A Plea to the Low-Budget and Independent Movie Maker

I am a connoisseur of the low-budget and/or independent film.

Sure, I’ll always sit down and watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster, with it’s million-dollar effects shots, big name actors, and big name directors. Or a powerhouse drama, epic in scope, that tugs at the emotional strings of my mind.

But you’ve got to love the low-budget, independent film. These directors have a vision, a story to tell, a drive and an ambition to get it told, and very little cash with which to tell it. Somehow, they find a way to get their creative vision on screen. Now it’s out there, ready to be consumed by the masses.

The low-budget, independent director faces some unique challenges that are not a worry for major movies houses. For starters, as implied, these folks have low budgets. Some budgets are really low, in the neighborhood of “How the hell are we going to make a movie with this much cash?” low. Second, because the films are low-budget and tend to lack the overall polish of major studio films (not all, but most), the immediate assumption by most viewers is that the film will be bad. Actors nobody recognizes, unknown directors, usually straight to video, it would seem that this assumption is a safe one. The downside is that the independent director is operating from the hole already before their film is even on screen. The challenge for them is doubled because there are good odds their film will never see the inside of a theater and instead will head straight to DVD on the shelf at your local Blockbuster, vying for your attention among all the new releases.

So, what can an independent film maker do? Really, it’s not any different than what should be done by a high-priced director with millions of dollars in the budget.

MAKE A QUALITY PRODUCT!

It’s really not that hard, but after having been through a rash of particularly bad low-budget films, I toss this plea out to the independent film makers on a budget.

1. Get people that can act

This is rule number one. A bad script can be elevated by a good performance, but even the best script will be killed by an actor that doesn’t know how to act, or is so far over the top that their performance borders on the ridiculous. It probably helps to have actors that are enthusiastic about the project, since on a low budget you may not be paying them very much. Honestly, I don’t expect award-winning performances, but the actor should at least be invested in the role they are playing and in the universe in which that role exists. The worst thing that can happen to your movie is an actor that obviously just doesn’t care.

2. Cheap CGI looks exactly like what it is

The siren call of CGI effects filmakers all the time, the idea that special effects, impossible vistas, and other visuals can be done on the cheap with CGI. That’s not to say that CGI should not be used. It certainly has it’s place in the movies and can be done well inexpensively. There is a general rule that applies to CGI: You can have it fast, good, and cheap; pick 2. To get your computer images done quickly and looking good is expensive. To get them done cheaply and looking good takes a good amount of time (mainly because you’ll be using your own PC to do the rendering). Cheap CGI was done quickly for less and it looks like it. If this is your only option, use it sparingly.

3. For those that wish to make a low budget science fiction film set in a dystopian, over-industrialized future: STOP!
Stop trying to make your future look like Blade Runner. It’s been done, and your copy will probably come off as a poor imitation. Also, please stop trying to copy Mad Max/Road Warrior. Be original.

4. If you want to make a zombie film, see above. The zombie genre has been done. A lot. We have seen our heroes trapped and surrounded by the undead in the following: a house, shopping mall, a walled city, an underground bunker/mining complex, a mortuary, the island of Great Britain (28 Days Later, though not really a zombie film, is close enough). Again, with so many zombie films out there, why should I watch your movie? What makes it different?

5. Please learn how to hold the camera steady. Your camera shaking back and forth, particularly during action sequences, makes everything hard to see and worse, makes your film hard to watch. Buy yourself a tripod, at the very least. (Directors with a big budget, you guys could use a tripod too)

6. Edit your film and than make sure it makes sense.

I swear sometimes I think directors forget to watch their own movie before it gets released. Weird jumps, obviously missing scenes, or scenes that are strung together with know thought to story flow. If your audience is scratching their head by the middle of the show, something is probably wrong with how your film was edited (or it really didn’t make sense to begin with). A subtext of this is remembering the flow of time in your film. Unless your character is a superhero that can teleport it takes time to get places. Occasionally, your characters may need to put on a fresh shirt.

7. Seriously, get yourself some actors.

8. Remember the rules of your universe and than follow them.

Whatever rules you setup for your universe, remain consistent throughout your film. If your character is a hard-bitten, gun-toting assassin that has no trouble killing people, they’re not going to go soft and wimpy just because someone has a gun on them. If your main character has a severe allergy to pungent bulbs, don’t wimp out on this fact when the villain tries to kill them with garlic. As an addendum to this gripe, don’t kill off a major character for effect and than bring them back through time travel, dream sequence/didn’t really happen, or divine intervention. Grow a pair. Kill the character and leave them dead. If that really screws up the story you want to tell…THAN DON’T KILL THE CHARACTER! Also, if you spend the entire movie making us focus on one character, and than surprise us by telling us the real killer/bad guy/chief bottle washer is someone we have never seen before and had no reason to suspect precisely because we have never met them before, that’s not a twist ending. That’s cheating.

9. Finally. The last gripe. Whew, this has been quite a rant. You ready?

END YOUR BLOODY MOVIE!

That’s right. None of this “is the killer really dead” crap, or the cliff-hanger that you’ll resolve in the sequel you’ll never make. Resolve your storyline so we can all go home.

Peace out.