Tip #9: Compare the pros and cons of self-financing

By Itsuka Yamasaki (Producer)

OK so you have exhausted almost all your options and still can’t find enough money. So what now? Well, basically you have two options: 1. Give up (and tell everyone else “we are putting the film on hold") or 2. Pay for it yourself.

Probably most indie filmmakers end up investing in part (if not all) of the budget. With Ambleton Delight, we had one executive producer on board, but we covered most of the budget ourselves - yes, at this time of economic crisis! So we stripped our budget down to the bare minimum of around £6,000 – a budget that is just enough to keep a project together but is still affordable for ordinary people like us. We then organised a business loan through the production company, Parkes Productions Ltd.

Now I’m not going to recommend organising a loan to pay for your film. But I would recommend writing down the pros and cons of self funding, such as:

Cons:
- Should the whole project crash and burn, you pay for the tragedy.
- You still need to earn a living and pay tax.
- Possibly no spending money for other fun (such as holidays!).
- You realise you are becoming and looking very stingy.

Pros:
- The film actually gets made.
- You have absolute control over your own film as you put up the money.
- You don’t have other obligations/pressures except for the bank.
- Should the film make money your initial investment will be returned and you may even receive profit.

Here are some links to free applications that can help you organise your finance:

Managing personal finance online:
https://www.kublax.com
http://www.mint.com/ (currently US only but might be coming to UK soon)
http://www.pocketsmith.com/

Free accounting/bookkeeping software:
http://www.msofficeaccounting.co.uk/
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/product/accounting-software/free-accounting-software.jsp

Tip #2 : The First Draft - Juggling Creativity and Reality

By Itsuka Yamasaki (Writer/Producer)

When it comes to writing the first draft of Ambleton Delight there is so much to tell but I will try to keep this article from the POV of writing for a low budget film. I’m going to make it into a list, as I tend to ramble a bit.

1. Don't start writing until you have worked out a solid structure

This is crucial for writing films of any length. Without a blueprint for a screenplay you will either get stuck or waste time. With Ambleton Delight we used 50+ index cards each containing scenes/sequences (this process will be explained more in a later post).

2. Carefully select the locations
Choose appropriate but realistic locations. Certain locations (say, Tahiti beach) might be ideal but are not realistic for the budget. Do they all need to be different? If five scenes take place in the same location then we can film all those scenes at once, which will no doubt keep the producer happy.

3. Avoid unnecessary characters.
Each character should have a purpose and need to be there to drive the story. Another character means more expenses (i.e fee, catering, costume, make-up, transportation…). If your main character has three friends, does it really have to be three? Can it be two? Or even one?

4. Don’t mix up hard work and cost.
This is my problem. I tend to compromise my creativity because I’m often freaked out by thinking how expensive it could be to film a certain scene (I know, I’m such a tightwad!). For example, I was against setting one scene in the rain. I thought it would be ideal but very expensive to film. But the director suggested a way to film it without a rain machine (this will be explained in a later post). It was hard work filming it but hardly cost anything. So don’t compromise your creativity easily because certain elements might be achievable with hard work.

For more information on writing screenplays (not necessarily low-budget) check out these references:

Some books to read…
• Screenplay by Syd Field – a “must read”
• The Writer's Journey by Chris Vogler –an interesting read even if you are not a writer.

Some websites to visit
• Wordplay by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott. The best screenwriting website I know, written by the writers behind many Hollywood blockbusters including the Mask of Zorro and Pirates of the Caribbean.
• BBC Writersroom – It contains good instructions how to format screenplays for the BBC.
• Making of screenwriters tips

Please feel free to share your thoughts and resources!

Tip #1: Use what you’ve got, not what you’ve not.

By Dan Parkes (Director)

Alfred Hitchcock once said: ‘To make a great film you need three things - the script, the script and the script.’ There is no denying that a good story is a vital ingredient –something that will justify the lost friends, new enemies, general poverty and multiple near death experiences!

But what may not be so obvious is that in the world of next-to-nothing film making, it’s at this stage that you can make or break your film. And we’re not talking about finding a lucrative market or commercial viability (although this is important, at this stage we will look at filmmaking as what it rightfully is: artistic expression). As the script develops, you need to weigh every scene, every character, every prop and almost every word as costing you money you don’t have.

This starts with the genre. Generally speaking the most expensive films are fantasy, science fiction, disaster and costume dramas. With all the sets, costumes and special effects, it’s not hard to guess why. Low-budget films tend to be human dramas, comedies and the most prolific of all –horror. It’s not only the costs involved, but the feasibility. Horror is cheap and very easy to film, especially with the modern handycam technique popularised by Blair Witch. And an actor who has played a zombie has yet to clinch an Academy Award.

Within the genre you also need to consider the type of locations and the number of characters. Props and costumes should ideally be contemporary. The cheapest film would entirely revolve two or three characters in a present day living room (such as Hitchcock’s Rear Window, or Twelve Angry Men) –which is where a good story comes in. It’s going to have to be good if that’s all you have! And by all means stay away from anything involving water, if budget blow-outs Waterworld and Titanic are anything to go by.

The key is to use what you’ve got, not what you’ve not. Rather than dream up some epic sequence involving hundreds of fantasy warriors battling on some distant planet, stories that revolve around what you have easy access to but maybe take for granted will be a lot cheaper and will ring true on film. Not only will you find it easier to write, as you will know what you are writing about, but your uncle’s prized Cadillac or your friend’s shop will introduce tremendous production values –and you haven’t even spent a penny!

In our case, the concept behind Ambleton Delight is full of money saving devices –from locations to camera techniques. Stay tuned to find out more …

Do you want to do this the easy way… or the hard way?

By the Production Team

12 days principle photography, a budget of £6,000 and nine months from first draft to premiere. The result - a 110 minute feature film entitled Ambleton Delight, starring a respected British actor. However, as is so often the case, sometimes the making can be an equally interesting story!

This blog will reveal how it was done, with tips, contacts, photographs, production notes, links to free software, interviews, guest blogs and video clips. Everything we would like to have known before we started, but had to learn the hard way, so you don’t. And that leads us to the first and most vital piece of information that easily rolls off the tongue but the reality is undeniable: It is hard. By this we mean REALLY HARD!

When we began the production some people thought it was a joke; they doubted if we could really complete it without the necessary connections and money (the so called ‘easy way’). We couldn’t help but feel slightly patronised as those ‘in the industry’ (whatever that means!) shared knowing glances and shook their heads sympathetically at our naiveté. Our intended budget of £5,000 didn’t even register on their scales –it is labeled ‘no budget’ (by comparison £100,000 is considered ‘micro-budget’). Filmmaking is an extremely expensive business - £5,000 is what many productions would spend on a day’s catering. (Note: in this blog we will use the more accurate description of ‘next-to-nothing budget’). So this was not going to be easy.

But with a lot of hard work and passion we did pull it off without the requisite industry connections and financing. So no matter who you are –from a high budget producer looking at ways of saving money, to a struggling filmmaker without any- we are sure there are going to be some gems in here that will prove valuable to your production. Some of you might have family members or friends involved in making films, prioritising their dreams over a stable full time job. Hopefully we can give you a glimpse of what they are going though and what it takes to get a feature off the ground.

But don’t think we are claiming to know it all -actually far from it. Film making is a strange and capricious business. And no two experiences are ever going to be the same. A paint by numbers approach is never going to work. So while there are plenty of guidelines and rules we found that intentionally or otherwise we blatantly disregarded most of them. So maybe this blog may not just enlighten and inspire you, but also be a guide for how not to do it!

Finally, we also see this as a collaborative blog –maybe you have some tips and information you can add. The blog will be presented in the chronological order of production and based around key phases. Feel free to add comments, reflections, suggestions.

‘Nothing difficult is easy,’ as they say. So we’ll show you how we did it... the hard way!

Ambleton Delight Production Team

Production team on location (left to right): Dan Parkes (Director/Producer), Sinéad Ferguson (Producer/Production Designer), Itsuka Yamasaki (Writer/Producer)