How Much Money Do I Need To Set Aside?

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oneminutetomidnight

My first post...
So, I'm going to be directing a short film-noir style movie. It's an extremely low budget film ($1500) and I was wondering what amount of money I should put aside in case something goes wrong during production. I'd like to be able to spend as much of it as I can, but what would you all consider the bare minimum of "padding" money that should be set aside for the type of budget I have?
 
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Well, your question is far too broad. It's sort of like asking, "How much should I set aside to buy a car?" without specifying what kind of car you want to buy.

You need to take a look at what your expenditures will be. Equipment, rentals, whether or not you'll be paying actors and crew, post production, props, on-set expenses, travel, that sort of thing. A films cost is drastically altered by many variables, and in order to save the correct budget, you need to first understand what you need to buy/spend it on.

As for the bare minimum of "padding money" as you put it... Well, I'd take into consideration what could could go wrong - Some small productions that don't run the risk of losing much money, don't really need padding money. For example, if you're shooting with your own equipment, not paying actors, filming locally, and doing everything in a localized micro-budget style... I can't imagine any major expenditure you'd incur unexpectedly, unless you severely underestimate a scene or break equipment.
 
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That actually kind of answered my question. I'll be filming and spending as little as possible, with volunteer help in local locations. The most expensive piece of equipment I'll be buying is a $500 camera, but I seriously doubt it to be at risk. My only concern is that I have absolutely no income. If I spend the entirety of the budget and something goes wrong, it's likely to be several months before I can afford to pay for it again. It just makes me a bit paranoid that one incident could endanger the entire project
 
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No shows are a big problem with low and no budget films. That could cost you money when the help don't show up. Even minimum wage help and higher help can play hookie. When we can't afford to pay for seasoned professionals we get BS artists and rocket scientists to deal with who can hurt a production.
 
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"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Come up with a plan as to how you are going to make your short film, recognize the flaws within it, and do everything you can to create a solid schedule and overall idea of how you are going to get your film made. Then come up with back up plans, since almost anything could go wrong. Really look at what could go wrong, the the actions that you would need to take to stop something from going wrong. Then set aside some money (if you feel whatever is going to happen could be an issue), and use it if needed.
 
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oneminutetomidnight said:
My first post...
So, I'm going to be directing a short film-noir style movie. It's an extremely low budget film ($1500) and I was wondering what amount of money I should put aside in case something goes wrong during production. I'd like to be able to spend as much of it as I can, but what would you all consider the bare minimum of "padding" money that should be set aside for the type of budget I have?
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Speak to a an accountant who specializes in film production or a producer. But, if I were you, I'd put aside another $1,500.00, because I hear costs are always double what you estimate - but I'm not an expert, so I don't know.
 
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It really depends on what you're spending the money on.

List what you expect to spend your money on, what you've already organized for free, then we can have a better idea of whether what "contingency" that you've missed.

It's usually because changes, something in pre-production was missed or done incorrectly or something went horribly wrong, or in the case of non-budgeted films, people dropping out and needing to rely upon paid people (often post production).
 
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Okay. If you bought any new equipment for you film, make sure it works before your shoot. I went cheap on a generator for a past film and the generator was DOA on the shooting day. It worked for one whole minute and never again and it cost $250 from Home Depot and they refused to take their lemon back. Damn thing was fuming with gasoline, lucky a former super in my building helped me dispose of it.

Also, I tend to have to replace some of my equipment at the end of a production. Maybe its because its not top of the line and some stuff breaks. Just be prepared for that too.
 
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It's the accessories that really eat up your budget. An Audio Technica AT897 shotgun mic is $220, but you still need - at the very least - a boom-pole, shock-mount, impedance matcher and cabling ($350) plus a set of headphones (Sony MDR-7506 - $100). Sure, the camera is $500, but what about a good tripod? Lighting? The list goes on. You've eaten up most of your budget.

Instead of buying a camera, why not find someone who already has a camera? They shoot, you direct. And what's your plan for sound? Bad sound has killed quite a few otherwise very good projects. Find a PSM/Boom-Op. Offer the DoP and PSM $250 each for the shoot (what you would have spent on the camera) and you can probably get someone (relatively) decent. The DoP may have lights and other goodies, and your PSM/Boom-op may have some nice things as well.

Budget a decent amount for your craft table and meals. If people see that you are taking care of them they'll work hard for you.


Preproduction is the key to any successful project. You have to plan it out to the very last detail. Rehearse your actors. Carefully scout your locations. Make sure that all of your paperwork is together. Have preproduction meetings with your DoP and PSM in addition to your actors. Lots of emails/whatever - keep everyone in the loop.

If you've done it right you show up for day one of shooting, stand there with a cup of coffee in your hand, and you and your team know exactly where everything is going to go and what's going to happen next. That makes for a fun shoot, and a fun shoot is a creative shoot.


Oh, one more thing - find out how much it costs to enter the festivals in which you have interest; you'll have to set those fees aside as well.
 
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Oh wow, I've got some work to do. I live in themiddleofnowhere, Oregon so there aren't many people involved in film. Those who are involved are about as inexperienced as I am so it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

As for the audio, I plan on adding a filter to it to give it the 40s cinema kind of sound, so the audio doesn't have to be top notch, but it does need decent noise isolation. I already have a tripod, boom pole/mic, and most of the other equipment.

I appreciate the advice on preproduction because I'm very new to it and I can use any help I can get on the subject. The only film festival I plan on entering in is the local Bend Film Festival in October, which has a fairly low entry fee.
 
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oneminutetomidnight said:
As for the audio, I plan on adding a filter to it to give it the 40s cinema kind of sound, so the audio doesn't have to be top notch, but it does need decent noise isolation. I already have a tripod, boom pole/mic, and most of the other equipment.
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Sorry, it doesn't work that way. In 1940's Hollywood films and their production audio was recorded on sound stages. Sound Stages were specifically designed and constructed so that the audio recording environment was extremely QUIET. The odds are that you will not have a sonically quiet environment. In 1940's Hollywood production audio was recorded with the best technology available; many of those mics are still highly prized and in use to this day. In 1940's Hollywood production audio was recorded by highly skilled professionals - by your own admission no one of that caliber will be handling your production sound.

So don't delude yourself into thinking that there is a magic button or "filter" that will save your audio. Dialog editing, Foley, sound FX editing and rerecording/mixing are highly skilled crafts requiring specific tools.
 
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My mistake. In that case, I may consider hiring sound editors and recording the sound to the best of my ability with what equipment I have during and after production. However, I have no idea what that would cost and from the looks of it I'll be running pretty low on cash by the time production is over. What would be a good price for a decent sound editor in your opinion?
 
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MDM is one of the only filmmakers I know of who has such constant
problems keeping cast and crew on his projects. So his concerns are
valid – from his POV. I have never had problems keeping cast and
crew on board even when I am not paying them and on shoots that
drag of for long periods.

oneminute; you're just starting out. You don't know much about
audio or lighting and you will not have skilled, experienced people
working with you. For a total budget of 15 large you won't be able
to hire skilled, experienced people. So I suggest you do the best you
can with what you have.

If you spend the entire budget and do not finish, then you'll have
to wait and re-group. That's what happens in no-budget filmmaking.
Make sure you treat your cast and crew with respect and they will
return when you need them again.

This will not be your only movie. Learn from it and do better next time.
But get out there and MAKE A MOVIE.
 
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oneminutetomidnight said:
What would be a good price for a decent sound editor in your opinion?
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Most audio post houses - whether they are a small one-man-band shop like mine or a "Hollywood" facility - will charge by the hour, so the longer your film the more hours will be needed in audio post. I personally spend approximately six (6) hours per linear minute of film for a complete audio post (dialog edit, Foley, sound FX, and the mix/rerecording) of a basic drama. If your project is ten (10) minutes long that's 60 hours of work. At only $10/hr that's $600, and most will charge A LOT more.

Now, obviously, that's a huge portion of your budget. However, there are guys like me that offer what I call a "Fix and Mix," which is cleaning up the production sound, adding only the most essential Foley and sound FX, layback/edit of the music/score and a basic mix will cost substantially less. With luck you can find someone (relatively) local so you can sit in and educate yourself. Or you can look for an ambitious up-and-comer looking for experience who will work for really, really cheap.


oneminutetomidnight said:
I live in themiddleofnowhere, Oregon
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Then maybe you should make your film somewhere else - if there's no filmmaking scene in Bend then maybe you should go to Portland. Budget six days (one for casting, two for location scouting, three for the shoot) in a really cheap motel and use people in Portland.


The big issue is that there are too many disciplines you need to know to shoot a film, and you can't learn them much less do them all; that's why you need help. And on-set is a singularly bad time for on-the-job training.



BTW, you may want to consider renting equipment rather than buying it. I don't know about cameras, etc., but Trew Audio will ship to anywhere in North America.
 
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directorik said:
For a total budget of 15 large you won't be able
to hire skilled, experienced people. So I suggest you do the best you
can with what you have.
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I'm pretty sure he wishes he has 15 large for the film, but it's only 1500.

My advice is to find a good producer, a friend who has a knack for interacting with people and getting things done, and is excited about this project. This person will save you money.
 
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directorik said:
MDM is one of the only filmmakers I know of who has such constant
problems keeping cast and crew on his projects. So his concerns are
valid – from his POV. I have never had problems keeping cast and
crew on board even when I am not paying them and on shoots that
drag of for long periods.
Click to expand...

Then, you will find it as shocking as I did that a friend in Texas fired his entire crew after one day of shooting and replaced the whole crew a day later because he did not like the chemistry he was getting from working with the crew. He completed his film with the new crew.

All in all I do okay with the crew, but much better with the cast. I get 100% return with the cast, once they are attached to the film. And, they return because they like the perks I give.

The crew is a learning process that keeps getting better. Several key people in the crew are keepers for future productions. We see eye to eye in being honest with each other with no BS.

Living in Los Angeles may have something to do with your luck with people who stick with you because everyone knows the place to be to have a chance in film is Los Angeles. So, they take their gigs more serious.
 
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directorik said:
This will not be your only movie. Learn from it and do better next time.
But get out there and MAKE A MOVIE.
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That was really well timed. I was getting overwhelmed pretty quickly.

Alcove, $600 is unfortunately miles above my budget. I'm barely going to scrape by with the money I have for production. Looks like I'll have to learn audio editing pretty quick. Renting equipment is a viable option, so long as I don't break anything like I have a habit of doing.
 
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So, chances are you will fall short in some area of your film. Learn from it, so you don't fall short on your next film. Try to make each new film better than your last. If audio proves to be your weakest area, spend time learning audio and equipment you need before you make your next film. Stock up on necessary equipment before your next film. So, it does not effect you next budget.
 
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