There are so many films out there that filmmakers with all types of budgets, tastes, and sensibilities try to learn from and emulate. Screenwriters may look to Chinatown to learn its structure while cinematographers may look to Soy Cuba for its one-of-a-kind tracking shot. And then there's Peter Jackson's first feature film Bad Taste (1987). Before he was working with top dollar visual effects, Jackson was a DIY filmmaker making films on a small budget, and in the 1988 documentary, Good Taste Made Bad Taste, he shares how he shot the movie using stabilizers, dollies, and cranes that he made himself -- an unintentional DIY tutorial for all low-budget filmmakers.
First of all, if you haven't seen or heard of Bad Taste, it's a "science fiction splatter comedy horror" about a small town that gets invaded by human flesh-loving aliens that slowly begin to pick away at the townsfolk. Check out the trailer below:
Jackson and his crew, made up of a small group of his friends, shot the film on weekends over a course of four years. Though the New Zealand Film Commission stepped in near the end of production to provide the filmmakers with a hefty $235,000 budget, Jackson was in the process of shooting it with $25,000.
There are so many lessons to learn from Jackson's approach to the film. For one, he made due with what he had: he baked all of the masks in his mother's oven and filmed 90% of the footage with his second-hand Bolex that didn't record sound, meaning he had to dub all of the dialog in post. And that which he didn't have, he built himself.
As you'll see in the documentary below, he constructed several rigs and props for the film: a $20 spring-loaded steady-cam, wooden dolly tracks, and an arsenal of automatic weapons made of aluminum tubing.
The story behind Jackson's Bad Taste is one that we can all learn from as well as be inspired by. No, not all of us are going to have the budget he did, as small as it may have been (until the end), but his DIY approach to much of the production is something we can all relate to and be encouraged by, because hey -- we all have to start somewhere, and getting creative with the tools we use will keep costs down and our production values higher.
Check out the documentary below:
What do you think of Peter Jackson's DIY approach to Bad Taste? Do you have any DIY tips to share? Let us know in the comments below!
[via Svartalv & Cinephilia and Beyond]
Your Comment
37 Comments
There is one thing that comes to my mind after seeing the trailer (quote from the comic book guy in the Simpsons) : "WORST MOVIE EVER !"
December 15, 2013 at 7:40AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Hell no, Bad Taste was awesome.
December 15, 2013 at 12:34PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Worst TRAILER ever... The actual film is very good.
December 15, 2013 at 7:29PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Yep - you lose this round dude. Bad Taste was amazing!
December 16, 2013 at 7:15AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
The production values were not much below many of the action adventure movies from the 1980's. It's apparent that he figured out some effective workarounds with the budget he had.
December 15, 2013 at 8:58AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Wow........I remember watching Bad Taste as a kid.......I like it...
December 15, 2013 at 10:03AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
A great making of. And one of the most inspiring debuts.
Best films of all time (rated in terms of 'never getting bored with watching it again')
1. The Princess Bride
2. Bad Taste
3. Star Wars
4. Gattaca
5. In the Bleak Midwinter
December 15, 2013 at 10:41AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Are you going to post your favourite receipes in the next post?! :)
December 15, 2013 at 11:32AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
1. The Lambshank Redemtion
2. Full Metal Jacket Potatoe
3. A Clockwork Duck a l'Orange
4. Texas Chainsaw Moussaka
5. Pie Hard
December 16, 2013 at 2:14AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
LOL genius
December 16, 2013 at 11:05AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
haha, nice one!
December 16, 2013 at 11:43PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Haha nicely done
December 17, 2013 at 10:13PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Cool. This one also has interesting DIY approach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V_WmA4YpKM
December 15, 2013 at 11:26AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
A timely reminder Peter Jackson used to make good films, something he hasn't done in nearly twenty years since The Frighteners.
December 15, 2013 at 2:47PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Yeah, those universally acclaimed, Lord of the Ring films were just God awful.
December 15, 2013 at 3:24PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Your not serious...
December 15, 2013 at 8:08PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Lord of the Rings was better than The Frighteners, and I'm not even a huge Rings fan.
December 16, 2013 at 11:36AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
My hat, as usual, goes off to Peter.
December 15, 2013 at 3:05PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
This is absolutely inspiring. Great to also see clips of PJ's very early work. Reminds you that we are all human.
December 15, 2013 at 3:52PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Too bad he never posted exactly how he made his steady cam. these days lots of us use PVC we can get from the depot instead of alum.
December 15, 2013 at 6:27PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Meet the Feebles, his second film is one of my favorites
December 15, 2013 at 7:51PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
It's amazing how much work was put into all of this and especially how dedicated the entire crew was. They all took part in a 4-year project just for the fun of it. Unbelievably rare!
It's also great to see all the trail and error Peter put into making the practical special effects.
December 16, 2013 at 1:01AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
What Happened now the Hobbit is all fake look CGI.
Apart from Lord of the Rings and Hobbit....Peter Jackson
has been pretty much hit and miss...mostly miss...just
like all the other directors. Cameron alone is the only
one who never missed.
December 18, 2013 at 3:20PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
That's like... just your own sorry-ass opinion, man
December 18, 2013 at 4:48PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Good Taste made Bad Tast can be bought on DVD here: http://filmshop.co.nz/products-page/documentaries/art-culture/good-taste...
December 19, 2013 at 2:28PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
what a complete piece of shit. this is not about cinema. this is about making stupid videos with stupid costumes.
cinema is an art, is contemplative and, above all is deep, it has a meaning - everything this piece of shit doesn't have.
December 19, 2013 at 3:45PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Looking forward to seeing your first movie masterpiece.
December 19, 2013 at 4:07PM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Always interesting to see how people start off in the business.
The scariest visual Peter achieved is the protruding alien butt checks. Some things just can't be unseen.
December 20, 2013 at 10:25AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
Ha ha - good old Kiwi ingenuity - that's what I reckon.
December 20, 2013 at 11:26AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
nice very insiring for new inde filmakers. thanks peter
December 25, 2013 at 2:38AM, Edited September 4, 8:45AM
This is awesome, I made my first film "Exhumation" the exact same way but with 1000$ budgest, built everything myself and a friend, and everyone in it was a a friend or volunteer and took 2 years working week ends only to finish, and it's about aliens. It was very fun and learning experience. Thanks for sharing this article.
June 18, 2014 at 10:16AM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM
Since when is "The princess bride" a debut? Rob Reiner made "Stand by me" as feauture debut.
June 18, 2014 at 11:13AM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM
The dude strikes again
June 18, 2014 at 11:15AM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM
I feel like my younger self had a lot in common with Peter Jackson. Unfortuneatly for me, I went to college and now I can't afford to do shit. I'm sure he didn't have student loans to worry about when he was doing all this...
A warning to young people: If you want to make films, make them. Don't go to an expensive school to learn how. I wish websites like NoFilmSchool and Youtube offered/had the resources they do now when I was being told college was a "good investment".
June 18, 2014 at 11:36AM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM
Great advice.
June 18, 2014 at 1:10PM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM
Joe: how is college going? please link us to your deep, meaningful films. I cannot wait.
June 18, 2014 at 3:17PM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM
At Blockbusters 25 years ago: "Hey! I got Bad Taste!" "-We all know that Jack. Now go find a good movie."
July 5, 2014 at 1:51AM, Edited September 4, 8:56AM