Like a lot of my fellow movie bloggers I am also interested in making a film or two. This weekend I received the 3rd draft of a script, Catharsis, I am working on at Last Rockstar Productions. I will be working on edits and have a another meeting to make sure we have the best script possible as we move forward to shoot.

We are hoping to start shooting in January. We will have a great script and people we believe in to pull this off. The only thing that may hamper us is our budget, which is non existent.

One of the most difficult things for small filmmakers such as ourselves is budget. Credit cards get maxed out and a lot of begging gets done. Then you do the best you can with what you have, which forces you to get creative.

You can look in a lot of places to find filmmakers like ourselves who are getting it done with no financial backing. YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and countless websites are full of no budget filmmakers just trying to make a film that will give them their break.

I belive in our script and still remember the conversation I had with Marco last summer when it was just an  idea. I have been working with Marco and Kim and others since then to get us to the point we are at now. We have some good people that have been rounded up by my partners and we are looking forward to moving forward with this project.

There are some key things we will want to do to ensure we don’t screw ourselves. It all starts with the script. These final edits and rewrite will give us the backbone for movie. Thankfully we have an original concept and story for this movie and it really is a great opportunity to show that we can tell a story that will plant your butt in the seat and keep it there.

Once we have our script there will be other challenges to face. Getting our actors together and making sure they understand their characters and are able to play them in a natural way. When you watch a movie you should see people, not characters on the screen. You want your actors to become their characters and have them be able to deliver dialog as if it was their everyday speech.

Location, location, location. You have to have your locations scouted and make sure you will be able to use those locations when you need them.

Storyboards. Huh?  Trust me your story boards are almost as important as your script. Your story boards are the beginning of visually representing your script and lay out your shooting. It is here where you start realizing the problems you are going to have trying to get certain shots. It starts to give you an idea of what your movie is going to look like.

The relationship between your writer, director and producer will be put to the test. Each has a creative voice in this process and it is paramount that you work together to ensure you agree on the creative direction of the film. You need to work together to make sure what gets shot fits the context of your story. You need to work together to ensure that every shot is the best shot you will ever get. This may require rewrites for certain scenes and you have to be prepared to think on the fly and react in a positive way to situations that arise.

Get a great camera man. Between your director and camera man is where the visual style of your film is going to take shape. If these are out of sync then you will see your film go down the drain and quickly.

I hate meetings. Too many years in the corporate world and too many useless meetings. However in this case meetings are incredibly important. You need to prepare and make decisions early on that will have a huge effect on the end product.

Get a dependable crew. People have to show up and work. Not just actors and directors but everyone involved. Do you know who is handling lighting? Do you have a script supervisor? Do you have grips? Do you have a best boy?

Scheduling can be a nightmare. That nightmare gets pretty damn scary when you are making a flick on you own because you are working with people that have other jobs and are basically working for you for little to no money. They are working with you because believe in you. Don’t waste their time. They are giving up time that they could be spending with family. They are giving up their time off. Getting everyone to the set at the same time will be a challenge and you may have to get creative.

You are going to have limited time with your cast and crew, make the most of it. Everyone wants to have fun but this is a time to focus on work. This where things get tricky and you can find yourself going with a subpar take just because you don’t have the time to do it again. It really becomes a matter of resolve.  Either you take the subpar work and take your lumps when you show your film or you refuse to accept anything but the best and end up running over on time.

A lot this should be settled before you even think about shooting. This leaves one major concern I have not yet touched on. Money.

You don’t have any money. You don’t have any rich relatives to hit up for some cash. How do you get the money. Beg, borrow and steal. Beg everyone you know. Borrow on your credit cards which will soon be maxed out. The stealing part I can’t really condone so we will leave that one out. No need to go to jail for your movie. However it may drum up interest. DON’T STEAL!(Had to do it.)

Here is where I beg. I know a few of you that come by here regularly are filmmakers yourself or aspiring to break in to the business. If you could donate any amount of money using the donate button on the top right, it will be greatly appreciated. Hopefully me and the guys will be able to return the favor. We are big into to helping those that help us. You never know, some day it could be your project in association with Last Rockstar Productions. The more we pull together as no budget filmmakers, the better our chances to get real recognition and get the funding we need to improve the quality of film today.