EBBS: A MICROBUDGET PRODUCTION

link to script and scene breakdown documents

BUDGET ANALYSIS

This script has been purposefully written so that it may be produced with resources to which I am guaranteed to have cost-free access and be feasibly produced on a micro-budget. In the following budget analysis, I will identify those aspects of the production which I am able to achieve/access cost-free, before breaking down the expenses and the budget estimate for those factors which can not be guaranteed. 

The first major resource to which I have guaranteed access is the set. As it is written, the script is designed to be set in a family-owned house in suburban Western Australia. This mid-century home and its interiors accommodate the comfortable atmosphere which I aim to convey in this short film, has three separate bedrooms (sleeping a total of 6 people), kitchen facilities, toilet facilities, ample parking and furnishings which are appropriate to the atmosphere and environment. As I have family access, this location comes at no cost and allows use of on-site set dressings and props without need for sourcing externally. Additionally, in being a private residence it negates the necessity of public liability insurance. 

The second major means by which the cost of this film will be minimised is through the choice of actors. The script has been written to two friends of mine who are fellow creative arts students on the basis that these friends would be brought on board of the project under time-for-reel arrangements. Thus, with ample catering and reimbursements, actors may be brought on board at no per-hour cost. 

Post-production costs would be similarly minimised. As RMIT provides industry-level post-production softwares, I am able to personally execute colour-grading and basic editing processes without outsourcing. The film is also dependent upon diegetic audio and has no further copywriting, licensing or compositional costs for music/atmos tracks.

The audio is, however, to be one of the larger sources of expense in producing the film as ensuring the quality of the audio track is essential. On the basis of the assumption that a sound technician is to be employed for a 40 hour work week, which includes production and post-production, the employment cost is estimated to be approximately $972 per week. 

Another major cost involved with production of this script is equipment hire. While it is feasible that this film could be produced over 2-3 days, renting an appropriate lighting set, camera equipment, filters and sound equipment comes at a minimum cost of $320 per day. Some equipment may be sourced personally, for example I would be providing my own tripod, however the majority will be rented from an independent company.

Assuming a team of seven people (director/producer, two camera operators, two actors, sound technician and potentially an assistant) and home-prepared meals, a food budget of approximately $280 per day should be provided for. The MEA also recommends fuel reimbursements for staff, the cumulative cost of which as advised being $146 in total. In addition to this, while it is possible to source wardrobe free of charge (purchase and return) or at minimal expense (thrifted clothing/self-sourced), a costume budget of $200 should be accounted for in case of the event of damage to returnable items or other unforeseen costuming expenses. 

For further budget specifications , please see the table below. 

*note: Make-up application quoted from industry practitioner. See references for further.

CREATIVE INTENTION

The simplicity of the script which I have written initially was born from stylistic and thematic preferences as opposed to budget considerations. I tend towards a life-like realism in cinema, as in the likes of Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, Louis Malle’s My Dinner with Andre and the work of Woody Allen. I am interested in the delicate ways in which understated realism engages in social contexts. 

The short, rhythmic drama film, Ebbs, involves the conversation between two young female students relating to their favourite musician, Ebbs. Their conversation lacks clear direction,  presents as jocular chat between two intimate friends and leads to the realisation of their relationship to their practise as musicians. Creative decisions behind the film are targeted at supporting a warm atmosphere and creating an intimate environment, while also supporting a sense of anticipation so that a progressive quality is sustained. This is achieved by two principle avenues; visual choices and aural choices.

The majority of the film will consist of the same technical set-up. This involves the camera being set up directly across from the two characters, warm tungsten lamps as part of the mise-en-scene and the use of a tungsten 3-piece light set. This technical approach leads to a compositional consistency and simplicity, which draws upon the likes of Wes Anderson, whose rigid-feeling cinematography and tendency for visual repetition has an innately nostalgic tone and sense of warmth. This cinematographic technique also serves to benefit the efficiency of film production. The lighting and camera set up is able to remain unchanged for the majority of shooting. Similarly, montage sequences will include the same types of shots on various occasions throughout the film, allowing for similar shots to be taken successively and reducing the amount of time spent setting up technical equipment. This allows the majority of the film to be shot in adjacent takes without having to spend time rearranging equipment and therefore may significantly reduce the production schedule. 

While this visual approach is intended to create comfort, the aural approach targets discomfort and tension. Consisting entirely of diegetic audio, the audio-scape will be designed to lend the film a musical quality through the rhythm of the on-site audio effects. Extending the approaches of films such as Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, these aural rhythms are designed to mimic song, create tension throughout the course of the film and, through the psychological implications of rhythmic variations, support the engagement of the audience by building and releasing tension. Furthermore, as noted in my budget analysis, this minimises the costs of music production/licensing for the film.

The casting of the film similarly involves an intention to support the ease and invitational qualities which are being sought. Into the script I have written two friends with whom I am close. This choice initially was born from the want to base my characters on real people so that I would have a strong creative resource for writing authentic dialogue; I was drawing upon their personalities and their speech patterns in creating their characters. It was then later realised that the inclusion of these people themselves could assist in supporting that delicate relationship to historical contexts previously mentioned, as their modern young women within a mid-century environment opens the film up for some political discourses, but because the two are friends in life would convey a genuine sense of comfort and relatability between the two as characters within the film.

Finally, the film is set in a mid-century Australian house. This choice was made so as to support the relationship between a historical musician and the young women, who each come from vastly different historical periods, and the social commentaries which extend in their relevance beyond the period in which the film is set. This choice is also, as detailed in my budget analysis, a major point of economic efficiency.

REFLECTION

The fundamental concern of the studio Production on a Shoestring was the investigation of how one might go about producing a short film piece on the smallest feasible budget. Particularly, students were prompted to write a screenplay and production plan which would be achievable within a budget of $5k. 

My final work was designed largely around maximising production efficiencies and thereby minimising production costs. I hope that what is evidenced in my final work is an awareness of the importance of a highly efficient production schedule for the reduction of the overall expenses of production. The piece, which I have designed and planned to be produced over three days, minimises the load of per-day expenses involved in film production, such equipment hire and staff employment rates, so as to ensure that it would fit well within a $5k budget.

One of the core things that I would like to improve about this film is the mise-en-scene. Within the studio considerations, I chose to keep the mise-en-scene as minimal as possible, using only on-site furnishings, so as to ensure that an analysis/breakdown of the budget would have sufficient room for other miscellaneous buffers. However, in order to sell the film and have it be more believable, it would be my preference to spare greater expense on the set dressings and aesthetic considerations.  While I acknowledge that this is not necessary to the film, nor is it necessarily a source of great expense, the budget accommodations which would be required in order to achieve such would not only need to be flexible, but would also demand a considerable portion of the 5k budget. Moving into the production of this script, I would assume a slightly larger budget and therefore be able to allocate more funds to art department expenses and set expenses.

One of the key challenges which I overcame in this studio was the simplification of my ideas. This is a general challenge which I have been facing in my creative endeavours and media-making practise, as I tend to extend my ideas beyond the resources and affordances available to me, however I have come to appreciate the value of minimalism. The process of producing a script for this studio was the most extreme example of minimalism which I have attempted and I believe that it is also my most successful.

REFERENCES

Baby Driver (2017). [film] USA: Edgar Wright

Certain Women (2016). [film] USA: Kelly Reichardt

(2021). Equity Minimums 2020 [pdf]. Available at: meaa.org/download/mppa-summary-2022/ [Accessed: 25 Apr 2022]

(2022). Location Equipment Cinematography Services. [online] locationequipment.com. [Accessed: 25 Apr 2022]

(2022). Motion Picture Production Agreement (MPPA) Full Summary 2022 [pdf]. Available at: meaa.org/download/mppa-summary-2022/ [Accessed: 25 Apr 2022]

My Dinner with Andre (1982). [film] USA: Louis Malle

Whiplash (2014). [film] USA: Damien Chazelle

STUDIO GOALS, AIMS, DESIRES

My choice to participate in this studio relates to the fulfilment of the goals and aims which I hope to achieve through the completion of the Bachelor of Communications (Media) at RMIT. The degree, which I selected for the option to participate in a Cinema Studies minor, I hoped would provide me with an opportunity to develop my theoretical skills in cinematic analysis while also gaining some experience in film and media production. Upon the completion of my degree, I hope to be comfortable enough in my skill set that I could comfortably apply for work opportunities involving film and television production.

To date, however, while I have had some experience with production, various limitations have led to the vast majority of my experience involving remote production techniques. Where in previous years similar units and courses would have provided the opportunity to gain practical skills with equipment in hands-on environments, my experience of these units has involved me using iPhones and lesser quality recording equipment in hope of achieving similar professional outcomes. 

While the remote production experience has allowed me to develop other technical skills, particularly post-production skills, in order to achieve my portfolio aims I now feel the need to pursue projects independently of the university course offering. To gain practical and genuinely professional short film-like content for my portfolio, I will need to endeavour to achieve such in my own time. The experience which I have acquired, however, has not allowed me to become familiar with the pragmatic aspects of production. I do not have an understanding of pre-production and production processes adequate enough to be able to execute portfolio tasks in my own time.

I hope that my participation in this studio will fill that gap. Through this studio and its focus on the pragmatic elements of film and media production, I am seeking some insight into the processes required of me in order to be able to effectively plan and pursue future projects, particularly where these projects will most likely be self-funded and therefore have considerable financial constraints. Further to this, I hope that through workshopping a hypothetical project I will be able to complete the studio with a near industry level script that I can continue to develop in my own time and, eventually, put into production as a project for addition to my portfolio.

RECENT LEARNING

I had a very limited view of what micro-budget film production would present itself as prior to engaging with the exercises of the studio. My expectations were such that the professional quality and overall standard of micro-budget productions would be considerably lesser than that of the cinema that I was familiar with. These preconceptions were developed as a consequence of my interactions with the exploitation cinema of the 1960’s, which was generally of a very minimal budget with which I struggled to engage with or have an affinity to.

As part of our tutorial exercises, the participants were invited to watch micro-budget films and consider what the production processes of these films might have entailed. It wasn’t until we watched and unpacked Chloe Zhao’s film, The Rider (2017), that I came to realise the extent to which my preconceptions of the micro-budget film were misinformed. Prior to viewing the film, I had assumed that micro-budget productions would always bear an amateur-like quality. Not only did this film not have said quality, but I found myself deeply engaged with the film as a viewer, to the extent that I forgot I was supposed to be watching with an awareness of the fact that I was watching a micro-budget film. In addition to this I had not prior to our tutorial committed myself to any further research into the budget and financial constraints of the film, nor the measures taken by Zhao in order to minimise the production expenses of the piece. 

Upon my realisation of the budget of the piece, my expectations of micro-budget cinema were drastically reshuffled. It was revealed that the ideas I had pertaining to the micro-budget had me holding onto the belief that the produced films would possess an amateur quality which would inevitably make the film appear unprofessional and therefore would not be able to sustain an audience’s engagement as a serious cinematic and/or artistic piece. Thus, I realised in watching and inspecting the production of the film that a small budget is not synonymous with an unprofessional film. There is a point at which a budget may be small enough that the technical aspects of a film may need to be subject to some sacrifice, however there are many available affordances which allow one to maintain the professional integrity of a film without the budget that is provided to larger productions. 

Further to this, I hadn’t anticipated that single-location films may still afford a wide array of creative liberties and opportunities. Another film we were invited to watch as part of the studio was Rodrigo Cortes’ film, Buried (2010), however in viewing this film we were also asked to consider the ways in which the film could have been produced within a micro-budget. While the actual production budget ended up being two million dollars, the initial production models saw the film costing roughly five thousand. 

Similarly to how I approached my viewing of Zhao’s film, upon reading the premise of the film I hadn’t anticipated that I would be able to feel a sense of sustained engagement with the plot on account of the fact that I’d imagined the cinematography, plot and other cinematic techniques to be repetitive and uninteresting. My expectations were low but far exceeded. Despite the spacial confinements of the film, it undergoes a progression in the filming techniques used that replicates a change in setting – stating with predominantly extreme close-up and point of view shots, before moving into some panning and zooms within the box and eventually even a pan away from the box so that it recedes into field of blackness, each change in the filming technique refreshing the viewer’s perspective and understanding of the space.

This has revealed to me that, while I had assumed single-location films and shoots would come with unavoidable cinematographic hindrances, the diversity of the cinematography that is available to the film-maker is not actually subject to limitation, but can still be both creative and interesting should one have some flexibility in their creative thinking. This realisation was furthered by later viewing of the short film Krista by Danny Madden, in which the film features a bathroom scene where a character speaks to themselves in the mirror, shot with the camera slightly canted, close-up and at a low angle. The shot is unusual for the film conventions, particularly of that kind of location, and reveals in a less extreme environment the potential for visual diversity in locations that may seem to be difficult to create sustained visual interest within. 

RESEARCH – RELEVANT FILM THEORY

I began my research seeking out further information on production, however eventually found myself reading on film theory and critical understandings of what it means to make an amateur film, the line which distinguishes an amateur film from a professional film and how an audience’s engagement is affected by a film’s perceived professional quality or lack-there-of. My learnings in this process I think have prompted me to consider theoretical questions which will later guide my thinking in pre-production considerations as we move forward in the studio. 

The majority of my reading related to the film theory of Andre Bazin and a philosophical discussion of what it is that a film seeks to achieve. For the purpose of the essay which I focused on, Andre Bazin of the Ambiguity of Reality, writer Pierre Solin focuses his analysis of Bazin’s critical work on the notion of realism on account of the fact that Bazin’s cinematic philosophy was such that he believed photography and film to be the only means by which reality could be adequately captured and translated. Consequently, Bazin often determined the value of a film on the basis of the degree to which the film met the standards of realism. This notion however is difficult to consider in a black-letter sense due to the fact that it assumes that there is a definitive and definable ‘reality’ and rejects ideas of subjective experiences of reality. 

While this discussion is largely anachronistic, as Andre Bazin wrote predominantly on French cinema during the mid-century and the modern cinematic landscape, common themes/genres, and technical practices produce cinema that does not necessarily perform mimesis, it brings to light questions of how one can achieve a film that feels realistic, and explicates the importance of a sense of cinematic reality in creating a film. For the purpose of this blog post, I am going to focus primarily on film which is designed to feel as though it is taking place in our real world as opposed to a fantasy world. People who produce films for the purpose of creating a realistic environment have the ability to “modify the real” (Solin, 113) and therefore have the responsibility of determining what is required in order to replicate a reality effectively. 

Where later philosophies of reality and film theory relating to the cinematic experience acknowledge the subjectivity of the experience of reality, one is left wondering how best to recreate a biassed representation of reality so that it not only feels genuine but also is able to be appreciated by the masses. Low-budget film may be at a particularly high risk of falling into representations of reality that are not quite adequate enough to create a believable cinematic environment, due to the fact that limited financial resources may lead to sacrifices and shortcomings in production. Those shortcomings lie in sets, actors employed, audio quality or any other aspect of production and may ultimately impact the overall quality of the film, the ability of the film to create a sense of real and therefore audience engagement. 

While this particular vein of my research didn’t provide me with any practical knowledge that I can apply to upcoming projects or script writing throughout the course of this unit, it has led to my being more acutely aware of just how important it is to be aware of the fact that, as a film-maker, I act as a modifier of a reality, whether that be mimetic or not, and it is important to make considered choices in this modification process in order to create a sense of reality that is engaging and believable.

REFERENCES

Buried. (2010). [Film]. USA. Rodrigo Cortes.

Krista. (2020). [Film]. Danny Madden.

Solin, P. (2016). Andre Bazin, or the Ambiguity of Reality, In: The Major Realist Film Theorists: A Critical Anthology [online]. Edinburgh University Press, pp 110-122. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1bh2k1w.

The Rider. (2017). [Film]. USA. Chloe Zhao.