I was very relieved to find myself in Production on a Shoestring – and not only because it was my first pick. Online learning has always suited me – you don’t need to remember if you packed your water bottle (sorry – I suggest building 8. They have the most vending machines which are usually stocked), if your laptop is charged and you can’t get distracted by the noises just outside the classroom – oh, and you’re easily able to check your phone during class.
Production on a Shoestring instantly appealed to me as it was one of the most practical studios, especially given that right now, in our early stage careers, it’s unrealistic to aim for a multi-million dollar film. While some of the skills we’ll learn in this studio can probably be learnt by getting out there and shooting short films, being able to learn those skills beforehand, by actually looking at successful microbudget films and learning the foundations that made them a success, we can learn how to incorporate budget limitations into our creative vision from the start – rather than having to compromise that creative vision later on.
Looking back on my short film, ‘One Closed Door’, I can see how this course would have been useful to have completed before filming. One Closed Door was very much a microbudget film (6 minutes totalling about $200), and followed a man haunted by a malevolent presence. If the man didn’t complete his before bed ritual successfully, the presence attacks. While we were writing for this film, we certainly didn’t consider budget beyond ‘how can we cut costs as much as possible’. We did lots of the things that successful microbudget filmmakers have done (actors were friends working for showreel material, crew was all looking for experience, we scrounged up kit between us), our issue came from wardrobe – the malevolent presence, didn’t look so malevolent. There are times that he’s clearly a budget Halloween costume. Because of this, we had to compromise on some of our planned shots to prevent the film looking cheap. Had we considered this more thoroughly at the start, we may have been able to incorporate the limitation in our vision – maybe the presence is never seen unless in dark shadow, or he only flickers in and out. Though the film wasn’t unsuccessful (it was featured in ____ and was a finalist at the Lift Off Online competition), there’s no knowing if it could have done better had we not had to make those compromises.
Which is why I think looking at case studies of successful microbudget films, as well as the basic foundations of making any film, will be hugely beneficial. Rather than learning through costly trial and error, we can learn the foundations of making a successful microbudget film.
As for the final outcome of this course – writing a screenplay ready to film that will work on a microbudget is a literal dream. Writing is my first passion. I want to write, with the goal to increase autism representation in the media.
But that’s another post.
