The budget film can be a calling card for any filmmaker, whether writer, producer or director, and can help major studios find brand new talent. As such, making a budget film should not be done with a myopic view of simply practicing one’s talents, but should instead be about striving for authenticity and the highest possible quality on the available budget.
The first thing to do is to make sure your script can work on a low budget. If you have ideas of making a sprawling action epic, set in space, with second unit work at the Eiffel Tower, then it may be best to wait until you have a high-budget to do so, or you risk making something that could be laughable.
As such, when you have the script ready, it is wise to work out which scenes can be done on a low budget and which can’t. Omitting expensive scenes can save a low-budget film and you may always be able to remake the original vision at a later date with a higher budget.
The right film props can be invaluable to a low budget filmmaker. Prop hire can be a very cheap way of creating a very believable world, without any excessive costs. If the script is right and the actors are right, the only other major factors will be location and film props and since many locations can be found for free it is worth investing more in the physical items that are used to create the world the characters inhabit.
Ultimately, the right script is the first step in making an effective low budget film. Be honest about what you can achieve without a great deal of investment and be sure to use prop hire to create a genuinely believable world for your characters to live in.
