Description:
How to make a great movie on a low budget.
Contents:
Affordable Lights for Filmmaking
On a project your lighting can make a huge difference in quality. Well placed lights can make a low budget film look professional. The only problem is studio lights can be very expensive. They an cost at least $400 dollars for a light kit. But I found some solutions at can work just as well.
Instead of buying a full blown light kit for film, I looked into using a Photography Light Kit instead. The only problem that I found was that the lights that they came with were compact florescent. Florescent lights don't look very good as indoor lights, they make your shot look flat. So I bought a 50 Watt Light to put in instead. This looks worlds better and altogether only costs about $70-$80.
For shooting outside you could use an HMI, but these are very expensive. Instead I would recommend using a Reflector. They cost far less and redirect the sun, so your shots looks consistent every take. They are very easy to use, all you have to do is hold the it in a way that the sun bounces off the reflector and on to your actors. In a later post I will go over how to make your own inexpensive reflector.
Rebel Without a Crew
When it comes to making a great looking movie with a low budget, Robert Rodriguez is the master. In his book, Rebel without a Crew, he writes about how he made his first feature, El Mariachi. Robert Rodriguez is all about being cheap, but looking expensive. In his book he goes through the entire process of making his film, including selling his body for medical testing to fund the movie, to how he sold his movie.
Since the beginning, and even today, Robert Rodriguez has been all about self sufficiency. When he shot El Mariachi, he had absolutely no crew, he was the only one behind the camera. His whole philosophy is why wait for someone else, go out and make your movie. He suggests writing your script around what you have access to, so production will be that much cheaper and easier.
There is no better time to start making your own film than today. Digital technology is getting better and the price of the cameras and media storage are more affordable than film will ever be. Robert Rodriguez shot El Mariachi on 16mm film for only $7000 in 1993, so imagine what you can do today. If you are a film maker and want to learn about how to make a great movie for cheap, I highly recommend reading this book.
Production Music, Where to Get It and How to Make it
These days no one can get away with using copy written music. Even youtube is muting videos found using music that they do not have the rights to. The way to get around this is to make your own music. But if you are not musically inclined I would recommend downloading royalty free music.
When it comes to music creation there are several inexpensive solutions. If you are using a PC I would recommend checking out ACID Music . If you are using a Mac I would recommend GarageBand . Both of these programs are similar, you can create loops and put them into a song. If you need to make a song quick, they have a wide selection of premade loops to make your song. All the loops they supply are royalty free, so you won't get in trouble for using them.
The final alternative is using free music production software. Some of these are shareware versions of a better product, so there are limitations like not being able to save or you can only use it for a certain amount of time. However, I did find a great music web tool. It's the Hobnox Audiotool, it can make all kinds of different music and you use it strait from your browser. It uses a visual interface and it's easy to get started so check it out.
Affordable and Free Video Editing Software
When it comes to video editing, Final Cut Pro and Avid are the leaders. These are typically used to make big Hollywood movies, but what if you are making a simple independent film with no grand special effects? While Final Cut Pro is a great editing system, it's very expensive. So I want to offer some alternatives that can still make a professional looking movie.
If you are a Mac user you can always use iMovie. While it's not the most professional looking you can always use it for simple cuts in a shot film. After all, if you are just posting something on youtube, you don't need the best of the best. If you want something with a lot more features, it'd be best to go with Final Cut Express . It has a lot of the features of Final Cut Pro, but costs much less. You probably couldn't make a film with a lot of special effects, but it works great for a drama or comedy.
If you are a Windows user, your computer comes with Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker is about as simple as it gets, you can only do basic cuts, fades, and transitions. But if you are just uploading something to youtube it's good enough. If you want to make something more professional, I highly recommend Sony Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 or Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack . I've used this product in the past and have gotten great results. This program seems to have most of the features that Final Cut Pro does, but is affordable to the average independent or student filmmaker.
Last, there are open free open source video editors. I haven't tried any of them personally, but I bet they are worth checking out.
How to Make an Inexpensive Boom Pole
When you're shooting do you ever notice that your sound is lacking something? If you are using you camera mic or a shotgun mic on top of you camera you might not be getting everything that your actors are delivering. To get up close and personal with your actor's voices you need to use either a Clip On Microphone or, better yet, a boom pole. Booms can be expensive, even the cheaper ones can cost over $100, but I'm going to show you how to make an inexpensive boom pole.
First, you are going to want to buy a Painter's Pole and a Mic Clip . Now your clip might not fit perfectly on the pole, so what I did was buy some pluming parts to go in between the pole and the clip. I would suggest going down to your local hardware store and seeing what works because the poles vary in shape and size. I also put some velcro right below the mic clip, in the middle, and at the end of the pole to hold my wire in place. This isn't necessary, you can just wrap the wire around the pole. Now that you have your boom, you may consider buying a Shotgun Microphone .
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