A creative mind is the most valuable tool of a low-budget filmmaker. It all starts with an original thought; From there, it’s about nurturing that thought until it becomes a brilliant idea. After that, it’s a matter of turning that idea into a movie using every ounce of energy and resources you can muster.
Most of the hit movies shown at film festivals these days are movies that were made at a fraction of the cost it takes to make a great Hollywood studio movie. Advances in technology have made it possible for almost anyone to make a movie. Film cameras, video cameras, sound recording equipment and just about any other type of equipment one needs to make a movie can be purchased at very affordable prices these days. The equipment that is available these days can provide a very low budget film with a production value that seems like James Cameron had something to do with the project. This professional look coupled with a unique story can help any film get accepted at film festivals such as Houston Worldfest, Cannes, Toronto Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, etc.
Try as they might, Hollywood’s major movie studios will never have a monopoly on creativity. They spend millions of dollars on market research in an effort to find out what the world’s movie audiences are looking for when they go to the movies. Despite all this effort, they still haven’t found a formula. The tastes of people who go to the movies are as difficult to predict as an earthquake is, because the pattern changes all the time. Due to this fact, the door is left wide open for the creative types of the world to enter the game. All they need to do is come up with a unique idea that they can transform into a movie, enter their movie at festivals like Sundance, and then let the judges decide. While the big studios have tried to take over the film festival circuit in recent years, it is still the little ones with the small but creative films that are the kings in the field.
It doesn’t cost as much as you would think to make a film that can enter competitions like the Sundance Film Festival. Sony is about to launch a line of high definition camcorders that are perfect for anyone who wants to make movies on a budget. While movies made with these cameras will not be shot on “film” (as movies have been all along), they will (almost) look like they were. These new cameras will be able to give a high quality image comparable to the image provided by film. The two camcorders are the PDW-F330 and PDW-F350, and they offer all kinds of film production features that even the most faithful film professional filmmaker must respect. Both cameras offer true 24P recording in both SD and HD, interval recording, and slow shutter recording, to name a few. The F350 also offers true variable frame rate recording capabilities, which are also known as “slow motion / fast motion” functions. Features like these are invaluable to anyone making low-budget film, allowing them to include motion effects in their movies without the use of an expensive film camera or high-priced film lab. Both cameras will be on the market in March 2006. The F350 will cost around 25,000, while the F330 will only cost around 16,000 dollars. A PDW-F30 platform will be available in June for around 9,000. These are small prices to pay to be a self-sufficient independent filmmaker.
A low-budget filmmaker can invest in a relatively inexpensive HD camcorder and deck and have everything he needs to make as many movies as his mind and body can produce. All they’ll need after that is a creative mind, a few thousand dollars, a few ambitious friends for their actors and crew, some screenwriting software like Final Draft, and an iron determination to make a movie. They don’t have to worry about high cost of movies, movie processing, or movie to DVD transfers. All they will need is your camera and a $ 30 (23.3GB) disk and they will be ready to shoot a full movie. Buying records for a camera is much cheaper than buying movies and all the financial baggage that goes with it.
Once they shoot their movie with one of these cameras, a low-budget filmmaker can go straight to their computer with the disc and start editing it using one of the many affordable editing programs that are available these days, such as Final Cut Pro. They can do all the post-production work on their film on their home computer, provided they are willing to take on a motherly workload.
Technology has allowed independent filmmakers to bypass many costly steps in the film-making process. Instead of paying a group of people hundreds of dollars an hour for movie services that are only available in cities like Hollywood and New York, they can now perform all of these steps in the comfort of their home on their own computer.
For anyone who has ever dreamed of making their own movie, there is no better time than now to make it happen. The playing field has been leveled in terms of technology, but it still takes a creative story to get anywhere on the film festival circuit. Affordable equipment can take you to the field, but you must bring a good game to win. A creative mind is your best player in this game, so if you take care of that part, you’re halfway to making your cinematic vision come true. Feed your creative idea until it becomes a unique script and then dedicate your life to turning this script into a movie. If your idea is as good as you think, you will do quite well on the film festival circuit. If this happens, it could lead to a decent distribution deal for your movie. If you stand your ground and continue making movies, you might even find that you’ve built a career as a professional artist making independent movies, and that dreams can really come true.
Copyright 2006. Michael P. Connelly