Independent Filmmaking Tips: Top 5 Things You Need To Know When Making Your Low Budget Film

Posted by Mat on June 30, 2009

Welcome to the DOJO!

Yes, it’s that time again here at the FilmSensei.com for a brand new batch of independent filmmaking tips. For today’s indie filmmaking tips I’m going to go back to the beginning and talk about the making of “Bite Me, Fanboy.” To be more specific, I’m going to talk about everything I wish I knew when I was making my first no-budget independent film.

Now, anyone who has every sat around and talked to me about low budget filmmaking has heard me drone on and on about my first feature film, “Bite Me, Fanboy,” and what an incredible experience it was for me. Back when we shot the movie in 2001 I already had about 8 years of experience as a film/tv storyboard artist and a tiny bit of TV directing, but I had never directed a film of any kind — up until that point I had never imagined even wanting to do a film of my own. Comic books were my life and my one true love then and I couldn’t imagine going out of my way to work in another industry.

I had just finished up a gig as a producer/art director at Click Entertainment, a video game company in San Francisco, and was trying to figure out what to do next when a friend of mine (who is no longer with us) suggested we get together and do a microbudget film. Never having done it before and not realizing the amount of pain and anguish I was about to put myself through, I said “Let’s do it.” Somehow, in spite of a lot of inexperience and a couple of insane crew members, we finished shooting “Bite Me, Fanboy” in about 6 weeks (all on weekends). From there it took almost 4 years to get the no budget film completed and out on DVD, mainly thanks to a couple of different people disappearing with the film assets for a few of those years. I’m finally going back and re-editing the film the way I feel it should have been done to begin with, cleaning up the footage and remastering the sound.

Being able to do that work now, about 8 years after we shoot the film, is an incredibly interesting exercise in hindsight. What I’m able to do is take a look at what I did back then through the eyes of a much more experienced me. I see a lot of things I know now that I wish I had known then. Going through that inspired me to put the following guide together that I like to call:

The Film Sensei’s Top 5 Things I wish I had known when I made my first film!

Indie Filmmaking Tip #1: Find a passionate partner
Making your first (or your 20th) low budget independent film is an enormous amount work and you, as the filmmaker/writer/director/producer/whatever, will be shouldering more of that work than anyone else involved. To help out with the burden of guerrilla filmmaking every filmmaker out there should try to find a partner who is as passionate about filmmaking in general, and your film in particular, as you are. Find someone you can spend 24/7 with, talking about movies, planning and whatever else it takes to get your film done. Someone to share the entire experience with. Nothing will aid your film more than finding the right partner.

Even better than just a partner is if you find someone who will also be either your producer or assistant director. If you can find a person who has experience in one of those roles, then the entire no budget filmmaking process will become infinitely more bearable and easier to get through.

Indie Filmmaking Tip #2: Make sure you have a good producer or AD
The most important thing about getting your microbudget independent film done is planning and pre-planning. This is where a good producer (or assistant director) can save a production. Breaking down a screenplay, scheduling the shoot, even doing call sheets is a pain in the ass for anyone who does them and they are particularly tough to deal with if you’re also the director and already managing 100 other projects. Find the most anal person you can and put them in the role. You want to make sure that when you show up to start shooting that everyone and everything you need is there, in place and ready to go.

The sad thing is the hard work of most producers won’t ever be noticed by your audience. If they do their job right, it shouldn’t be noticed by anyone but you. For us, on “Bite Me, Fanboy,” we had a great producer and never even realized it. A gentleman by the name of Gene Oh (a friend of that friend who is no longer with us) had been a PA on “That 70s Show” and volunteered to run the production for us. He scheduled the shoots, broke down the script, made call sheets, arranged some donated props and did about 100 other things I never noticed during the insanity of the shoot. He did a fantastic job and, sadly, I never thanked him for it. So, Gene Oh, if you’re out there reading this: Thanks for the fantastic job…you helped make the shoot the incredible experience it turned in to.

Indie Filmmaking Tip #3: Hang out with your cast and crew
No, the main point of making a film isn’t to make friends with everyone. However, on a no budget indie film, you’re going to be spending hundreds of hours with this group of people, going through some pretty gruelling times, doing a lot of hard work and you need to make sure you’ve got people you can put up with. There is nothing worse than getting on set and finding out your producer, AD, lead actress or whoever is a huge pain and turns out to be someone you dread seeing every day. It’s happened to all of us and it is an incredibly uncomfortable and unsatisfying experience. Having this happen can ruin the entire guerrilla filmmaking experience for you — and for everyone else involved.

One of the best ways to avoid this is to spend time with everyone involved in the production and get to know them a bit better. Not sure your gaffer is someone you’d want to hang out with? Well, then they may be the greatest gaffer in the world but they probably aren’t right for your film. This “getting to know you” period is also a great way to see how dedicated and excited your various crew members are about your film. Since no one will be getting paid the “big bucks” to work on your first no budget film, that excitement and inspiration is all that will keep your cast and crew involved in your film. If anyone seems “iffy,” get rid of them.

Which brings us to:

Indie Filmmaking Tip #4: Don’t be afraid to fire anyone!
Nothing feels worse than finding out a member of the cast or crew just isn’t going to work out. Having to fire someone, in any work environment, is an emotionally difficult thing to do. I’ve had to do it at a few different jobs and I just plain don’t like it. With that being said, the only thing worse than having to fire someone from your independent film set is NOT firing that person and having them wreck your film.

The best thing you can do for yourself, your film and your crew is to get rid of any problem people as early as possible. They may have the best resume on the planet or may help bring some name recognition to your project, but having that negative influence in your film can hurt it more than it would to keep them on. A lot of times you’re gut will tell you to get rid of those influences way before your head or heart will let you admit it. I say, always listen to your gut when it comes to that stuff because it’s almost always right. If you get the feeling an actor or actress is going to be difficult early on, or if a unit production manager’s attitude just isn’t setting right, then go with your gut and get rid of them. You’ll feel bad in the short run, but your film will benefit from it in the long run. Just remember, it’s your film and if someone isn’t acting in its best interest then you have to do the responsible thing and get rid of them.

Indie Filmmaking Tip #5: Write within your means
It’s easy to write the sentence: “The police arrive on the scene.” Very short. Very simple. Not too many words. Easy, right? Well, what may be easy to write isn’t always easy or affordable to film. This may be one of the most common piece of advice for new low budget filmmakers, but it’s worth repeating: write what you know and write for what you’ve got. Make a list of the locations, vehicles, props, costumes and even people you have access to and then write around those items. What this does, especially for your first no budget independent film, is give you the highest production value possible for the lowest actual cost. It also gives you a move you can produce versus one you run out of money for and won’t finish.

An upside to working with things you already have is so you can avoid dealing with unscrupulous people. On “Bite Me, Fanboy” we had one of our main locations locked down and, the day before shooting, the location own decided he wanted $5000 or he wasn’t going to let us shoot there. Something like that can kill a film if you’re not prepared for it.

And that concludes the Film Sensei’s independent filmmaking tips for today. Check back later in the week for more wisdom from the depths of the DOJO. Until then, check out the “Bite Me, Fanboy” blooper reel and Keep Shooting!

-Mat Nastos, the Film Sensei
http://www.FilmSensei.com

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