Movies with Extreme Limitations (like 12 angry men, 127 hours, Buried, Brake, Locke)

Hi Whitespace,

I'm also interested in watching and making the same type of film and haven't seen Brake - so thanks for the head's up about that one.

Some more for you to check out are:

All is Lost (2013) - All the action takes place with a single protagonist on a yacht. It stars Robert Redford and was probably quite a big-budget film, but might be worth watching.

Frozen (2010) - Not the animation, obviously, but a film about people stuck on a ski lift. It has some framing scenes to introduce the story, but the vast majority of the film is set on the lift after it gets stuck. I really enjoyed this one.

Open Water (2013) - You've probably already seen this, but if you haven't it's worth checking out. The whole film is basically just a guy and girl treading water while sharks circle.

Phone Booth (2002) - I'm sure you've seen this, but if you haven't it shows how much tension and drama can be squeezed out of just one setting.

There's also a new one about a guy who steps on a landmine - not sure what it's called, but it looks pretty good. And, I might also mention my own little feature film, Fingerface (2015). My limitation was that I didn't even have any actors to work with.

Oh, and check out Cube (1997), which looks to have used the same set over and over in a really cunning way.

Also, Exam (2009), which is a bunch of students taking a really strange test. Actually I really, really enjoyed Exam, and that's probably the film that got me most excited about 'limited set' films.

But there must be plenty more. Let me know if you find any that look good.

Cheers,
Andrew

Hi guys. There seems to exist two kinds of movies of this kind. The version that focuses on cornering the main character I do not like. Them who are told in an a bit more ambitious way, at least trying to come across as a normal entertaining movie, those stage plays thingies - those are sometimes very interesting. The ones I'd mention first are THURSDAY and INTERVIEW. Maybe Polanski's CARNAGE.

Filman said:

Hi guys. There seems to exist two kinds of movies of this kind. The version that focuses on cornering the main character I do not like. Them who are told in an a bit more ambitious way, at least trying to come across as a normal entertaining movie, those stage plays thingies - those are sometimes very interesting. The ones I'd mention first are THURSDAY and INTERVIEW. Maybe Polanski's CARNAGE.

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Can't forget about Rope and Rear Window.

Good question, and I'd like to do something like that to start.

1) An Old man and the sea
2) Rear Window (1954)
3) Paranormal Activity
4) Clerks.

That should get your started.

hitchcocks Lifeboat.

whitespace said:

I'd like to know what good movies there are that are shot with extreme limitations, like 12 angry men ...
The reason I'm asking is that I'd like to get started this way too.

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Taking 12 angry men as your first example: A great cast of actors, a great script, a great director and a top class crew. I don't think there'd be many here (or anywhere) who wouldn't jump at the opportunity of those "extreme limitations"! In other words, 12 Angry Men does not have any "extreme limitations", the only limitation it has is a single location and that's an inconsequential (rather than "extreme") limitation in light of the quality of the script, actors, etc.

It's obviously not realistic to hope to "get started this way". When you start you won't have access to even one of those "great" resources, let alone all of them together and even if you did, you still wouldn't have the experience or skill to edit it into a film with the shape and pace required to maintain viewer interest. If I were you, I wouldn't try to "get started in this way". Limiting yourself to a single location for a short film, with the goal of developing your filmmaking skills can be a very valuable exercise and would be a good idea (IMHO) but without very advanced filmmaking skills and top class resources, your chances of making a watchable feature length film using a single location are extremely close to zero.

G