Comments on: 5 Things I Learned While Shooting My Low Budget Short Film

By: Daniel Mimura

Daniel Mimura — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 20:57:16 +0000

I was just catching up on nfs and as I was reading this, I knew this must’ve been you, Dom,

And Justin…don’t rent a steadicam! Hire a steadicam operator. I’ve been operating 2 years…and I can just begin to say I know what I’m doing…that goes along w/ what Dom just said about sticking to one job.

When I DP, I use a gaffer on anything but small docs…and I’m sure people will be thinking, oh, it’s a small film, there isn’t any kind of budget for all that…etc, etc, etc…but ultimately, I’ve realized that I can’t afford *not* to…If my gaffer has as many lights as I do, plus every odd one off piece of grip equipment I don’t have…well, the production gets twice as much stuff at no where near twice the price as either renting everything from rental houses or from having your film suffer from not having enough gear to do the job.

Same for sound…you don’t rent the gear you rent the person. Any person that is serious has the gear. You get someone that knows what they’re doing with the proper tools…as opposed to going to a rental house and renting it all and giving it…whoever has volunteered to do that thankless job for free. For freelancers who have to pay the bills between full rate bigger jobs…you can often get them for less. Nobody expects short film to pay full commercial rates.

By: 5 Things I Learned While Shooting My Low Budget Short Film | FilmMaking Hub | Scoop.it

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 11:11:56 +0000

[...] Over the past few years I’ve been doing a lot of work on other people’s video projects, and this past spring I quit my day job and started freelancing. While this has all been great for my reel, my resume, learning new skills, and cementing already learned knowledge through hands on experience, it meant I had to put my own film projects on the back burner. But eventually I reached a point where I felt it had been far too long since I worked on one of my own films. It was time to utilize the abundant knowledge and resources on NoFilmSchool and other filmmaking sites and to collaborate with my talented friends. It was time for a project that would force me to stretch myself and grow as a filmmaker. It was time to make Fugue, a project I’m running a Kickstarter for. Here’s what I learned from the process that started with preproduction and culminated with the first shoot earlier this month:….. [...]

By: Natt

Natt — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 18:18:52 +0000

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Cinematographers working pure magic with basic lighting kits and practicals. Production designers developing very complex things out of thin air. Crazy talented young filmmakers shooting on DSLR and cheap video, but making it look like million dollar… All those movies will be lost in time like… tears in rain… Time to backup.

By: blaine jensen

blaine jensen — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:38:18 +0000

and i would crossover from after effects to nuke on a pj of this complexity, in my experience after effects is great for motion graphics, and nuke is the compositing package for 3d. And Nuke has a better 3d system than AE

By: blaine jensen

blaine jensen — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:11:34 +0000

the project sounds cool. I am a 3d artist that works on feature’s and i would recommend a fully realized concept and story board, no matter how primitive. As well as more communication from the concept and the cg along with the DP. The mesh that was built for the pj doesn’t match the resolution, and the lighting is off… as well as the shadowing and masking… maybe a hdri shot of the set for a lighting rig…. just some ideas.

By: domenic barbero

domenic barbero — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 23:40:05 +0000

I was the DP that justin was talking about. To me, regardless of the shoot, having a dp do 3-4 jobs on set, really slows down the process of logging shots and making your days. A good crew even if unexperienced and working for cheap can be the defining factor of being able to get more shots or make days on time. Regardless of the camera, which is mostly unimportant in my mind, you cant always rely on available light, which why providing your own lights is always a win. Im not upset about the outcome, everything happens for a reason and im sure the film turned out great. But when its just as easy to get a crew and the right gear, you should always try to do it right in my opinion. I’m used to moving quick on set, and sticking to one job and doing it well and putting all of my attention into my one job im doing. But the main thing here is that it got made, and anytime you get that far in the project, everyone gets a pat on the back. And props to Justin for a solid script and great visuals. I know itll look great.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:21:54 +0000

Justin,

Lesson #5 is a huge one- and not just for choosing a DP or camera, but in choosing to proceed at all. So many comments on camera forums talk about people waiting until “X” is available (whether camera, money, gadget), and never make a film. So glad you didn’t let that DP hold you back, and glad you’re spreading the word that sometimes you don’t need a big 4K rig and a full crew to make something beautiful.

By: 5 Things I Learned While Shooting My Low Budget Short Film - NoFilmSchool | Books, Photo, Video and Film | Scoop.it

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:40:54 +0000

[...] Over the past few years I've been doing a lot of work on other people's video projects, and this past spring I quit my day job and started freelancing. [...]

By: AlienAstronauts

AlienAstronauts — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:47:12 +0000

Nice article. Lessons 1 and 5 really spoke to me.

By: Justin Minich

Justin Minich — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:28:04 +0000

Hey dv,

To answer your question, I haven’t shot the entire film yet. Due to some unexpected delays in the whole Kickstarter campaign set-up process I wasn’t able to have my campaign end right before the first shoot. So rather than try to find another weekend where everyone’s schedules aligned (and when the tide would be in at a decent hour), I decided to take a risk and go ahead with the first shoot in the hopes that the campaign would be successful so I would be able to reimburse myself for the shoot’s expenses.

By: Casey

Casey — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:20:57 +0000

Borrowlenses is a great rental house and their San Carlos headquarters is just down the street from me. They will charge a deposit on some of their larger ticket items like a Canon 800mm lens or a Red Scarlet.

Anyway, great article. I’d love it if you even went into more details about the budget. $3,000 seems really inexpensive. And how you develop a shot list and how much of it is in a story-board.

By: andy

andy — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 20:29:45 +0000

Nice article, hope it turns out well, some good lessons there.

By: francis

francis — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:07:42 +0000

awesome post, thank you–actually came to a revelation similar to #5 today; learned to go with my gut & stick by my guns again

By: dv

dv — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:35:29 +0000

#5. Amen.

Some people are at totally different stages of their careers (or the development of their egos), and their expectations have thus changed accordingly. It’s like people forget what ultra low budget guerrilla filmmaking is all about. Good move.

One thing I don’t understand… you already shot this? The kickstarter has 3 days left…