VERTIBLOG Film School I - Prologue & The Budget

Prologue

I love movies.

I love everything about them.

I still get excited sitting in a theater and watching the opening moments of the studio logo. I love discussing the potential of movie before seeing it; and if the movie lived up to that potential after having seen it. I love collecting movies. I love writing about movies. I love writing movies.

But most of all, I love making them.

Over the past 25 years of my life, I've made many. My first movies starred Green Lantern and perhaps a Super Powers figure of Black Lightening. They utilized stop motion, miniatures and other effects work. Some were :30 long, others maybe 5-10 minutes. One featured a ferret.

In high school I'd try and turn every research paper, project, or assignment into a video presentation of some kind. Some teachers went for it; others didn't.

I made my first feature film at the age of 15. It was called GOOD GUYS HAVE BIG GUNS. It was a noir drama starring myself as Detective Ronald Jakes. The screenplay was 80 pages long, written longhand; the finished film well over an hour. It was a rushed production, but it has its moments.

I went to Boston University's film school where I made my breakout film, THE HIDDEN ALIEN BLOB THING. It was chosen to show in the semester film festival, up against some graduate films even. I remember sitting through some pretty deadly films that night -- most about suicide, death personified and/or fugue states that resulted in madness.

Mine was about a hidden, alien, blob thing.

It starred my brother and my friend, Jeff. I used Hershey's syrup for blood because Hitch did it in PSYCHO.

I came out of BU with three feature length screenplays, typed this time, and the feeling that, yeah... I did want to make movies for a living.

So I did as much as I could to make it happen. I wrote several more screenplays, I made some more accomplished short films. I helped on crews for others filmmakers, and in turn asked them for help on mine.

I sold a screenplay that got made into a mediocre movie. I sold another one that never got made, had the option return to me, and one day plan on making myself.

Then I decided to get serious and make a feature; not just write a script for someone else, but to conceive, write, produce, direct and own myself. Well, not just by myself.

I hooked up with with my co-worker, Warren Amerman, and we wrote a script with the intention of actually shooting it. For $20,000. We made some grievous errors along the way. I'll get to them all later.

We also did many things right. The first was realizing that we had limited funds, and determining smart ways to craft a story around those lacking funds. The result was MAGDALENA'S BRAIN -- a movie with pretty much 4 actors and one location. We gave ourselves 14 days to shoot it.

All in all, I'm proud of what we accomplished... with several dozen caveats thrown in if you ever care to listen. But again, knowing what we had to spend, and knowing what the reality of our situation was, forced us to look at the process with very open eyes.

Though... we still didn't really know what we were doing.

I plan on expanding this pretentiously titled opening later. For now, let me get to what I want to say:

Budget Before Script

This is something I truly believe in IF -- and please note the 'if'; without it, the following means nothing -- IF you're making the movie yourself, independently, with little to no money. If you're writing a spec script in the hope of selling it outright, then you've got no worries. Write away, with as many locations and extras and stunts and animals and black holes as you want. If you're approaching your film guerilla style, then you've got to know what you're realistically capable of pulling off. And for that, you need to know how much money you're going to spend.

For starters... a caveat. You need a great script. Regardless of the talent of your cast and crew, the money you have to throw around, and that guy you know in L.A., you need a great script. Don't have one? Re-write it until you do.

Also, making a film with 'no' money is frankly impossible. Notwithstanding tape stock and the value of your time, as well as the time of others, you really need to at least feed your cast and crew. That's independent filmmaking 101... if you're asking a bunch of friends and family to help out with your effort, then you absolutely have to spring for some pizza. So, it's going to cost you something.

But how much?

Robert Rodriguez made EL MARIACHI for $7,000.
Richard Linklater made SLACKER for $23,000.
Ed Burns made THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN for $25,000.
Kevin Smith made CLERKS for $27,000.
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez made THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT for $35,000.
Darren Aronofsky made PI for $68,000.

I think we can agree that these are all pretty respectable films. And if we're serious about our craft, I think we can all find ourselves able to pull one of these off.

Warren Amerman and Marty Langford made MAGDALENA'S BRAIN for $30,000.

We got out of principal photography for about $20,000, and dropped another $10,000 or so through the labyrinth of post-production. Lots more on that later. Lots.

So.

Based on my experience, I feel comfortable talking about three different "price points". Up to $1,500, $10,000-$15,000, and $30,000-$50,000. I've been involved in feature films that figure into those three realms.

All are painful; all are euphoric.

Now, with some simple extrapolation, I also feel pretty comfortable discussing other "price points"; more money doesn't mean wholly different approaches. I feel I could make a $75,000 picture, or a $100,00 picture. Personally, though... I just don't think it's very smart. I'll get to that later. For now, let's stay in the lower strata of the independent film atmosphere, and because we're left to right/up and down learners, let's start at the bottom.

I should make it clear here that pretty much everything I'll be talking about from this point on could benefit a filmmaker working in any budget range. Much of what I'll be discussing are tried and true practices that filmmakers use when their budget is $125 million.

And now would be a good place to reiterate what I suggested earlier.

You need a great script.

I'm assuming you have one. And if you don't, I'm assuming you think you do. Because if you're about to spend ANY of your own money on a film, you had better be passionate about the story.

I'm also assuming you've made some short films. I'm assuming you've written something, or had something written for you, and you've picked up a camera, or had someone pick one up for you, and you've shot a story.

If you haven't made any short films. Make them. Make one and see how you like it. Write a 5 page script and shoot it in a day. That you can do for free. You know someone with a camera. You know someone with a cool location. You know someone who can mix Karo syrup and red food coloring. You know someone who knows Final Cut Pro or Premiere and would LOVE to edit together your stuff for their reel, or for practice.

If you love movies, you've already met the folks who can help you make them at this level.

Just be clear you understand what this level is.

It's the level where you can't pay anybody. The level where you surround yourself with people that will work for pizza because they love movies. The level where you work toward making something good enough to show people who have the gear and the skills you're going to need when you're putting that $1,500 feature together.

That's where you need to start.

So make a short. Make two. Make them until you've made one that you're proud of. Until you feel as though you've learned from mistakes you've made, and understand the process.

Make them until you know more than the people who are working for you for pizza know.

Then, get $1,500.


THE $1,500 MOVIE

(continued)

© 2006 by Marty Langford