Valentines Day 2005 was a
key date in the history of the movie business. It was the day that Chad Hurley,
Steve Chen and Jawed Karim registered the name youtube.com. The movie business,
and especially film distribution, has not been the same since.
The last ten years has
seen a host of additional changes.
Digital technology has
made it possible for films to be shot and edited (even with dazzling special
effects) for minuscule budgets. Entire feature length films can be made for the
cost of the catering budget in a traditionally funded and produced industry
movie.
The Blair Witch Project
and Paranormal Activity demonstrated how the internet could be used to market a
film using viral marketing techniques, techniques that were in their infancy in
1999. Orin Pelli’s Paranormal Activity also used a viral campaign, this time
financed by Paramount, to turn a small ”no Budget” movie into a runaway box
office success.
Firstly, independent
fimmakers can make films much more cost effectively than the majors. Secondly,
because the budgets are relatively modest, independent filmmakers can afford to
make a movie that fails (unlike the majors). And finally, in this brave new
movie world, everyone wants in – the studios want in, the websites want in,
traditional TV want in, the gamers and app builders want in, the big banks, the
big brands and hedge funds want in. Everyone wants in. The studios and distributors,
websites and television broadcasters all have the hardware to play movies. What
they lack is the software – the movies. And if you are able to make compelling
content, you will make money.
Let me show you ten ways
to make compelling content for next to nothing.
1.
The Story Is Everything
Nothing glues
you to the screen more than a good story. If the story is there, does one
really care about the budget of the film?
Stories and
screenplays have four main elements:
Firstly, your
story must have characters with a specific goal. A specific goal is one that
can be measured, so at a point in time we can see whether or not the character
achieves or fails to achieve the goal. For example, if your character’s goal is
to move out of London – this is a weak goal. We all want to leave London. It’s
dirty, expensive and increasingly dangerous. But if the goal of your character
is to leave London by noon tomorrow, or else… then we have a goal that is
easily measured.
Secondly,
your story has a setting. The setting can be usual or unusual.
Thirdly,
there are the Actions of the main characters and finally what they say, or
Dialogue.
The trick of
a good storyteller is to weave these four elements together so the seams do not
show. When a writer achieves this, we say they have mastered the craft of
storytelling. But not necessarily the art of storytelling.
2.
Location Location Location
There are two expensive components to a film shoot. Image
capture (camera) and the locations.
Moving a cast
and crew from location to location is time consuming, and expensive, regardless
of your budget.
If you can
reduce the amount of location moves, or eliminate them altogether, then you are
a huge step closer to reducing your budget.
Locations in
this scenario suddenly have a huge impact on the script. To learn how, we need
only to look at some of the most interesting films of the last few decades:
Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Kevin Smith’s Clerks, Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have
It , Orin Pelli’s Paranormal Activity and George Romero’s Night of the Living
Dead. These films have one thing in common: limited locations. In fact, they
would each make excellent stage plays. The trick, it seems, is to take a bunch
of actors to a limited location and chop them up. When you do this, you will
essentially be filming a stage play. But a stage play filmed as a stage play is
boring. Turn your limited location script (which is essentially a stage play)
into a movie successfully, and you will have, what the moguls in Hollywood
call, Talent.
3.
Image Capture
Choosing the
camera that suits your script and your budget is simpler than ever before. Most
likely you will be shooting on a digital camera. Two elements of any camera you
should look out for are: compression and lenses. Remember that all digital
cameras generate the same signal. What influences the image quality are the
lenses you film through and the numbers of pixels per frame (compression).
The ultimate
no budget camera trick is use a little known fact of British law: security
camera footage can be recovered if you have been the victim of a crime. The UK
is covered in security cameras, some private and some publically owned. By law,
if you suffer a crime, the police will request a copy of the tape from the
camera owner.
Recce the
CCTV cameras in your neighbourhood, write a screenplay, re-enact a series of
’crimes’ and presto – you will have your movie shot – for absolutely nothing.
4.
Sound
It isn’t the
look of skin on skin that turns you on in a sex scene. It’s the sound of skin
on skin. Professional filmmakers spend much of their time considering and
creating the sounds that go with their pictures.
It is a fact
too that our brains are wired in such a way that when we need to strain to hear
what the actors are saying, the picture goes dim. Good clean sound with
interesting effects added in is the quickest way to make your images, even
those shot on your mother’s humble video camera, look great.
5.
The Bucks Are In The Music
The fact of
film revenue and distribution is that the main revenue streams are from the
sound tracks for your film. This is because the musicians unions are much
stronger than the actors, writers and film unions. After you film leaves the
cinema (if it was lucky enough to get there in the first place) the main
revenue streams a movie generates is for the mechanical copyright royalties for
the sound track.
Filmmakers
are usually the last to understand how music royalties are decided, registered
and administered. Explaining music copyright law is something that falls
outside this short article.
Briefly, filmmakers can get cheap or free scores by composing
and performing it themselves. Remember that there are three music copyrignt
streams: composers, lyracists and performers. Or, by getting an unsigned band
to perform, or to acquire the movie rights to an existing band by contacting
them through their agent, or estate if deceased. Research the track you are
interested in through http://www.ppluk.com/
6.
Get Organised
Nothing is
more disheartening than showing up to help out on a mate’s shoot only to spend
an hour looking for a screwdriver. Disorganisation is totally unforgiveable and
easily preventable by advance planning. Make sure you know where everything is,
and make sure everthing and everybody shows up at the right place at the right
time. If this is not within your organizational ability, partner with someone
who is.
7.
Your Friends Cannot Act
It is always
tempting to get a few friends together to make a movie and use them as actors
as well. This usually leads to peril because your friends are not trained
actors. They may have spent hours and hours with a video camera in front of the
bathroom mirror, but they will not know how to act in front of a camera on a
set. When your friends think they are acting well on set, you will probably be
so shocked at their hammy performances that you will be unable to direct them
without running the risk of destroying your personal relationship.
Far better to
advertise for actor/collaborators at local theatre and acting schools, hold
rigourous auditions until you find a stellar cast of talented unknowns than use
your friends.
If you have a
suitable script and some money, you can approach a casting agent who will then
pimp your script and your project out to established actors who might be
willing to do it for nothing if they like the script, their role, and have been
offered a suitable cut of the profits.
8.
Build A Following
In the good
old days (pre-Valentines Day 2005) filmmakers would submit their films to a
series of film festivals and tour with their film building the hype for their
film until they received sufficient distribution offers to finance their next
project. By making and touring film after film, a filmmaker was able to build
up a loyal fan base which would guarantee them and their producers a
predictable revenue stream.
The explosion
of social media has changed the landscape and created two types of filmmakers:
those who loathe and abhor social media, and those who embrace it.
Contemporary
filmmakers can use social media to create a following of people eager to sample
and appreciate their latest work. Astute filmmakers employ two producers: one
who deals with the traditional production work flow, and one who deals with
social media.
A first step
for any filmmaker is to register the domain name for their production company
and film title, as well as Facebook and Twitter profiles. Often these are sold
on to eventual distributors, as was the case with Paranormal Activity.
A great way
to build your list is to comment on relevant articles, like this one. You can
comment below.
9.
Are You a Filmmaker, a Content Provider or a Communicator?
Whatever your
goals are, remember that you need to decide what it is you are doing.
Filmmakers
make films and hope to cruise the festival route until they are discovered and
become festival darlings.
Content
providers are professional filmmakers who deliver movies whether dramatic,
corporate or documentary at a price per minute.
Communicators
are filmmakers and content providers who have something to say using the power
of moving images with excellent sound, well crafted stories and good sound
tracks. Communicators will also consider a host of different mediums including
short two and three minute episodes for mobiles (mobisodes) or internet
(webisodes). Gaming and phone apps also provide interesting storytelling
possibilities with a host of different strategies for monetizing current content
being debated around the world.
10.
There’s No Such Thing As Luck
I believe
that luck is earned through a combination of hard work and karma. If you
maintain your integrity and your passion, success will surely visit you.
It's A
Wrap
Nothing is as
powerful as a good movie. And by using the medium of cinema you are able to
influence and change lives. It is people like you that can make a difference
and make this world a better place.
-By Elliot
Grove
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