Your initial breakdown and schedule will organize the elements of your movie into smaller, more manageable chunks. And by analyzing the scope, scale and availability of your elements, you’ll then get an idea of how all of these variables will fit into some sort of schedule.
Once you have your elements and your schedule, you’ll then take the information and plug it into your budget.
CUT THE BUDGET
Assuming you’ve planned for an ideal execution of your movie, most likely your project will cost considerably more than the money you actually have. When this happens, you have two choices:
- Get more money.
- Cut the budget!
Assuming you’re not going to get any more money, here are some methods I’ve used in the past to cut my budget without altering the production value of the movie:
ACTIONS
- Revisit your network and let everyone know you’re making a movie. Provide a shopping list of everything you’re looking for. (Food, Locations, Special FX, Picture Vehicles, etc…) Chances are, someone you know, knows someone who has what you need – for FREE or at least a discounted rate.
- Keep in mind – even if you don’t have money, before you give up on the super awesome element, think creatively. Is there any way you can barter or trade? In small towns, sometimes the promise of free publicity is all business owner needs to offer up a location for free.
- If all else fails, go back to your screen play. Yes – we all agree that having snow on the ground would really set a cold mood for your story. But at 10K, are you sure it’s necessary for your story?
As a filmmaker, I think you’ll have plenty of time to produce movies with unlimited budgets. But if you an train yourself to overcome financial shortcomings with creative alternatives, I wouldn’t be surprised if you continually discover magic. The following resource should offer some more insight to film budgeting: Film Budgeting Kit?
Happy Filmmaking!
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