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How do you know if your script requires low or high budget?

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Quarry

How can you know this? You know night scenes, external scenes, too many actors and special effects are expensive. But, for example, what if even the external or night scenes are shooted in the studio?
 
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go through it and take note of what costs money (almost everything)

If anything is shot in the studio it might cost more, since you don't need to do anything on location
 
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There are obvious things that will cost money - stunts, period pieces, etc. - so if you want to produce/direct/finance the film yourself you avoid those things.

Otherwise, just write the script. Get what you want to say and what you want to see on paper. Then rewrite, and rewrite again until it is "perfected."

The next rewrite comes when you have your budget and work on the shooting script. Here is where you rewrite to fit your budget.
 
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It costs a lot of money if .....

It's got a lot of people in it

It's got a lot of location changes

If it's got a natural disaster in it.

Explosions, car chases, anything you wouldn't normally see on the street. Gun fights. If you wouldn't normally see it on your way to work, it costs a lot.

If it's got fx. Hands being cut off. The future, the past.

Low budget is basically just something about a few people, in a few places. So better for thriller, drama, comedy.

Horror tends to look really bad on a low budget. Except for SAW.

Action looks hideous on low budget.
 
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Think: Do I want the best?

If the answer is yes (and it should be) then it will probably cost.

If you are using preexisting locations, think of any charges you may incur to 'rent' the place, crew and equipment transport, and length of scene.

For studio stuff, you'll have to get set designers and dressers, maybe even prop makers, if you can't do it all by yourself.

I would say generally, if the script is event-filled (like comedy, thriller, or action) you will need a larger budget than a coming of age story, for example. Look at each scene and think, does it look expensive? In a piece I'm working on, the most expensive scene will be such because of the high people cost (extras in a nightclub).
 
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Quarry said:
How can you know this?
Click to expand...
Read A WHOLE LOTTA budget numbers for both Hollywood studio films and independent films.
After a while you notice what things start racking up the price to make something.

Actor pay
Locations, both number of and quality (This is why the adventure genre costs the most to produce.)
Costumes (Period pieces are reported to cost 3X what a contemporary setting film would cost just because of the costumes.)
Props
Gunfights are cheaper than fist and sword fights.
Action fims typically have many brief edits compared to other genres, this increases costs.
Destroying property costs money.
Crashing vehicles costs money.
CGI and general SFX costs money,
Extensive makeup and prosthetics add to the costs.
 
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You hire a Producer/Line Producer to break down the script and write up a budget.

Then you know if it requires low or high budget :)

Honestly, these days any script could be either. You could have a high budget drama two-hander, or a low-budget sci-fi epic.
 
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rayw said:
Read A WHOLE LOTTA budget numbers for both Hollywood studio films and independent films.
After a while you notice what things start racking up the price to make something.

Actor pay
Locations, both number of and quality (This is why the adventure genre costs the most to produce.)
Costumes (Period pieces are reported to cost 3X what a contemporary setting film would cost just because of the costumes.)
Props
Gunfights are cheaper than fist and sword fights.
Action fims typically have many brief edits compared to other genres, this increases costs.
Destroying property costs money.
Crashing vehicles costs money.
CGI and general SFX costs money,
Extensive makeup and prosthetics add to the costs.
Click to expand...

Extensive makeup and costumes. I actually love these things. Especially if the extensive makeup is like the melting guy in robocop. There is no property destruction or crashing vehicles though. Nor epic locations or something. No special effects no sci-fi things. The only things I'm worried about are the extensive violence (sometimes against women and children) and that there are too many actors because there are too many deaths.
 
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The answer to this question all depends on the expectation of the distributor, the distribution channel and their target audience. The same film which could be made for a few thousand dollars for distribution on the net may cost many tens of thousands to achieve the required standards for an international DVD distribution deal. The same film for TV broadcast might need $200k or more spent on it and if it were made for general theatrical release by Sony Pictures it would be considered low budget if it only cost $5m.

More than anything else, budget is driven by the final quality expectations/requirements.

G
 
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Quarry said:
Extensive makeup and costumes. I actually love these things. Especially if the extensive makeup is like the melting guy in robocop. There is no property destruction or crashing vehicles though. Nor epic locations or something. No special effects no sci-fi things. The only things I'm worried about are the extensive violence (sometimes against women and children) and that there are too many actors because there are too many deaths.
Click to expand...

You seem to really like robocop...
 
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I hit the script with hilighters in 3 colors (people, places, things). Once the colors are on there, make them into 3 lists. These are the immediate costs of production.
 
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