Shame on NFS for promoting this dude. PB is an accused domestic abuser that Kessler ended a business relationship with because of allegations from multiple women. Maybe that doesn't matter too much anymore because it was a couple years ago and he still gets clicks?

Here's a lovely quote to go with this article from his ex-fiance:

“It’s funny how a large following of supporters could make you terrified of saying anything. The year leading up to meeting him was extremely hard. I had lost trust in both my parents for incredibly hurtful things they did to me and had to push them away in order to heal. By doing so, a lot of my extended family cut me out and to this day, still won’t talk to me. I didn’t love my job and was very alone. Instead of leaving Philip at the first sign of violence, I stayed thinking I could help him with his anxiety, depression and anger. It’s something I grew up around and foolishly thought I could assist.

I lied to the police who came to his house in London, hiding my bruises – scared of where I would go. If he had kicked me out of the house, I would be homeless and at the time, I knew no one in London. The police took me to a hotel which I couldn’t afford after a few days. I didn’t know where to go or who to call upon as I had lost most of my family.”

https://cnncommentary.com/2015/04/14/philip-bloom-accused-of-domestic-vi...

Yeah this post is a bummer if you are actually looking to do what this post says it is illustrating. I have worked with budgets around this amount occasionally, and while the general principles of "Work with what you've got" etc. are helpful I suppose, showing a piece of work that was shot with this kind of equipment and crew based on industry favors as the example of "what you can do with $1k" is really discouraging and alienating if you are not super hooked up and already making a great living in the filmmaking world.

A much more practical (and brass tacks) set of guidelines for shooting projects under $1k, based on this price range would be:

1. Focus on working with a camera that has the highest dynamic range you can find, not resolution. I love the Black Magic Pocket camera for this reason. It's $1k to buy and usually very cheap to rent.

2. Use vintage 35mm lenses, don't worry about cinema glass. You can buy them on eBay or elsewhere for very cheap, usually under $100.

3. Don't be afraid to buy and return a critical piece of gear after shooting if you need to and have no other option. Most camera stores have 14-30 day return policies. So does Amazon.

4. Use natural light and bounces. Artificial light is expensive, increases your crew size and takes up a lot of time.

5. Collaborate with people and put their name at the top of the project. People will give more of their time if you aren't dictating what they should do but have creative input and feel the project is a passion project for everyone involved, not just the person directing.

7. Trade services for gear or help you can't afford. It's way classier than asking people to work for free on a passion project.