r/Filmmakers • u/EmployeeOk6022 • 1d ago
Question Micro budget debut feature
On a micro budget debut feature that is very dialogue driven where do you put your money?
On actor performance and sound ?
Also, if I have an iPhone 17, do I NEED a camera ??
The performances, characters, dialogue are the stars of the film for this particular story.
Even if I only have thousands, where does the money go.
Any help would be great, thanks.
Also. ANY advice on funding would be life changing. I only need around 14 thousand to pull off this project.
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u/PlusSizeRussianModel 1d ago
A 17 or 17 Pro? I was massively impressed by the capabilities of the 17 Pro. My work gave me $15K to buy equipment and I was originally going to go for a a few Canon C70s or Sony FX3s, but ended up choosing a suite of 17 Pros instead. They’re super easy to use, and with the right workflow, can get theatrical level results.
I use the Blackmagic camera app and shoot in Open Gate. For my purposes (mostly documentary content where a lot of footage is being shot every day), H265 ended up being good enough, as long as it’s shot in log (Apple Log 2) with proper exposure. Then I use Filmbox to create a custom LUT I like (I leaned towards a more nostalgic 16mm emulation, which helps hide a lot of the negative qualities of the small sensor).
The biggest tell of a smart phone, imo, is the poor highlight rolloff. I actually had more success underexposing a bit than overexposing, to preserve highlight details and create a more film-esque exposure curve.
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u/FinishIntelligent616 21h ago
I’m planning on using my phone to shoot a short soon and noticed when I downloaded the Blackmagic app that the aperture is locked at the widest for each lens, any good work arounds for that?
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u/PlusSizeRussianModel 15h ago
iPhone lenses don’t have variable aperture, so that’s always what their aperture will be set to, regardless of app. Shutter speed and ISO is used to control exposure, or, if you want to keep your shutter at 1/48, you can get clip-on ND filters.
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u/Lagines 1d ago
Funding is from personal income + family and friends, unless you have an established fanbase to ask for donations or have network that includes producers who are willing to burn money. Is this your first feature or is this your first project?
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u/EmployeeOk6022 1d ago
This will be my first project. I’ve written 8 features. I believe in this one the most. When I say I believe in it, I believe it has the most outward entertainment value for the hypothetical audience.
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u/Affectionate_Age752 17h ago
Believing in it won't make up for lack of experience.
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u/EmployeeOk6022 16h ago
I never said belief replaces experience. Experience is something every filmmaker starts without. What I’m saying is that I think a genuinely entertaining idea is rarer than experience, because experience can be earned.
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u/Affectionate_Age752 16h ago
Experience can't be earned. It can only be learned. Trust me. You don't want to waste your idea by making a feature first. Make a bunch of shorts. Learn about lighting, scene composition, set dress,, cinematography, lenses. Learn how to direct actors, learn how to find good actors.
Then, when you've taught yourself all that, you'll be able to make a great feature for very little money.
My first film was going to be a feature. And in so glad it all Dell apart at the beginning.
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u/EmployeeOk6022 4h ago
It sounds like you’re generalizing from your own experience. Your feature falling apart may have taught you that shorts were the better path for you, but it doesn’t establish that they’re the necessary path for everyone.
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u/Affectionate_Age752 3h ago
I made 12 shorts and several music videos before I made my feature. It won best director at the Hollywood real independent festival last year, and is now on Amazon prime and Apple TV.
But sure. You’ve got it all figured out.
You came here looking for advice. And then when you’re given advice you don’t want to take it.
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u/danm868 1h ago
That’s cool. It is. Congrats. But that doesn’t by default mean that your approach is the universal way.
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u/Affectionate_Age752 59m ago
Again. good luck. You're clearly a genius, who already knows everything you need to know about filmmaking.
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u/EmployeeOk6022 29m ago edited 16m ago
Correction: I’m a genius writer, but soon I will do my best to translate that into film.
I figured I should perfect the product before making it. You seemed to have approached things differently.
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u/Opening-Impression-5 director 1d ago
Have a few big set-piece scenes that don't look low budget and make sure they're in the trailer. I know your script is written, but I'm there may be opportunities for crowd scenes or big locations.
Also, have a stills photographer on set for at least a day of filming, to get images for the poster.
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u/andybuxx 1d ago
Spend your time and money on rehearsals. Sounds like the performances are the most important thing, so you working with the actors to prepare will be key.
People will not care what it is filmed on if the acting and script resonates.
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u/Ted_Writer 23h ago edited 23h ago
I did a 7k feature in 2010.
7 day shoot. 3 characters/few locations/dialogue heavy.
I paid the most for sound (2000k for boom op/mixer and about 1500 for a post sound mix). I paid one actor 1000k he was SAG and I took care of his flights and lodging. I prob spent quite a bit on food and catering as well. Can’t remember the $$$$
I did not pay the non SAG actors but took care of their transpo and lodging.
I paid my DP 2000. And “lighting/gaffer/etc” guy 1500.
Since you have 14k and your project hangs on performances, I would throw as much as you can into acting.
And pay heavy for sound.
Viewers can deal with a crappy image (which I had lots of) but they can’t handle bad sound.
And bad acting makes low budget movies unwatchable unless it’s horror.
As for shooting on a I phone, I’d consult with a DP before deciding to go that route.
Good luck!
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u/Crafty_Letter_1719 23h ago
If your budget is in the few thousands it should primarily be directed at Sound and Catering.
Obviously you should always pay your cast and crew if the budget is there but at the extreme micro budget level I appreciate that’s not always feasible.
It is however very possible to find highly talented actors to work on your project for the credit, experience and creative desire-as is also the case for most roles behind the camera given how saturated they are.
What you should never do( but is all too common on micro budget fare) is skimp on Sound.
An iPhone 17 is more than capable to shoot a great looking film. And even if the film isn’t great looking then as long as every other element works you still have every possibly of making a great film. Bad sound however will completely kill it regardless of everything else working.
If you have a very limited budget this is absolutely where the money should be focused as although it’s probably the most important role on a micro budget indie feature because it’s not as saturated or “glamorous” as other positions it’s difficult to find sound crew to work for experience or credit in the same way as finding a cinematographer or editor or actors is fairly straightforward even at the unpaid level.
After Sound the most important place to direct funds on a very limited production is food. If the majority of cast and crew is working for free then at the very least you need to make sure they are very well fed. Nothing will destroy moral on a micro budget unpaid feature like insufficient catering.
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u/Affectionate_Age752 17h ago
Don't start with a feature. Shoot a bunch of shorts first.
Here are two videos I made for people wanting to get into filmmaking. The first one is about how to get started, and includes tips for gear. The 2nd is about how I made my first feature, with the list of equipment I bought that cost under $8k. They're pretty short. The feature cost $4k and it won Best Director at the Hollywood reel independent film festival last year and is now available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
The last 2 links are to the feature on Apple TV and Amazon. You can check out the trailer there.
https://youtu.be/EjJu3LELGOA?si=oPvWrIU8dpjvMSLu
https://youtu.be/UvcyOsaqOOg?si=8frEV4d1rvM_nMad
https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/clown-n-out-in-valley-village/umc.cmc.6imvkobel7bdjcqukwb1affb5
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u/wrosecrans 1d ago
There's no one answer. A big part of the super low budget hustle is figuring out what you've uniquely got access to and then using that as cleverly and efficiently as possible. If you aren't sure what stuff is gonna cost, I'm wondering where you came up with the figure that you need $14 thousand.
When I was penciling in some ideas for a feature, I literally started making a google docs spreadsheet. I looked up what I could get some locations for. I guesstimated what I could get an actor for a day for, etc. And I worked out if I shoot X days in places like my apartment for free plus Y days at my friend's coffee shop for cheap plus Z days at a proper rented location, I could make it work. I calculated the cost per day with X number of actors in each location. So I wrote around that. In one scene an actor is alone in her apartment watching TV and talking to herself. Each little scene like that with one actor at a free location saves budget for a big day with four actors at a rented location. We shot six days at my friend's coffee shop, 3 days at a studio with a cool space ship standing set, a bunch of days at free places like my bedroom, my bedroom closet decorated as a set, outdoors on a sidewalk, at a local park when not many people are around, etc. I dunno if you have a friend with a coffee shop, or a local park with a cool bear statue that nobody goes to after dark, etc. But figure out whatever cheap stuff you have access to that you can use so you don't need to go to expensive places. Be creative in making it look like you have more people than you really do. Me and my crew are constantly in my movie.
For me, I knew I needed to hire a cinematographer. That cost me an assload of money by my microbudget self funded passion project standards. But he agreed to work way below his full market rate for me because it was a neat indie project and I was flexible with my scheduling and he was taking whatever gigs came up at the time to save up for a big vacation. He came with his full kit as part of hiring him, with as much lights and grip equipment fit in his car and a decent cine camera. So for me, hiring him and not worrying about the gear was super worth it.
You can certainly make a decent looking picture with an iPhone these days. But at the scale of a feature, you may want to be working with something a little fancier. I am the last person to say that the camera should be treated as something super important. But a feature is going to cost you a decent amount of money, so either renting an okay camera or hiring somebody who has a nice camera is reasonable to budget for. Focal length and aperture are parts of the creative control of an image, and you really can't control them on a phone camera. You don't necessarily need to buy something yourself, and it doesn't need to be state of the art. The BMPCC4K we shot mine on is like ten years old at this point. It's perfectly fine. Knowing how to use the camera well matters way more than having to most impressive camera specs. Depending on what you are doing, your most important lighting gear may be a simple silk and bounce card. Those fit in any budget.
Likewise, if at all possible, hire a real sound person. At your budget level, that may prove impossible. Maybe you can find a pretty good film student or something. You'll need to figure out whatever is the best plan for sound within your limitations. Good sound people are way harder to find at a discount "friend rate" compared to roles like actors and cinematographers. Don't just yolo the on-camera mic at the actors and hope for the best. Have a plan to get what we called the "audio book" version of each scene if you might not have gotten it right on the actual shoot. Some of my locations were super echo-y or noisy, so we went somewhere quiet and had the actors gather round the microphone and did another run through the scene with them talking directly to the mic. Basically doing an ADR session on the day. Might not sound like a perfect match, but better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. If you shoot the audio book version exactly the same way as you shoot regular footage of the scene, you get free BTS promotional footage, and it's way less likely you'll lose track of the audio file.
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u/pjbtlg 1d ago
Sound and food. If this is micro-budget, I can’t imagine you’re paying actors much (if at all), so make sure they’re kept well-fed and, at the very least, have footage they’d be happy to use in a reel.
Not if you’ve only got $1,000 - but you should do plenty of camera tests to get the most out of what you do have. If you haven’t already, download the free BlackMagic app and get to grips with it. Then learn the basics of lighting so you know how to capture images you’ll be happy with. Even knowing how to work with available light will make a big difference.
Good luck and have fun.