1. Cut The Script
Every second of footage that you take in production that ends up on the cutting room floor is a waste of money, so critically reviewing your script before you begin photography is essential for saving money. For every scene, ask yourself: does it moves the story forward, do you need every character, do you need to say every line or is it implied? If you cut a scene, does it materially change the story? If not, perhaps that’s a scene worth cutting. Carefully reviewing these changes and making sure every line, action, or descriptor is essential to the story is the biggest way to cut your costs.
2. Be an Organized Multi-Tasker
If you hire out for every position on a film set, you’re going to be spending a ton of money to assemble a huge and potentially unwieldy team. Instead, try to be a multi-tasker and wear many hats at once. If you’re a director, think about doing your own casting to fit your vision. If you’re a writer, think about doing script supervision on set to make sure your words have all the coverage. If you’re the DP, operate that camera and help out with lighting to make the scene fit your vision. And if your a producer, well… your producing and location managing and budgeting and post-supervising and PAing. The more hats you can wear at once, the faster the lines of communication go, the more nimble your production can be, and the less you’ll spend.
3. Ask for Free Locations
Every no-budget film I’ve ever done has relied on free locations, as these are often the largest costs you’ll have. Simple scenes in normal places like homes, coffee shops, and restaurants all are possibilities for filming locations. With a little flexibility as a director and/or director of photography, you can certainly find somewhere free to shoot your film. It does take some calling around, but aim to find small businesses where you can talk to the owner or manager and explain your film. Offer them location credits and the ability to feature their business name in the film for free advertising. Also offer to film while they are closed as to not disturb their clientele, and perhaps paying a small cleaning fee will be well worth the time in the location. Keep exploring in your area, and with some charm and good manners, you are more than likely to find a free location – then you can save your budget for other, more costly areas of your production.
4. Plan Your Post in Pre-Production
Post-production is no longer actually “post,” but a crucial part of the process that you should be thinking about BEFORE you begin principal photography. The phrase “we’ll fix it in post” is a possible solution, if you want to spend about 10x the cost vs. fixing it in production. Sit down with your team (or yourself) and think about all of the crucial steps in post production: what is your post budget, what is the editor’s process, what VFX may you need, how will you capture sound / what is your contingency for a loud location, what music will you use, what does your equipment mean for coloring and finishing, what marketing are you going to do and do you need to capture interviews / photos on set? Each of these are entire workstreams you should be thinking about before you shoot a single take, that way you can be prepared to get the cleanest sound and picture during photography, and have a plan for when you don’t.
5. Ask Friends for Favors
We all know low-budget filmmaking means always asking for favors from your friends and network. Keep the lines of communication open with other filmmakers in your area – perhaps work on one of their films as a volunteer, and they will volunteer for yours. And use your non-filmmaking friends as well! Everyone has things they are good at, so using them in creative ways can really save you money. Perhaps your friend who loves to cook can be your set-chef rather than catering. Or your friend who’s a photographer can do all your BTS stills & interviews between takes. Maybe your super organized friend can watch a YouTube video on script supervision and volunteer for the day in exchange for food from said set-chef. Not only is filmmaking an exciting industry, but bringing your friends together (filmmakers and non-filmmakers alike) will create a fun and welcoming atmosphere that everyone wants to collaborate in.
How have you saved money on your films? Share your favorite tips for low-budget filmmaking in the comments!
