Microbudget Movies:
Pre-Production

Microbudget movies require careful planning if they are to acheive success.Pre Production is the crucial phase where you figure out how you’re going to make this crazy thing happen. The more thought and effort you put into this the better your chances of success down the line.

One of the first things that seems obvious but is often overlooked is the simple premise that you should work from a script that you know you can actually produce. It’s great to be ambitious but if you write too many elements into the screenplay that you can’t afford to do justice to you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Try to be flexible. Try to use the resources that you have available to you. Some authors hate the idea of being “limited” in their storytelling options but reality dictates that microbudget screenplays shouldn’t contain too many expensive elements. In this case talk really is cheap. Exploding helicopters look great on box covers but they usually cost more to put on the screen than a couple of people having a conversation.

Shooting outdoors is often a great advantage to low budget filmmakers. Interesting scenery can provide a compelling backdrop and the sun is a great source of light that doesn’t require any special equipment to hold in place. Since you’re probably not going to be going the permit/insurance bond route you have to pick your locations with “hit-and-run” production in mind but a little travel to a fairly secluded location can mean many hours of uninterrupted filmmaking.Everybody’s situation is different so there aren’t any hard and fast rules but you should try to keep your expectations within your grasp. Figure out where you really need to get more elaborate and make sure that you have the means of making it happen with a professional look. An exciting script filled with car chases and gun battles and exotic locations set around the globe is going to be extremely difficult to manage if you’ve only got a couple of thousand dollars to work with.

It’s always tempting to start with the idea that you’ll be able to raise more money based on the footage you’ve already shot but there are many unfinished movies out there and you probably don’t want to add yours to the list. Figure out what your budget is and then add a little more for safety and make sure you’ve actually got that much before you begin.

It’s easy to equate this process to the mistakes that many people make when they decide to start any kind of home business. The first thing they do is buy a big chair and a fancy desk and 27 years worth of office supplies. They have a nameplate on their desk and a coffee machine that would serve a hundred people. They want to be “their own boss” and they look to the corporate world as their role model. Microbudget filmmakers often fall into the same trap of assuming that they need to emulate Hollywood overhead to be “real” filmmakers. Just remember that your job is not to impress people with the trimmings of your production company; it’s to impress people with the quality of what you put on the screen.

Case Study: Pre-Production