Ok so I have this anxiety about writing a short film because I don't want to right something that can't be shot or would be shot poorly. When talking about a short film on no or low budget, what are some things you guys think about. For instance, how can you make something that's not completely filled with dialogue yet still has enough variety of settings, angles, and action to be entertaining and not look amateur. A main issue that runs into my head is writing characters for which I have no actors. Isn't that difficult for some of you? Like you write a great character but then can't find the person to play it. Anyway I just wanted to start a discussion on dealing with the limitations of extremely low budget short films. Please share your thoughts.
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The Difficulties of Low or No Budget Short Films
- Thread starter mcspargeslarg
- Start date
Do you mean aside from the technical issues? Things like cast size, talented actors, locations, etc.?
Well the basis for a film is the story right? So when writing the story/screenplay, what are some things that go through a writers mind if they know they are writing for an extremely low budget project?
my short film seishin, which im currently doing rehearsals in december, iv already had to change the script a bit so that it fits the actor a bit better, which to me is no problem, with no budget, we get what we are given and we must accept what we have and work with it otherwise we will be here forever debating.
its a bummer when you write brilliant dialogue but then your actor cant fit into it just right, but then you might end up changing it into something better and believable like i have.
I wouldn't worry about the actor thing. I can't really imagine a character that you won't be able to find an actor for. Maybe you can give an example of what you mean?
One of the things I keep in my mind mostly is locations. Think about what you have available and what you can realistically get. House? Easy. Submarine? Hard. Park? Easy. The White House? Hard. You get the idea and you know better than us what would be easiest for you to get.
A lot of production value, and this is overlooked a lot, is going to be in your mise en scene and art direction. If you're filming a scene in a living room, that's fine. But if it's a room with four white walls, it's going to look low-budget. Put thought and time into your set design to make it visually interesting and fitting for your characters/story and it's going to increase your production value a lot. Combine that with good lighting and interesting camera angles, and there you go.
One of the things I keep in my mind mostly is locations. Think about what you have available and what you can realistically get. House? Easy. Submarine? Hard. Park? Easy. The White House? Hard. You get the idea and you know better than us what would be easiest for you to get.
A lot of production value, and this is overlooked a lot, is going to be in your mise en scene and art direction. If you're filming a scene in a living room, that's fine. But if it's a room with four white walls, it's going to look low-budget. Put thought and time into your set design to make it visually interesting and fitting for your characters/story and it's going to increase your production value a lot. Combine that with good lighting and interesting camera angles, and there you go.
"You go to war with the army you have, not the army might want or wished you had at a later time."
SecDef Donald Rumsfeld
SecDef Donald Rumsfeld
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jPgljRvzQw
With that spirit in mind, take inventory of the resources you have: Actors, crew, locations, costumes, props, equipment, time, talent, budget.
Start small.
Write your major studio blockbuster - and shelve it.
Write a short for the resources you have.
Story. Its story, story, story. You can have the shittiest actors, the shittiest equipment, etc but when it comes down to it, its about a story that people want to watch. So, basically if you have the camera eye and utilize that into a very fucking awesome story, then not a whole lot else matters.
There are so many difficulties when making low to no budget stuff.
The biggest usual problems are story issues (boring and/or unable to pull off the story or just no planned story at all) and timing issues. Of course if you don't have good visuals and good sound it isn't going to hit its potential, but usually no/low budget is where you learn your craft and great storytelling is what you need to practice first.
The biggest usual problems are story issues (boring and/or unable to pull off the story or just no planned story at all) and timing issues. Of course if you don't have good visuals and good sound it isn't going to hit its potential, but usually no/low budget is where you learn your craft and great storytelling is what you need to practice first.
If storytelling is the most important, than it's the cheapest problem to solve All you need is a computer, a screewriting program, and some paper to print it on. So if you got that, than that's solved. If you can come up with a good story of course.
No, it's not solved because the screenplay is not the storytelling. A screenplay is a story which includes a rough guide to the storytelling. A screenplay does tell a story but the audience in a cinema are not paying to read a screenplay they are paying to experience a film. It's the film itself, the combination of visuals, sound and music which is the storyteller. The quality of the story itself is to a large extent irrelevant; would you rather hear a mediocre or mundane story told by a great raconteur or stand-up comedian, or a great story told by someone with little to no storytelling skills?
An orchestral conductor needs first and foremost to possess the artistic vision to communicate the intention of the composition to an audience, this is what we call musicality. The conductor also needs the technical skill and knowledge to get the orchestra to perform in such a way to realise his/her artistic vision and of course also needs an orchestra with the quality of instruments and performance skills to at least fulfil and preferably enhance this artistic vision. So it is with the film director/filmmaker. You first of all need the cinematic storytelling vision and then you need the skilled personnel/equipment to fulfil/enhance that vision. Even if the no/micro budget director has the skill and experience to create a good or great vision, their access to skilled personnel with good equipment is greatly restricted by the lack of budget, which in turn restricts their storytelling abilities.
G
Amen.
And don't forget that the flip side of the lo/no budget coin:
Just because the budget
was bigger doesn't
AT ALL
necessarily mean
the final product
will be better.
was bigger doesn't
AT ALL
necessarily mean
the final product
will be better.
THE DEVIL INSIDE - Low budget, terrible reviews, made tons of money
JOHN CARTER - Excessive budget, lame reviews, made tons of money... but not profitable.
Saved by a qualifier. (You were sweating me there for a moment, H!
That's true. But you can also imply instead of show because of low budget as well, which helps. I'm writing a script now where a police chase, is done, just by the audience listening in on the police radios where the characters are going. The bad guys have their police radios to listen in on the cops, as they are running, and the cops have their radios. But we never see a lot of the cop cars or police helicopter, and it's told mostly from the bad guys point of view as they run and hide while listen in on radios. So it seems that you can still write a good story, as long as you write it like Fail-Safe (1964), and just imply a lot, rather than show, unless I am wrong?
In a sense you are wrong because you are suggesting that this type of implication is a low budget solution and that it's still possible to be a good story teller using this "trick". I would come at it from a completely different angle, I would say the type of implication you are suggesting is not a low budget option but an absolutely fundamental and essential tool for good story telling with film at every budget level!
Just about every good and great film uses to a greater or lesser degree exactly the sort of implication you are suggesting, from Citizen Kane to Once Upon a Time in the West to Psycho to Lord of the Rings, etc. etc. etc. Think of Saving Private Ryan after they've found Ryan and they hear (only), for several minutes, the Nazi tanks approaching.
Done well, there is absolutely no reason why your idea can't be a highly powerful and effective piece of cinema. The key words here though are "done well"! Trying to do the sequence you are suggesting only from the POV of those being chased, with no visual reference at any time to those doing the chasing is going to require a great deal of consideration of the sound design to create and maintain the various emotional responses required from the sequence; energy, pace, fear, excitement, etc.
G
Spend it wisely to achieve the most effective filmic story telling possible. A cinematographer might say spend it all on the visual images, which is why a film needs a director! Not sure if I've understood your question.
G
A piece of advise I got quite awhile back was to first write the movie without dialogue then add the dialogue in after all the visual sequencing is worked out. I find it helps me understand what it's going to take to make the flick interesting. Making shorts visually interesting is not easy and none stop talking heads is the kiss of death, IMHO.
The secret to great storytelling is that the end product is greater than the sum of its parts. If it isn't, then the storytelling failed somewhere. I believe a good story, with good actors, good sound, good music, good sfx, told well by a good director and put together by a good crew and organized by good production staff and marketed by good marketers will end up being better than a good movie.
Everyone has a great story idea in them. The problem is, a story idea isn't enough. Storytelling isn't script writing or a screenplay, though they do make up part of great storytelling. There is just more to it than a good script. Most independent filmmakers don't work enough on their script to begin. They don't trim enough fat, they waste the audiences time, they don't make (or know how to) make interesting enough characters and a protagonist that people can relate to or at least get behind. They often don't understand the need for a great antagonist. They often don't understand that conflict drives movies and tv. They often don't understand the importance of plot points. They often don't understand what is Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3 and their importance to each other and to the audience. And these are just the basics.
A great story gets the cast and crew together. Once you have them together, as a director, you need to begin the storytelling so the audience can feel your story. Good storytelling is about eliciting the correct emotion or reaction from the audience at the right time. Delivering an experience which makes your audience want to be your fan.
If you really want to learn about micro/no budget storytelling, go and watch a movie called 12 Angry Men. It's a black and white movie that has pretty much stood the test of time. You can shoot a story like that in 5 days (or less) with 1 primary location and 2 minor locations. Practice making the mundane interesting to the point where it can hold the attention of the audience and the entertainment world will be your oyster as the rest will come easy. Then go beg, borrow or steal a copy of 2 Day Film School by Dov S Simens. He won't teach you how to make a masterpiece, but he'll help you get the kick in the pants you need. Or better yet, go and see him live if he still does seminars.
You really need to make something that you can within your budget. While it's exciting to dream about making the next Star Wars, Avatar or Avengers clone films, the truth of the matter is you need to make something of quality within your budget and personal technological knowledge restraints and the pool of people you can recruit to help you. The last part makes it tough, as most of us cannot afford all the people (and equipment) power to make the stories that we dream of. It's part what makes independent film making so hard.
How difficult/expensive a location will be is right in the front of my mind at all times when I write (to make myself).