Hey! Sorry if this is in the wrong section... I'm actually still working on learning about filmmaking. Basically, I'm working on a Chaotic Fiction piece. Basically, a cross between chat rooms, blog posts, and youtube videos all telling a story. The current budget is Marble Hornets level indie. Like, almost literally no budget, handheld cameras. It's all first-person, in-universe camera. I'm not going to be needing a lot out of my actors since the actual footage is pretty short (most of the story is in chat rooms, which I handle myself) But, on the filmmaking side of things:
-About how much should I save up as a budget for my actors? I was planning on using volunteers who needed like Thespian credits or such, as a friend suggested-- but I do want to pay them /something/, but I also don't want to seem cheap. I don't have a production studio or anything like that at all, I'm a 20yr old with a part-time job and a year to save up before pre-production starts.
-I'm eventually going to have a drowning scene I want to shoot, and the original plan was going to have me playing the character who drowns (we have a creek near my house that's deep but doesn't have any currents, and I'm a very strong swimmer), but I realized I odn't have the acting ability to play said character, so she's going to be an actual actor. I'm playing with the idea of having the actor who actually plays the character who drowns since their face might show up on screen... but I don't feel right asking an actor to do that in case something happens, I don't know. Paranoid, I guess. Any tips on this, or ideas on how to film it, creative camera angles maybe? It's a concrete shoes situation, the character gets dropped off a (short) bridge while her killers film it as a sort of "fuck you" to the rest of the characters/players.
- I'm also planning on having some Live Events, which is really a test in improv skills. For example, have some of the players meet up with a few cast members at the mall but the actors are staying in character (one of the players would be filming, a common practice for the Chaotic Fiction genre), but I'm worried that I'd be asking too much of my actors (in this situation, I would be playing one of the minor characters, just to keep an eye on things and in case one of the players asks a question the actors don't know the answer to). I don't know. I guess I just worry I might scare any potential actors off by asking too much of them for free.
uhhh, those are my only real questions so far.
-About how much should I save up as a budget for my actors? I was planning on using volunteers who needed like Thespian credits or such, as a friend suggested-- but I do want to pay them /something/, but I also don't want to seem cheap. I don't have a production studio or anything like that at all, I'm a 20yr old with a part-time job and a year to save up before pre-production starts.
-I'm eventually going to have a drowning scene I want to shoot, and the original plan was going to have me playing the character who drowns (we have a creek near my house that's deep but doesn't have any currents, and I'm a very strong swimmer), but I realized I odn't have the acting ability to play said character, so she's going to be an actual actor. I'm playing with the idea of having the actor who actually plays the character who drowns since their face might show up on screen... but I don't feel right asking an actor to do that in case something happens, I don't know. Paranoid, I guess. Any tips on this, or ideas on how to film it, creative camera angles maybe? It's a concrete shoes situation, the character gets dropped off a (short) bridge while her killers film it as a sort of "fuck you" to the rest of the characters/players.
- I'm also planning on having some Live Events, which is really a test in improv skills. For example, have some of the players meet up with a few cast members at the mall but the actors are staying in character (one of the players would be filming, a common practice for the Chaotic Fiction genre), but I'm worried that I'd be asking too much of my actors (in this situation, I would be playing one of the minor characters, just to keep an eye on things and in case one of the players asks a question the actors don't know the answer to). I don't know. I guess I just worry I might scare any potential actors off by asking too much of them for free.
uhhh, those are my only real questions so far.
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