Charlie Productions : How To Make A Film For Under £200

Well, actually, before you go any further, the real question you should ask yourself is "Why Make A Film For Under £200?". This sounds a bit of no-brainer until you realise that you have to pretty much take for granted that any film made for less than £200 is likely to be a bit rubbish.

This page was first written after we featured in a Radio 1 Documentary about filmmaking. The whole thing was pretty pointless however they did agree to include our website on their list of 'film resources', but for some reason they chose to describe us as "How To Make A Film For Under £200" - so Chris instantly felt like had to actually write something that addressed this question.

However the terrifying truth is that whilst we have made a lot of very low budget short films most of them cost a lot more than £200 and those that didn't tended to not be very good. "Crowd Scene For Existentialists" may look cheap, but that's because it's ungraded. It was shot on s16mm and despite a friendly processing deal it still cost us the best part of £4,000. "If Looks Could Kill" is a silent film shot on s8mm with amateur actors in a single afternoon after a very beery night, but we still managed to spend £715.15 in making it and sending it round the film festivals. Even once we bought our own edit suite and miniDV camera (two massive expenses which make any sub-£200 price tag seem more than a little cheeky) we found that in order to make anything of any real quality we'd need to spend at least £1,000.

It's not to say that it can't be done, only that before you get all excited about not eating for a month and making a film on the money you save, you should ask yourself is it really worth it? No one actually does give prizes for trying and if your short film is, despite your good ideas and best intentions, a bit crap then that is £200 you are never going to see again. If you've got a good script then surely it is worth waiting a bit longer and trying to raise more money... isn't it?

Still, if that doesn't dissuade you then you might like to think about some of the following...

The main principle is:

DON'T PAY ANYONE ANYTHING.

Borrow the camera, steal the tape stock, get actors who'll work for free, editors who'll work for free etc etc.

FOOD

We like to pay for people's travel expenses and for their meals and booze. That might seem like a frivolous waste of your sparse funds but having a happy crew you can work into the ground is worth much more than fancy mic. Face it, on £200 you aren't really going to be able afford any really good pieces of kit so you're going to have to blag them - money spent on food, warmth and beer is money that enables you to work longer on the one day you have to shoot in. Having the time to get it right in front of the camera is the only way you can make this work for you.

CREW & EQUIPMENT

You will need a camera, a microphone, some lights, some video tapes, maybe some stuff like a steadicam to move the camera around with. If you ask a hire company, you may be able to get a 'cheap' deal. This will probably take all of your £200, probably more.

Phone the company, ask to come down to see the premises. Many of these companies have in-house trainees, assistants, people working for next to no money because they are getting the experience. When you are on the premises, seek them out. You will be using inexperienced camera and sound people compared to the pros, but this means they'll be more enthusiastic and will get as much equipment as they can for free. PLUS THEY WILL KNOW HOW TO USE THE EQUIPMENT. This is very important.

This also works for editing houses, mixing studios and whatever else you need. Everywhere has your trainee, the one they use to do the shit jobs. You want to make them your friends. Build relationships. You can build relationships with the MDs, but they'll smile and send you an invoice for it.

The other good thing about becoming friends with the people who do the menial jobs in these places is that they stand a much better chance of getting hold of the equipment than you do. Perhaps they are trusted enough to take a camera at the weekend. Perhaps they are trusted enough to not be suspected if a camera goes missing this weekend...

ACTORS

So you've got all the technical stuff and a willing crew for free. OK, you need to feed them but generally speaking, brilliant. Now you need a cast. Of course the obvious mistake is to employ your mates, because they won't want paying especially as you are buying the beer. But the most important rule of filmmaking is that you can only work with crap actors if you've got good special effects. Peter Jackson gets away with casting Orlando Bloom because he has the Weta Workshop - you don't.

But don't worry - actors have to start somewhere too and the internet is a fantastic place to find talented actors who don't have agents and who will be keen to work with you for nothing as long as you give them something good for their show reel and cover their expenses. Try Shooting People but make your life easy - write a brilliant script with only a few characters...

LOCATIONS

When writing you sub £200 script it's best to keep everything limited, characters, length, locations... chances are you won't be able to sneak into a studio but don't worry -locations are pretty much free. You can pretty much shoot anywhere in England for free except a lot of places in London and most of the rest of the country. It's a simple gamble, one that can be very difficult to call - do you ring the council and alert them to what you are planning to do, or do you just go ahead and shoot and risk getting caught and fined... some councils, some landowners, some landlords can be really cool about filming - others aren't. Some people hear the word 'film' and instantly assume you'll be roping off part of the high street for Mr.Hank's Humvee.

INSURANCE

So you've made friends with your camera hire facility and you've been hanging out in soho asking anyone with bags under their eyes if they happen to be runners at a post-production house, you've got your cast and your mate has agreed to keep the pub open all night for you to shoot in - surely £200 on food is a bit excessive? Well, perhaps, (though not if the Blaines are on set), but that just leads us to your main cost - INSURANCE.

Surely not! Surely, we're doing everything on the fly, pirate stylee, in a shoot from the hip, rebel without a crew, woo-yeah-lets burn this city kinda of vibe. We're not forking out money on insurance! In which case you are a liar and a fool. Simple example: the best film we made for under £200 is "Danny's Found Jesus" which was shot mainly in a pub and cost about ?50 on beer. There are a few exteriors and happily, as scripted, it rained. Setting up inside the pub one of our damp lights exploded and it is just good fortune that our cameraman Oli Russell wasn't blinded or otherwise severely injured. Had he been hurt and had we not been insured then we could well have ended his career without any form of recompense.

Blagging, borrowing, charming, lying, begging and stealing are all the sort of things that you'll have to resort to in order to make a film for less than £200. Not being insured for the protection of your cast, crew and the general public who might be walking near your temporary film set, is both selfish and stupid.

Straight8

One avenue that the skint filmmaker might wish to consider is the Straight8 competition in which competitors make films using a single, unedited, roll of super8mm film. The idea being that you edit in camera and don't see the results until they are screened by the judges. Obviously Straight8 films can cost a lot more than £200, but, by dispensing with the editing costs and placing all entrants under such massive limitations it does mean that at least the playing field is relatively level. The other good thing about the Straight8 competition is that it is sponsored by Kodak and takes place at Cannes. In short, if you are going to make a film for less than £200 and you want to get some sort of international recognition, this is the best way of going about it...

Charlie Productions believe passionately in doing things and always trying to stop in time for tea.
Brook House Design Studios, Bluebridge Road, Brookmans Park, Herts AL9 7SX
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