Storyboards: Coming in under budget

Sunday 8 June 2014

Coming in under budget - Layover

Often it seems like an impossible task to make a short film with little or no budget which is of a high enough standard for mass consumption, so when I read that Joshua Caldwell made a feature length film for $6000 (currency unknown) it was quite a surprise. It was so much of a surprise it filled me with hope and a desire to see the finished film, and even more now since he's managed to get his film into a film festival! He has said he would like the film Layover to be the first in a trilogy, and with his sudden new found fame all power to him and I hope he is able to successfully accomplish his goal. This fills me with confidence and should do for all budding film makers especially when you read the guest post on the No Film School by Caldwell. The article talks about his film Layover and also some tips and pointers for other film makers to learn from. Read the article here

Previously Robert Rodriguez successfully made a low budget action film for an estimated $7000 (USD), which was El Mariachi, and although a great film, it does have it's flaws and hasn't aged well. Rodriguez went on to create several film franchises while wearing multiple production hats, including: Director, Writer, Cinematographer, Camera Operator, Special Effects, Editor, Composer and so on and so on. It got to the point where he was releasing films, all under-budget, at such a pace he was the golden boy of the minute. Sadly however this was to the detriment of the quality of his films, because he was often left to his own devices some of those films just marred a series or simply didn't work. Perfect examples of this would be Once Upon a Time in Mexico - which was more style over substance, Shorts - which was just poor in every aspect and Machete Kills - which just goes so overboard it becomes impossible to follow and you lose interest very quickly.

Both Joshua Caldwell and Robert Rodriguez are inspiring directors (although I've yet to see Caldwell's film) and appear to offer helpful tips and solutions to upcoming or aspiring film makers (although Rodriguez less so of late).