banter
the aphex twin song at the beginning really complimented the nostalgic imagery at the beginning. good choice!
I watched this video so many times two years ago , thank you for this. I just finished editing my no-budget feature.
Hi! I just found your channel! Totally loved it! Great content!
Great vid, some interviews and snippets in there I hadn't seen before, thanks! I think about my films, and yeah, they've all been inspired by (and then usually set in/at) places that I know, that I have or can probably get access too, then the story finds it's way. Resource film making is great and the necessary reality for most of us.
Always good to revisit the R. Rodriguez 10 min film school bits.
Excellent video and thanks for the pointers
This video has the most powerful message I have ever come across as an aspiring film maker. 'Not taking your films too seriously' not only makes me feel happy that finally someone has said what needs to be said but also takes a huge weight off my shoulder in that before watching this I was probably going to make a typical thriller that is creatively dead. THANK YOU.
Great video, really informative and well put together! :)
I come back to this video alot. Thanks :)
Good video, sir. Gives me a lot to think about.
Great video man, very insightful.
Wow. That was inspiring! Thanks for this Video!
I was in Stripped To Kill and Stripped To Kill II. I don't think there was a third. But the director and producer did make a third movie titled Streets with Christina Applegate. All were Corman films.
Great essay!!
This is one of the best channels of video essays on cinema
Much love!
solid video, for this you get a subscribe. Thanks! and I loved the part about being so serious because sometimes I take my work way too seriously, I love the truth in that :)
Thank you for this , thank you
Thank you for this amazing video! Thank you!
Thanks for being so genuine! Really!
Im someone whose wanting to get into film and be a filmmaker, i find this to be extremely inspiring and it has even inspired me to make my own films!
i'm making a movie and i'm doing exactly what is advised here. i'm showing the world around with and how i expierence it with my friends. But i forgot that i watched this essay beforehand and maybe without knowing i followed the advise. thanks for this amazing video essay!
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
brilliant video, very helpful, I've subscribed
Excellent advice! Thank you :)
Great video! Making a feature film with limited resources is such a great skill and confidence building experience if you can do it (and you can!)
amazingly inspiring
Thanks for the info
I love it, but especially the "so can we" at the end, and not "so can you". Thanks :)
Great insight! Thanks!
I needed this 🙏 thank you
enjoyed this . thank you!
I'm in love with this channel
Awesome advice bro
This is amazing thank you!!
Great stuff as usual!
Incredibly, despite starting principal photography on my feature in 2011-2012 (with a few shots filmed as far as 2007) on digital I still managed to get that same situation as with film: the limitation was that my awful Sony Handycam was a Mini-DVD camcorder so I had 25-30 minutes per disc and I usually only had two or three on me. The downside is that a lot of footage is not looking that well as later footage filmed in HD after 2015, as camcorder's maximum was 720p, but... It's just another limitation and I view it like this: in edit I'll be forced to make that watchable and I know I will.
Thank you, Andrew
The purpose of using black and white film wasn't to disguise the budget it was caused by the budget. Following and Clerks were shot on a particular type of film stock called Black and White Reversal. It was the cheapest type of film on the market.
Exactly. We had to shoot on what we could afford.
Thanks for the great advice :)
Hey! I'm a film student from Singapore. Thanks for your videos. They're awesome and inspiring. ANYWAY I watched your video on 'study more than film' and man I have a long way to go (I'm so lazy too - but hey, that's how I stumbled onto your videos!!!! Hahaha)
p.s. Also thanks for the message; it's stressing being in art school and annoyed at how everyone seemed really fake and bullshitty and how i kinda sorta might be too, constantly being so concerned on what my work seemed like, or if it was good or not. Thank you.
Keep doing what you do :D
LOVE this channel ❤👍
Thank you so much this is amazing
Thank you man, seriously thanks
Awesome video! 👏👏👏
Great vid just subbed!!!
Thank you Andrew. For all this time ive felt arrogant about my ideas. Felt like id take too seriously, because im young. Still do..
This inspired me to sit down and just start writing and writing in a notebook. Thanks man.
Ridiculously good channel!!
Your insight and knowledge, combined with your authenticity.. equals Supreme Content.
FYI, you are my most favorite channel. And I subscribe to 70 channels.
I feel obliged to say thanks. 👍
Just know that you are appreciated.
This is the most helpful video i have seen in so long
I can't tell you how influential this video has been for me since i watched it 4 years ago. It's changed my entire way of thinking about my films. Thank you.
That was awesome!!!
Got nothing but respect for RR and his family. Worked with them and would do it again in a heartbeat. Everyday is a learning experience with them.
dude love your vid
Love the show, Steve. HELLO TO JASON ISAACS.
Hey Andrew,
I don't know if I could agree with you on this one. All the "no money" films you gave us as example had at least a 6 000 USD budget. I know that it's not a big amount of money from the perspective of the film industry, but if the filmmaker is really a "came from nothing" director as you virtualize, it can be a problem, as so many other things.
Things have really changed since '87 and 98' and you know it too. Chris Nolan's film really looks like it had no budget but the other ones are different.
- Bad taste looks like tons of SFX and looks like it needed a lot of things that a big project needs (masks, location, props, more props and guns, which costs a lot then and now, even if they are shitty).
- Slacker has professional camera and sound work (even if it's minimal), you show a shot in a restaurant or bar which was made with a tripod on a dolly (or I don't know may be from hand on a wheelchair, but I don't think so and it's not the french new wave anymore)
- I'm sure it was not easy to film in Mexico in 92' but that shot when he lands on a bus after sliding on a rope... do you really expect LITERALLY no budget filmmakers to do that? Nowadays it's a horror to get locations in a city if you are not a producer or a studio, just a film student, I experienced it. And if you decide to film in 'guerilla' you will have problems publishing your work. I have some stories about it.
- Nowadays all the people care about is looks, according to my experience, if I did something like El mariachi, I would be laughed on, If you don't look professional at least a bit, people would not take you seriously.
- The 8mm footage you showed at the beginning, I don't know if it is part of Slacker or not, nowadays could be used only for videoclips for hipster bands, which is not bad, but cheap dslr and phone footage looks much shittier and doesn't have that nostalgic visual style either and if you try to mimic it with filters it will look bad.
When we talk about no budget filmmaking it's never REALLY no budget, or if it is most of the times something that doesn't cost money, has to be brilliant (the story or the actors who work for free, etc...) Even "À bout de souffle" was made from a shit ton of money (shit ton for an ordinary guy, like me). If your picture and sound is crappy (like amateurish), it is really hard to enjoy a film in my opinion.
I'm glad that your channel exists, and all I can say is keep up the good work and thank you!
Well Following I think had a $6K budget but I'm pretty sure most of that was because of film (getting it, developing it, cutting it) In the digital age that we are in, its so much easier and cheaper to do. It definitely doesn't look as nice but it works.
Great stuff, the only difference is I do have faith in the upcoming genius filmmakers of our generations. And I do believe they will be born from the current no-budget world of diy filmmakers with unique perspectives : )
A new wave of cinema is coming☮️
if you don't mind me asking, what do u do ?
great channel 👍
Hey Andrew, tell the name of the song in the end of the video. PS, i love your lessons.
I totally agree