When something is done on a shoestring budget, people's impression could be that it would be unsuccessful or it would be done in such a tedious manner. This is apparently because of the concept that money is like grease; it lessens the friction and it makes motion much smoother. This could be true in a lot of ways but not so much in film-making. In fact, big-budgeted films are more epic in nature and are therefore more difficult to produce. With low-budgeted films, however, film-maker is less pressured to come up with a product that is worth all the investments poured into it.
If you are the film-maker yourself, you would find out that not being tied to the high expectations of the investors or the studios allow you to concentrate more on your craft or your art. Therefore, your focus would be on the creation of a really good film, regardless of the small budget it may have. Big budgets after all are synonymous with special effects, box-office artists, and exotic locations. As a movie buff first and a director second, you should be able to tell that those are not the ingredients to make a really good film.
Work always based on what you have; this is a golden rule that you should follow as a newbie filmmaker. This means that you should not go out buying hi-tech cameras and stuff that you think you would need. Besides, if you are ambitious enough to buy these things you may just have in mind the reason why other newbie filmmakers fail: the unwise decision to compete with the more established names in the industry. Do not go into that yet, at least for now when you are still trying to make a name. You must have seen how those indie films gathered praises despite the fact that many of these were just made with a simple digital camera. Emulate the filmmakers of these low-budget masterpieces, not Steven Spielberg or George Lucas.
You may be tempted to hire professional actors and actresses to compose your cast. Sure, if they are popular already, they would certainly be money-makers too. But then, this would also require you to invest much more in the project. These artists would just give you a cold shoulder once they find out that you could not even afford a quarter of their talent fees. Why not hire amateurs? Believe it or not, there are still so many undiscovered talents out there waiting for an opportunity like the one that you have.
It is obvious that making a low-budget film is really easy as long as you develop the right mindset first. Think of it as basketball, if you aim too high you overshoot the ring or even the board. If you aim too low, the ball may not even touch the rim. But when you make the shot, nobody would tell you that you aimed just right. They would just say that you hit well. In filmmaking, nobody would say you are spending too big or too small; what matters is the quality of the film.
Find out more about low-budget film by checking on Filmmaking Mastery.
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