IFH 116: Fast and Cheap: Lessons Learned for the No-Budget Feature Film

Fast and Cheap: Lessons Learned for the No-Budget Feature

On this week’s episode, I go way to a simpler time, the 90s, and discuss the lessons we can learn from some filmmaking legends. I’ll discuss films by Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Christopher Nolan, and Richard Linklater to break down and learn the techniques they used to make awesome, no-budget feature films with limited resources.

“In no-budget filmmaking, your limitations are your guide.”

If you take note of what filmmakers did before you, you can jump start your filmmaking career. Enjoy!

Right click here to download the MP3

I also included this killer video by The Royal Ocean Film Society. In the late 1980s and 1990s, there was a great movement indie cinema of no-budget filmmaking that was the beginning for some of the most successful and popular filmmakers of the modern day. Let’s take a look at five features from that movement and see what lessons we can learn on how to make a great film with as little money as possible.

Here are some key points discussed:

• Shoot black and white
• Be disciplined
• Try not to use guns
• Film something that hasn’t been seen before
• Take stock of what you have and make a movie about it
• Don’t take things so seriously

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LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Screenwriting and Story Blueprint: The Hero’s Two Journeys
• Filmmaking Hacks
• This is Meg – Feature Film

SPONSORS

1. VideoBlocks.com – (IFH Discount SAVE $50)
2. Werner Herzog Filmmaking Master Class
3. Aaron Sorkin Screenwriting Master Class
4. Kevin Spacey Acting Master Class
5. Amazon.com
6. FreeFilmBook.com (Download Your FREE Filmmaking Audio Book)

KILLER RESOURCES!!!

1. INDIE FILM SYNDICATE Filmmaking Community
2. IFH’s Online Film School
3. Six Secrets to get into Film Festivals for FREE!

Action Items:

• Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes,  Stitcher, Soundcloud or via RSS

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If you liked Fast and Cheap: Lessons Learned for the No-Budget Feature, then you’ll love:
Why Filmmakers are Always So Damn Broke & What They Can Do to Change It

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I welcome thoughts and remarks on ANY of the content above in the comments section below…

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