How we shot a 30-minute film for under $3000 while still maintaining high production value, a producer & cinematographer's perspective - Part 1

[Maxbrand]

Trailer for the film

I'm the producer and cinematographer for the short film RE:ACTING, a film that is right now being submitted to festivals around the world. We shot this film last summer and I think we ended up with a very high-end result despite our low budget.

I figured that some of you other filmmakers who are either starting out or are looking for inspiration for how to shoot a film with a limited budget would be interested in some of the things I learned along the way so I'm making a series of blog posts where I will break down how we shot the scenes, why we shot them in this way and also give a producer's perspective on how we secured locations and managed logistics.

Part 1 in this series of posts breaks down this scene and talks about why we shot it like we did and why we ended up shooting it this way.

Read more about it in this blog post and comment if you have any follow-up questions!

[PannySVHS]

Nice trailer. Witty, snappy dialogues, good rhythm and acting. Shot with the Sony FX6?:) It sounds goot too.:)

[MrSMW]

Good stuff and thanks for sharing

[Django]

Great initiative! I enjoyed reading the blog post about the planning etc. A bit more tech info would be nice. Like what gear was used to shoot your project (camera, lens, rigs, lights & sound) and how that was all managed on set by the crew.

[Maxbrand]

12 hours ago, Django said:

Great initiative! I enjoyed reading the blog post about the planning etc. A bit more tech info would be nice. Like what gear was used to shoot your project (camera, lens, rigs, lights & sound) and how that was all managed on set by the crew.

Thank you!

 

I might get into this, I could do a post about the setup we used. My first posts will not talk about this though since I think too much focus is put on what equipment is used than what's necessary.

To me whether it's Alexa, Sony or Canon it will have a minor effect on the end result compared to how big of an effect changing the lighting, camera movement and placement has. 

 

But since two of you have already asked a quick breakdown of the gear, most of which I was able to borrow:

Alexa mini LF (In super35 mode)

DZOFilm Pictor zooms

This scene has barely any lighting in it except for unplugging some of the ceiling lights, a later post will get in to scenes where we used Titan Tubes, tungsten lights, ultrabounce, litepanels and more..

 

I'm glad to answer any of your questions, so just ask away if you're wondering about anything!

 

[Django]

How we shot a 30-minute film for under $3000 with +$100K camera gear.

j/k but that does put things a minimum into perspective! 😉 

Most film students shoot for free but the gear is all borrowed and none of the crew/talent gets paid, it helps!

 

[Maxbrand]

55 minutes ago, Django said:

How we shot a 30-minute film for under $3000 with +$100K camera gear.

j/k but that does put things a minimum into perspective! 😉 

Most film students shoot for free but the gear is all borrowed and none of the crew/talent gets paid, it helps!

 

Yeah, I understand that it sounds ridiculous to say $3000 when we had an Alexa and lighting equipment borrowed. But it's always going to be a big part of the low budget producing to secure the gear for a low cost. 

 

We rented the lenses but the rest of the camera package we could borrow specifically because we planned the shoot in June when 90 percent of the film market in Sweden is on vacation. 

 

It's all part of the producer's job to get as much as possible with as little money as possible.

 

Additionally I'm certain we could get almost the same result with a pocket cinema camera and cheap lights. There is so much more to filmmaking than just camera and lighting gear. 

[Django]

Oh absolutely, I didn't mean to indicate otherwise. Like I said earlier, I genuinely enjoyed the blog post. Clearly a lot of thought and preparation was put into this project. I'm particularly impressed with the 3D previs. What kind of software and skills are necessary for that?

Also this is a camera forum so don't be surprised we ask for tech details. 😉 

Most people here shoot with mirrorless cameras which have their strength & weaknesses. 

I'm sure shooting with an Alexa brings its own set of challenges & rewards. Would be interesting to know what drew you to use that particular package rather than a BM pocket or mirrorless. Image quality I assume. Was it shot in ARRIRAW or Prores? 4.5K? Any particular post pipeline/workflow caveats?

How big of a crew was required?

Btw, as a producer scoring an Alexa Mini LF, lighting and all the accessories like that huge small HD monitor (Cine 24" 4K?) is no small feat and dare I say an almost impossible task for your average Joe. You should be proud of that!

Finally full disclosure on how the $3K was spent, and what you didn't need to spend on would help better understand how you reached such a specific budget since the budget is the title of your blog post and hereby thread. 

Congrats on everything though, nice achievement!