After the story has been written it's time for a producer to come in. There are many things for a producer to consider but if they have no budget, then these tips will help.
First figure out the hardest part of your script, a big location, a certain actor, a certain prop. This will help you see where any money you do have needs to go. Simple, but just sitting down and figuring out where what money you have needs to go Is very important.
Next they need to come up with a grand plan of what to do with the film after it is finished, this will help when convincing people to help out with the film for free. It's always a hard thing to get people to work for free. Some tactics you can take are to have a great post production plan so crew and cast could get paid later. Or you can convince a person with lots of experience to help out so that you can sell the experience of working with this guy as the pay for helping on the film. There are lots of people out there looking for help moving forward in their career so they are willing to help out for free.
The next thing to consider as a producer is to be very creative. A producer must be able to come up with ways to save money everywhere without killing a film. A major way to do this is with location. Remember that the viewers can only see what's in the frame, nothing else. If you need to be in a bunker, put your actor in front of a piece of Sheetrock and play the rest off with lighting and sound affects. The mood can be created without grand sets. Be willing to for go grand cover shots so you can shoot a island woods scene in the backyard of someone's house. Be willing to concentrate on sounds and acting to pull off the feel of being at a club when really your in someone's dark basement. Don't forget that creative lighting, sound, and camera angels can save you tons of money in the location department.
Creating a film with no budget as a producer can be stressful, but it will help you see things in a new way. It will make you have to be creative and new and look at things like you never have before!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Creating a great film: "Writing"
A great film starts with a great story. As much as people think they know this part, there are still tons of writers forgetting what makes a story watchable. They worry to much about putting in jokes or special effects. They think to much toward production value instead about what the story truly is about or how it is progressing.
The first thing a writer should do Is outline their whole story. Sounds simple but so many writers just start writing without knowing where their story's going. By outlining your story you can always keep a clear idea of where you story is going, this eliminates the possibility of useless scenes that don't make the story move forward. Eliminating these scenes that don't do anything but maybe make a joke or kill someone will instantly make the story more effective.
Next a writer will want to make sure the characters change over the film and to make sure the progression of that change is spread out over the course of the film. This simple change keeps the audience interested over the whole film because they watch the character change more in each scene. This makes the characters more relatable and more real, because No one in real life would change right away so making the characters change over time makes them realistic.
Another thing a writer can do is write their story to the purpose they have. Meaning if they are planning on putting the script in a film contest or know they will have a huge budget, write a story that has many characters, outrageous locations, or even other planets. However if you know you will be pitching your script to independent film makers or someone who will only be able to raise a small budget, write a story that has minimal actors, one to two locations, and simple shots.
Writing a great story is always hard but if you keep all these things in mind when you write, you will be selling your scripts and winning contests everywhere.
The first thing a writer should do Is outline their whole story. Sounds simple but so many writers just start writing without knowing where their story's going. By outlining your story you can always keep a clear idea of where you story is going, this eliminates the possibility of useless scenes that don't make the story move forward. Eliminating these scenes that don't do anything but maybe make a joke or kill someone will instantly make the story more effective.
Next a writer will want to make sure the characters change over the film and to make sure the progression of that change is spread out over the course of the film. This simple change keeps the audience interested over the whole film because they watch the character change more in each scene. This makes the characters more relatable and more real, because No one in real life would change right away so making the characters change over time makes them realistic.
Another thing a writer can do is write their story to the purpose they have. Meaning if they are planning on putting the script in a film contest or know they will have a huge budget, write a story that has many characters, outrageous locations, or even other planets. However if you know you will be pitching your script to independent film makers or someone who will only be able to raise a small budget, write a story that has minimal actors, one to two locations, and simple shots.
Writing a great story is always hard but if you keep all these things in mind when you write, you will be selling your scripts and winning contests everywhere.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Creating a great film!
Over the next few blog posts we will be talking about what makes a great film and how to do it on a small or a lot of times non-existent budget. The many topics we will discuss will include writing, camera, lighting, sound, and many many more.
Stay tuned for the blog posts that will change how you create your films.
Stay tuned for the blog posts that will change how you create your films.
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