Transcripts
1. Introduction: So many people want to
make a feature film or think that they should
make one, but they don't. That script that
you wrote collects dust and before you know it, another year has gone by
without it getting made. I know that feeling so well. Hi. I'm Dean Peterson, and I'm a filmmaker in
Brooklyn, New York. Over the course of my career, I've made three
low-budget feature films, which have played at dozens of festivals around the world. I did pit another film
that premiered at Tribeca, and edited another that
premiered at South by Southwest. I've also made a bunch of
short films along the way. Today, I'm going to
walk you through step-by-step how to shoot your first low-budget
feature film. This class is for you, if you've had the idea
lingering in the back of your mind that you've wanted
to make a feature film, but you've never
taken the plunge. Maybe you didn't
know where to start, or you were worried that you
didn't have enough money, or maybe you just didn't
think that you could. This class will pull back
the curtain and give you the roadmap to making a
low-budget scrappy film. Our goal here is to get your
movie shot, no matter what. But the advice I'll give
applies to anybody, no matter if you have
$10 or $10 million. Although if you have a
budget of $10 million, what are you doing here? We're going to start off
with writing a script that's engaging and feasible to
shoot on a small budget. Then we'll talk about
making a budget, and scraping together enough
money to shoot your movie. Then we'll finish it
out with talking about the fun stuff,
shooting your movie. I'll give you tips for
making production as smooth and stress-free
as possible. Then we'll briefly
touch on what will happen after you've got
the film in the can. For this class,
all you'll need is a desire to shoot
your first film. I've also included
some worksheets in the class Resources
section that you can print off and follow along with. But if you don't have a
printer, don't worry about it. Just grab a notebook and
a pen, and that'll do. You will leave this class with all the tools and inspiration you'll need to get
down to business and to shoot your film, and you will shoot your film. By the time you're done here, you will have taken your first concrete step towards making that dream that's just
been kicking around your head into a reality. It's time to stop waiting around and to start making your movie. Buckle up, and let's
get started. [MUSIC]
2. Getting Started: First things first, why
am I teaching this class? Well, when I went
to film school, I was always taught that in order to make a featured film, you needed a sound stage. You needed a huge crew. You needed millions of dollars, and that you needed
to have spent decades climbing the ladder
before you can direct. But when I graduated
from college, I was bagging
groceries in Chicago. I wanted to make a
movie, but I didn't have access to any of that stuff. I definitely didn't want to wait until I was 50 to make a movie. But I didn't have anyone
around me to tell me that you don't need a fancy
sound stage to make a movie. When I finally started
shooting my first film, incredibly small, I honestly had no idea
what I was doing. I had to figure
it out as I went. Because of that, I made so many embarrassing
mistakes that I could have easily avoided if I had had somebody to just give
me a little advice. I would have given anything to have a class like
this back then. Giving me a few pointers from somebody who had been
through the process before. I want to take all
the knowledge and wisdom that I have gained plus the mistakes I've
made over a decade of film making and
give it to you. The fact is you don't need a sound stage and a 50 person
crew to shoot a movie. You can make one with whatever resources you
have available to you. I'm going to lead you
through the process of shooting a low budget
featured film. Giving you real-world
examples from the three featured
films that I've made. One final note to all this. This class is for how
to shoot your movie. It doesn't cover any of the
cost of post-production, of which there are plenty. I will cover all that and
more in a future class. I keep saying low budget. You might be wondering
what that actually means. It's pretty subjective. People say that Moonlight
was low budget, but their budget was
reportedly $1.5 million, which for the incredible
things that they did and the Oscars that they
won is a low budget. But $1.5 million is
also a lot of money. I would love $1.5 million, as I'm sure you would too. The Screen Actors Guild defines
low budget as films with the budget between
$700,000 and $2 million. But that's also not the low budget that I'm
talking about either. For the purposes of this class, let's define low budget as
films made for below $100,000. That could mean $90,000, or that could mean $1,000. It's a wide range, but the principles will still
apply no matter what. Don't freak out if you're
nowhere near $100,000. Inherent within the nature of low budget is not having enough. You're forced to squeeze
blood out of a stone. That's exactly what you will
learn to do in this class. Full disclosure. Yes, it's going to be a lot of work. Your first movie will
definitely not be perfect, but shooting your first film
will be one of the best, most exciting experiences
of your life. In the class resources section, you'll find a PDF that includes everything you'll
need for this class. It contains a few exercises, some film recommendations
for inspiration, and a super important document that you'll need for
the final lesson. If you have a printer, print this out and have it on hand. Apparently young people
don't have printers anymore. If you don't, no worries, just reference the PDF on whatever device you're
watching this on. Now that we've got
all that other way, let's roll up our
sleeves and get started. Next up, we're going to talk about one of the scariest parts. Setting your start date. [MUSIC]
3. First Things First: Let's start with
something that you probably already know yourself. Making a movie is
hard and scary, especially if it's
your first one. It's easy to come up with a million reasons for
why you're not ready. You don't have enough money, your script isn't good enough, you don't know any
filmmakers who can help you. Those are all valid reasons
but the good news is, those are all
problems that can be fixed within a matter of months. I know from personal experience that it's possible to
keep kicking the can down the road until you
wake up one day and realize that years have passed and you still haven't
made your movie. I have definitely
fallen victim to this. What I realized on my first film was that in order to
actually get it made, you have to set a date that you're going to start
shooting on and start operating as
if that's going to happen no matter what. Take the worksheet
labeled roadmap, look at your calendar and
we're going to choose a date. I would say that 8-10
months is enough time, but it has to be within a year. You have no excuse to
not start shooting or movie within one
year from today. Say that today is January 1st, we're going to say
that October 1st, my birthday, is the
first day of production. Congratulations, you now have a date that you're
going to start shooting. Here's the key though
you have to act as if you're actually going to
begin shooting on that date. You can not be
wishy-washy about it. One great way to do this is by telling your friends
and family about it. Say, hey, I'm going to start shooting my movie
on October 1st. When you put it out
into the world, you'll be shocked by
who will come out of the woodwork to offer
help and support. The other benefit of doing
this is that if October 1st comes and goes and you haven't started
shooting your movie, you will be humiliated. Shame is an amazing motivator. For my second movie, I was scared to set a date because I was going to
have to quit my job, append my life, and actually put my money where my
mouth was literally. To force myself, I cut a check for half the cost of our
main location and lodging, which was thousands of
dollars and after that, there was no turning back. I had no choice
but to be all in. The most important part
about getting started, do not wait for
anybody's permission or for some golden ticket
to land on your lap. I'll tell you a
tiny little secret. The film industry is
full of well-meaning but ultimately harmful
gatekeepers who will say to you, you should shoot this
movie for $500,000 or you need to cast this
or that famous person, or don't shoot your
movie on that camera. Unless those people are
willing to do concrete, actionable things to help you achieve that stuff,
tune them out. Theodore Roosevelt had
a quote that said, "Do what you can with what
you have, where you are." He may have never made a movie, but he knew what he
was talking about. Now it's your turn, take your calendar out, pick a date that's within one
year and set a day to start shooting and then mark it down here on the roadmap
in permanent ink. Next step, I'm going to give
you some tips for how to write the perfect low
budget script [MUSIC]
4. Writing Your Movie: We've got a date, you're
going to start shooting, but now you need a
script to shoot, or maybe you've already
started writing one and want some
tips to improve it. This advice will apply
to either scenario. I'm not going to tell you
how to write a script that's a whole other
class for another time, I just want to offer a few tips for writing that will make your script a
little better and a little bit easier
for you to shoot. The key to this is to remember that everything that
you write on the page, you're going to have to
execute during the shoot, you not somebody else. The first thing that
you should do is think about locations that you
have access to for free. Locations can be
really expensive. But if you're creative and
you call in a few favors, you can get major
production value without having to spend
a dime.The goal with low budget movies is
always to make it look like it cost more
than it actually did. If you're strapped for cash and as independent filmmakers, we all are, don't set your movie in outer
space for God's sake. But if your friend's
mom is a doctor and will let you shoot in
an exam room for free, think of a scene you
can set there or do your grandparents friends have a roof deck that
overlooks a river? That could be a
great place to set your breakup scene in Act 2. Try to get creative and work with what you've got access to. Similar to locations, think about props that you have access to for free as well. Does your uncle that's having a midlife crisis have
a vintage Porsche? Does a girl that you
went to high school with have a boyfriend with a huge big foot
statue in his backyard? Again, adding
things that you can use for free will
save you huge amounts of money and make
your movie seem bigger and more
expensive than it is. Aside from not writing in crazy locations that you
don't have access to, there are other ways
that you can make it easy for yourself down the road. The first way to do
that is by not setting your movie in 80
different locations. I know that this
may be tempting, and for your second movie, if you have more money and a
huge crew, I say, go for it. But we're being scrappy here. Eighty locations in your script means 80 places
you need to find, get permission to shoot in
and potentially pay for. Switching locations takes tons of valuable time and energy. If you can set your movie in three or four main locations, your shoot will
be much smoother. That way you can focus
on creating instead of packing gear into your
trunk and driving. This next tip should
seem obvious, but to some, it isn't. Don't include things in your script that are
difficult to shoot. This includes shooting on water, having small children or
animals in the scenes, and doing crazy stunts. These things all
might be appealing and they might seem
like they'll look cool, but they'll slow
you down and make your shoot much harder
than it needs to be. Another thing is to not
have too many characters. Again, every additional
character is a person that you have to cast,
schedule and feed. Can you make your movie
with four locations and three characters? Now we're talking. Time
for you to try this out. Grab a piece of paper
and spend a few minutes brainstorming things
that you think you can get access to for free. We're going to break this up into four different categories ; props, locations,
people, and other. I'm going to take a
minute to work on mine while you do yours. [MUSIC] Here are a few
that I came up with. For props, my friend Joe has a vintage piano that he
would probably let me use, so maybe I could make one of
my characters a musician. My friend Bradley
has a surfboard, so there might be a cool beach surfing scene
I could put in. My friend Anna has
a tandem bike, which is comedy
golden every movie. For locations, my friend
James has a rooftop patio, so maybe I could set a scene
there during golden hour, that would look really cool. I know somebody that has a
house that's a geodesic dome, that could definitely
be something. My friend Katie has a cabin. For people, I put a guy I used to work with speaks
French, Italian, and Spanish, that can be a
cool character in the movie. Then for other, I know somebody
that works at a brewery, so maybe they can either
let me shoot there or they could maybe get us
free beer for the shoot. This is just an
exercise to get you thinking about things in your life that you
have access to, you're definitely not locked
into any of this stuff. I would suggest you
just brainstorm and see what you come up with and
it's a good place to start. This will not only make it
easier for you to shoot, but it will make your
script a richer as well. The scene that set in an
old barn is a lot more interesting than one set in
a bedroom with white walls. The unfortunate reality is that a lot of times when
people watch your movie, especially film
festival programmers, if you don't hook
them right away, they might turn it off and
move to the next film. People's time is
really valuable and they won't always give you
the benefit of the doubt. So unless you have Brad
Pitt in your movie, you need to use the
first five minutes of your film to grab
people's attention. Spend a lot of time
thinking about what the first few scenes
of your movie are. Or even the first shot. How can you hook somebody
who's watching your movie that doesn't know anything
about you or your film. I would recommend
watching lots of movies and taking note of how
they start the film. What was the opening shot? How does it draw you
in or not draw you in? My final piece of advice is to spend extra time on your script. Writing is one of the few parts of filmmaking that are free so you can do it as much as you want and for as
long as you want. Have people that
you trust to read your script and
see what they say. You might even want
to get friends together and do a table read, where you'd go through the
script and read it all the way through with different
people playing the parts. It's a great way to see
how things sound out loud and to get a feel for
the flow of your script. Go ahead and complete this exercise and I'll meet
you in the next lesson where we're going to talk
about the most important and terrifying part of filmmaking, money. [MUSIC]
5. Funding Your Movie: Money. [NOISE] Sorry, that's actually prop money. I wish It was real money though. The inevitable fact is that you will need money to
make your movie. How much do you
need, that depends. Like I said in the last lesson, if you have a
million characters, locations and you need horses, your budget might be bigger. If you don't know how
to figure it out, don't worry about it. I've provided a budget template that you can feel free to use, just plugging the
details and it will tell you approximately how
much you're looking at. If you already have a
camera and some gear, you could conceivably shoot your movie for
literally no money. But you might want to
spend a little bit more than that so
let's talk about it. First things first, how
do you get this money? I'll lay out a few options. You could do crowdfunding, like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. This is a popular
avenue for a lot of filmmakers and it
can be a good one. But word to the wise, crowdfunding campaigns are much harder than you
think that they are. Trust me, I've run two
successful campaigns and my first film was actually the first feature film to
successfully do a Kickstarter. Crowdfunding will require
you to beg, plead with, and annoy every single
person you've ever met multiple times over
the course of a month. It's honestly pretty
brutal and frustrating and it will test the bonds
of your friendships. But it is one good option that many people have
found success with. This next option also requires that you annoy
everybody that you know and love and that is
to try to hit up your friends and family for money the good old
fashioned way. I'd suggest putting
together a little packet explaining what the
movie is about and what your vision is for it so
that they're not just getting a text from
you that says money, include a description
of the film, what your plans are for it, and some images that
are going to give them inspiration for what
you're going for. Take these from movies you're inspired by or from Pinterest. Having friends or
family that can give you money is admittedly a pretty privileged option that's not available
to everybody. But again, a little
goes a long way and even if they can't
support you financially, perhaps there are
other non-monetary ways that can help you out. At the very least, there'll be excited to hear
about your project. Another option is to get people to invest in your project. This is the trickiest
option since investors aren't just giving you money out of the
goodness of their heart. They expect to get their
money back and earn some. If you're interested
in this, I would definitely recommend that
you speak to a lawyer who can walk you through
the process since you can get in serious legal trouble if you don't do
things by the book. Another good option is grants. There are tons of
organizations that offer grants to
filmmakers and artists. There are grants
for specific groups like female filmmakers, LGBTQ filmmakers, regionally specific
filmmakers, and others. I've included a list of some of the major grants available, but do some of your own research online and see if you
qualify for any of them. These can be super helpful
but they do require lots of work and usually a very lengthy
and involved application. The final option, which I think is actually
one of the best sometimes is to save up and
pay for your movie yourself. This is another
privileged drought that not everybody
will be able to do and it may limit
you since you're probably not going to be
able to save tons of money. But it also offers
you the most freedom. If you're paying for
the project yourself, you don't have to
answer to anyone. Want to name a movie,
Shaquille O'Neal is my Father, go for it. Nobody can stop you. I personally have invested my own money into every
project I've ever made, ranging from part of
the budget to all of it for some. How did I do it? For my first film,
I move back into my mom's house and worked
at a liquor store, saving every single
penny that I made. For my second film, I edited workout infomercials
to help fund it. For my third film,
I saved a third of every single paycheck
that I got for two years. It's definitely not
the most fun option, but you also aren't waiting
around for anyone to cut you a check in order to
be able to make your film. Now that you've got some amount of money to shoot your film, let's talk more
about the budget. Your budget will include many
things that you probably already imagine,
food, prompts, etc. But it should also
include something that's called a contingency. What is a contingency? It's for things that will pop up unexpectedly during
production that costs money, where you guys throwing
around a football between takes and smashed the
neighbor's window, you're going to have
to pay for that. Did it start to rain
and you need to buy 15 umbrellas for the crew. You're also going to
need to pay for them. Since you probably didn't have those items in your budget, that's where the
contingency comes in. I tried to have a contingency of at least 15 percent
of the total budget. Twenty percent would be great
to be on the safe side. Just know that you
will need this money even and especially if
you think you don't. Insurance is another item in the budget that is
not fun or sexy, but that you need anyways. It's like a
contingency where you really need to get it even
if you think that you don't. Insurance also does not need to be crazy expensive either. But no matter how much it costs, it will be worth it if, God forbid something catastrophic
happens while shooting. You do not want to be
in debt for the rest of your life because you did
not spring for insurance. Film Emporium,
Fractured Atlas and Frankel and Associates
are all reputable, affordable sources of
insurance for film shoots. Do a little bit of
research online and see which company and policy
works best for you. SAG, or the Screen Actors Guild is the main actors
union for TV and film. Many actors are SAG, meaning if you
want to cast them, you'll need to follow
a few SAG rules. These aren't all of them,
but here are just a few. The minimum day rate for
SAG is $211 per day. This is what you'll have to pay each actor who's in the union. SAG also has a bunch of paperwork that you'll
need to fill out and you need to file it at least 4-6 weeks before you start shooting so make sure to plan ahead and do not wait until
the last minute. If you're going to
cast SAG actors, you're going to need
to use a payroll company to pay them. There are a bunch of
them and like insurance, the cost isn't crazy. I find that it's also worth
it since they handle lots of confusing and annoying
financial paperwork, as well as all the
tax filings in April. Checkout, ABS payroll. I've used them for
every single film that I've made and
they're great. There are lots and lots of other SAG rules that
you'll also have to follow and I've included a
link to the full list below. One way around these rules
is to cast non-union actors. If you cast actors that
aren't in SAG then, you can do whatever you want, although you still
have to treat them well and you should
still pay them. Just know that if you
go the non-union route, you will severely limit the pool of talent that
you can pull from. But if that doesn't bother you, then by all means go for it. Budgeting can seem
overwhelming and is definitely not the sexiest part of
the filmmaking process. Just know that even if you're
going to shoot a movie in four days with your buddies
and a borrowed camera, making a budget is
still a good idea. It'll help you lay everything out that you'll need
for the shoot and ensure that nothing
pops up during production that you
didn't anticipate. Now it's your turn. Download
the budget template and start filling it in. I'll meet you in the next
lesson where we're going to talk about doing
pre-production. [MUSIC]
6. Starting Pre-Production: Before we get to production, let's take a second to
talk about pre-production. The first thing to know
is that like writing, pre-production is free, so spend as much
sweat equity as you can to save time
and money on set. The first thing every
director needs to do is know the script
inside and out. One of the things
you'll do most as a filmmaker is to
answer questions. Do we need that slip
and slide for scene 14? Why does my character say that to her husband in
the bedroom scene? Do you want their
makeup to look like this or do you want
it to look like that? All day, you'll be answering
people's questions, so read your script over and
over and know it by heart. Another thing you can do
to prepare is to make a scene-by-scene breakdown
of the script. Make a spreadsheet
of all the scenes, whatever it is, 1-100. Include the following
information, the scene number, the location, whether it takes place
during day or night, a description of what
happens in the scene, how many pages the scene is, which day of the shoot it's on, a list of which characters
are in the scene, and what props you
need for the scene. If you make this
in Google Sheets, then you'll have a searchable, sortable database which will help you stay organized
and efficient. Storyboarding is
another tool that can help you plan and
organize the movie. You make a sketch
of each shot of the movie and a description
of the camera movement. Personally, I am
terrible at drawing, [NOISE] so I usually
just make a shot list. I like to include information
like if it's a wide, medium, or close-up, if there's any movement, if it's handheld or
if it's on a tripod, and roughly how long I think
it will take to shoot it. Doing this forces
you to envision how you see the
movie playing out. This is really important, even if you don't use the shot
list on set because you'll pre-visualize all the shots of your film and you won't
just be winging it on set. This will also help you
on the day of the shoot to know everything
that you need to get. Once you've got all
these documents along with a copy
of your script, put them in a sturdy
binder and get used to carrying it with
you wherever you go. This will be your brain
on set and you will reference it dozens of
times throughout the day. Now, we've covered
pre-production, let's move on to being on
set with production. [MUSIC]
7. Getting On Set: We're here, onto everyone's favorite part
of filmmaking, production. This is when you're on set, out in the field
making movies, baby. It's fun, but it's
also a lot of work. Let's break down what you'll
need in terms of gear. You should just
shoot your movie on whatever camera you
have access to. Digital cameras these
days are so good that the image quality would make
Orson Welles brain melt. You really don't need
to spend an arm and a leg to get good image quality. As of shooting this, you can get a used Panasonic G7 on
KEH.com for 300 bucks. It's 4K and it's video looks
really great. Or guess what? Iphone cameras are insane. Lots of high-end movies have
been shot on an iPhone, and they even make cool anamorphic adapters to give
it a more unique look. The point being, don't
stress about the camera. Just as important as the image, sound is incredibly
important in your movie. See how that bad
sound effected that. Sound is one of the most
important things to think about, and it can also be one
of the most expensive. Sound people do not come cheap, but it's definitely a
worthwhile expenditure if you have it in your budget. You can definitely have one
of your friends run sound. Just know that it may
require some more work and potentially re-recording some of the dialogue once
you get to post. One way you can avoid this
and help yourself in the edit is to get as many sound
assets on set as you can. This way you won't have to
work to match the sound when you do Foley later on in
a different location. If there's a dialogue scene
with a ton of movement, say for instance, two of your characters are wrestling
around on the ground. Make sure to also record them doing the lines without moving. So you'll have a clean
version of it to use without all the rustling. If you can get lots of Foley
of things while on set, actors walking on
creaky wooden floors, a bicycle going down the street, just whatever is
happening in your scene, it'll help to have clean
close-up recordings of them if you have
the time to get it. Also room tone. After a scene, have everyone stands still and record 20 seconds of silence. This will help you
when you're editing the sound and post. Another thing to grab
if you have the time, is B-roll and
establishing shots. If you're shooting in your
neighbor's house that has a ton of cool knick-knacks, get a bunch of close-up
shots of them. If you're shooting in a park
and the sun looks cool, coming through the trees,
grab a shot of it. These kind of shots are
really useful when you're editing and they add
texture to your film. Also be sure to get establishing
shots of your locations. If you've ever
scene in a church, try to grab an exterior
while you're there. These are all things
you can do later on, but there's so much easier to do while you're already there. So an example, I shot
a movie in Fargo, North Dakota during
the dead of winter. I tried to get as much
B-roll as I could, but our schedule
is pretty tight. So when the director
started editing, they wanted to have a few
more establishing shots. But by this time it was spring and we were
in New York City, so there was no way to fake it. The more you can
anticipate these things, and the more B-roll
you can get while you're in the
environment of the film, the better off you'll be. Unless you want to shoot
your movie by yourself, which, hey, some people do, don't let me discourage you, then you'll need to hire
crew members to help out. These can be your
buddies doing you a favor or professionals that you hire depending on
your budget and your needs. Here's a personal example. My first feature,
Incredibly Small, the crew was me, a producer, a DP, a grip who helped out
with lighting and camera, a sound person, and a PA. A ragtag, small setup like this
can totally work. But just know that your actors will be doing their own makeup. Your producer, or more likely, you will be in charge
of wardrobe and props, and you'll have to
make sure you're ahead of time that
everybody is on board with a scrappy production
where they'll probably be asked to pitch in and help with things outside of
their department. So all this sounds great, but you might be wondering, how do I find these people? One great option, especially
if you're just starting out or operating on
a shoestring budget, is to enlist your friends. Hard work and enthusiasm are often just as
important as talent. So if you've got a few
enterprising buddies, give them a job. If they don't know anything
about film production, there are tons of videos online, including right
here on Skillshare, for how to do every
position on set. Friends are good
because they may be more forgiving if
it's your first film and more willing to put in the long hours that film
shoots usually take. Let's just say for a moment that you maybe don't
trust your buddy, Brent to hold the boom mic. Maybe you want to hire somebody. There are a lot of
great resources for where to find crew members. Craigslist is one great option. You can post in the TV, film, video gig section
and see who replies. Early on in my career, I found plenty of crew
members this way. A lot of times the
city, a state, or a region will have
a local film board. These are really
fantastic sources of not only potential
crew members, but lists of grants to apply to, potential location photos, and people who can help you out in the production
of your film. There are tons of other sites
that are good resources. And there are far too many
of them to mention here. But get creative. Make a post on Reddit, search the Vimeo
for hire section. Look on YouTube for
other people making stuff in your area and
send them a message. The sky is very much the limit. Another way of finding
help for your film is good old fashion
asking around. Ask your friends if
they know anyone, email a filmmaker from the area and ask for
recommendations, make posts on
Instagram or Twitter. The wider the net that you cast, the more options
that you'll get. Another resources where you
are right now, Skillshare, reach out to teachers who
have classes about sound or cinematography or
color correction. Maybe they're
interested in helping or maybe they know somebody else who is or post in the
discussion section here. I'm assuming that everyone
who's watching this has the common bond of wanting
to make a low budget movie. Wouldn't it be cool if
you've got connected with other people to
make a movie together? So feel free to
use this platform to help make things
happen for your film. Unless you and your crew have unlimited time to
make your movie, you're going to need a schedule. There are a few things
you need to keep in mind, with a small budget, time is not on your side. As the saying goes,
time is money, and that is literally true here. Every day that you
go over schedule is another day that you'll
have to pay people, another day you have
to feed everybody, and another day you have to potentially pay for locations. So our goal here is
to shoot quickly. That said, and this bears repeating multiple times
throughout this class. Safety is the utmost priority
on a film set at all times. No film is worth the health and well-being of
your cast and crew. So shoot fast, but
shoot responsibly. On the same token, makes sure that you
give your cast and crew enough time off. Typically there's a
12 hour turnaround, which means that crew needs at least 12 hours in-between rap time and the next call time. So if you wrap a shoot
on Thursday at 10:00 PM, the earliest you should have the next call time is
Friday at 10:00 AM. Also, make sure
that cast and crew have days off during the shoot. Don't just shoot
18 days straight through with no days
off in the middle. Tired cast and crew are
not going to do good work. And when people don't
get enough sleep, it can become dangerous. So give them time to rest, recharge, and play
with their cat. Low budget filmmakers are
some of the most resourceful, ingenious people on the planet. They can turn a cardboard
box into a motorcycle or make Indiana
look like Key West. They also know how
to stretch a dollar as far as humanly possible. That said, there is one thing that you
should never skimp on, and that is food. You need to feed your
cast and crew well. These people are
giving their time and effort often for free. So you need to show them your appreciation by
providing good food. This means not just ordering
pizza for every meal. Find a good cafe
in your town and have people order
sandwiches and salads. Give them something
healthy that won't make them need to take
a nap after lunch. Also, make sure to have
plenty of snacks on hand. Bonus points if you don't
just have a box and gummy snacks thrown onto a table
like so many film productions. If you go the extra
mile and spend the extra dollar to feed your
cast and crew like royalty, they will repay you 10-fold. Just as important as eating
is staying hydrated. I know from personal experience
that it's possible to go all day on set without taking
a single sip of water. I do this all the time. But if you don't stay hydrated, you're going to very
quickly run out of energy and you will not be able to
make your best decisions. So make sure that you and your cast and crew
are well-hydrated. In order to not create a
ton of single use plastic, give everyone a
reusable water bottle and have them put
their name on it. Plastic water bottles suck. Everything that I'm
talking about here, it can be expensive. Food, gear, locations, but with a little extra
work and politeness, you can potentially get
a lot of them for free. Reach out to local restaurants and ask them if they'd provide free pizza for one of the
lunches or free salads one day. In exchange, tell
them that you'll put their name and logo
in the credits. Or better yet, you'll feature
their stored in the movie. Boom, you just got free lunch and a free location to shoot in. One thing I've
always had good luck with is getting free beer. I'm not sure why, but
breweries are usually very generous with low
budget film productions. This is especially
helpful at rap time when the cast and
crew are unwinding. They'll be really
thankful if you've got a few cases of beer
for them to crack open after a long
day shoot. [MUSIC]
8. Shooting Your Movie: If this is your
first feature film, you might not have a ton
of experience onset. If that's the case, here are a few helpful tips to remember
to make your life easier. A lot of directors seem
to be afraid of actors. They don't understand
their process or are afraid of the
questions that they ask. This does not need to
be the case at all. They're people just
like you or me, and you just need to learn
how to communicate with them. The first thing that
I would recommend is to keep your directions simple. Less is always more
when directing actors. Instead of rambling
on for minutes about the intention or what the
character is going through, condense it down to a single short sentence
or even a single word. One of the most
powerful weapons in a director's arsenal is a firm
grasp on the action verb. It gives actors something
concrete to do. Instead of telling an actor, you're upset because your friend didn't show up to the wedding, so be really ****** and angry. You can simply say
punisher or explode. Another thing that a lot
of directors shy away from is listening
to actors ideas. I think that directors
can feel threatened, like their vision is being
undermined or something. But this is silly. I found over and over
again that actors have great ideas for their
characters and scenes. After all, they've thought about this character
more than anybody. Encourage actors to
come to you with ideas and really listen to them. Even if you don't
think it'll work or disagree with the idea, you should try it
their way anyway. At the very least,
they actually feel like they're being
heard and who knows, it might end up
working out great. I've got a whole other
Skillshare class about talking to and directing actors. After you're done
watching this class, go check it out for a
more in-depth discussion on the best ways to direct them. One really important
tip that I always try to do in order to
err on the safe side, always do more than one take. Even if you think that
you nailed it in one, do one more just for safety. You just never know if the
boom mic didn't pick up the dialogue or the camera
was slightly out-of-focus, or any number of
other things that will be impossible
to fix and post. Just to be safe, do more than one take. Another tip is one that I
had to learn the hard way. On my first film, I felt like I was made
out of porcelain. Any single little thing that went wrong felt
like the world is crashing down and that it would derail and ruin the movie. This is not a fun or
sustainable way to make movies. It's important to realize that
filmmaking is like a wave. There'll be low points, but it always goes back up. Instead of a porcelain
figurine that can smash at the smallest thing, you need to be like
a cork that easily floats up and down
with the waves. When something goes awry, try not to freak out and
instead just view it as a problem and it's your
job to find the solution. Just stay cool. You'll feel better
and you'll inspire the confidence of your
cast and crew as well. Another thing that you
can do that will really help you down the
line and won't take more than a minute here
and there is to get plenty of behind-the-scenes
photos and videos. High-quality stills of the
production are invaluable to film festivals or publications that are doing an
article on your film. It's something
that's really easy to forget in the
fog of production, but bring a camera set and
snap a few photos when you have a cool lighting
setup or a unique location. Or if you've got a friend
who's a photographer, invite them to set a few
days and have them go wild. If you want to really
go above and beyond, try to think about what
you may want the poster for your film to be
before the shoot. If you can come up
with a few ideas, you can make sure to grab some photographs that will offer you more options than just taking
frame grabs from the movie. I did this on my first
movie, Incredibly Small. I knew what I wanted
the poster to be, and so I made sure to grab some nice high-res photos that allowed me to make
it after the fact. I've said this before, but I'll say it again here, a micro-budget film does
not mean an unsafe film. The health and safety
of everyone onset is the most important thing and you cannot put
a price tag on it. Don't cut corners when it comes to keeping everybody safe. This includes a few things. Do not do any crazy stunts
or have weapons onset. Unless you have
trained professionals, do not have actors
jumping through windows or have your cinematographer lean out the trunk of your car. Seriously, don't
be a knucklehead. Also, no weapons onset. No guns, no sharp
blades, Nothing. There are safe ways
to incorporate these things into a production. But if you're making a
scrappy low-budget movie, you don't have the
resources to do it safely or responsibly. Just to be on the safe side,
let's just leave them out. A halo truth that you need to constantly remind
yourself is that every person onset
is there to work together and help make
this film a reality. They're working really hard and might be working for free. You have a responsibility
to be kind, courteous, and grateful to everyone on the cast and crew. When things go wrong, don't point fingers or
throw people under the bus. Protect your crew,
treat them well, show them gratitude and
you'll have a happy, fun, productive set. [MUSIC]
9. The Pact: As we wind down the class, we now must discuss, The Pact. In the class resources, I've included the document which you hopefully printed out. This is a hallowed oath, a pact that you
must treat as holy. It contains two points. The first point is that in
order to make your movie, you're more than likely going
to have to call in favors. Have people donate their hard-earned dough
to your Kickstarter, have people work for
little to no money, and work incredibly
long exhausting hours. You must solemnly pledge that for the rest
of your career, you will do the
same for beginning filmmakers as much
as you possibly can. This is a sacred oath and as close to a
religion as I have. The second point requires
you to fill something in, go back and take that start
date that you decided on earlier and write
it down in ink. By doing this, you are making
a contract with yourself. You're entering into
an agreement that you must work with all
your energy to uphold. Write the date down
and repeat after me inserting your
information as necessary. I, whatever your name is, do solemnly swear
that I will honor my sacred dream of shooting
a feature film to commence, no matter what, on
the day you decided. Now, sign the contract and put it on your wall for all to see. More importantly, make sure that you
honor this contract, is legally binding after all. You don't want to get
sued by yourself. [MUSIC] This class was about
getting your movie shot. There are plenty of other
expenses and hurdles that you're going
to need to tackle such as editing your movie, which you should learn
how to do yourself. Color and sound, definitely don't skip them. Festival entries,they're really expensive and deliverables. You need these if
anybody's going to see your movie, which is the goal. A lot of people are going
to tell you to not shoot your movie until you have
the money to do all that. Is that smart advice? Yeah, probably. Is that what I've
done in the past? Not always. Those steps are all necessary but can be done
with the luxury of time. If you've taken this class
and done all the exercises, you are ready to
shoot your movie now. I'll cover all the
other steps and much more in future Skillshare
classes. [MUSIC]
10. Final Thoughts: [MUSIC] Congratulations, you have everything you
need in order to make your dream a reality and
to shoot your future film. Let your fear dissolve, let all of the hesitation
disappear into thin air. You are now equipped to go out into the world
and to create. I hope that you feel energized and unshackled by the bonds of excuses and perceived obstacles to go out and make your movie. I would love to hear
about your progress and to answer any
questions you may have. Please leave them in
the discussion section and I'll be sure to respond. Also upload your
signed contract to the project gallery so we can help keep each
other accountable. Thank you so much for
watching and happy filming.
Dean Peterson, Writer/director/producer
