What are some techno thrillers shot for under $50K

H

harmonica44

I have a feature length script for a techno thriller, kind of like 24 inspired. Not that it's in real time at all, just the plot and tone are very much like something from the show. I keep coming back to it, cause it is the best script I have in my posession and I have three actors who want to be a part of it. One of them really really wants to and would be perfect for one of the lead roles.

I would like to break down how I would shoot the script on a microbudget and rewrite for one. I would like inspiration from other movies, so are their any 24 like thrillers shot for $50K or under?

Thanks.
 
I saw an action movie that was shot for $20k. It was terrible. Straight to DVD release but it did get a release but boy it sucked.

You're picking one of the hardest genres to do on a budget. You say techno thriller but also mention 24. 24 is big time action and that's very expensive to shoot well.

Having guns even airsoft ones can be a nightmare - it's 'okay' inside but walking around outside with a 'real' looking airsoft gun or carbine could land you in a world of trouble.

You're in Canada. In Vancouver if I wanted to film an airsoft gun scene outside I'd need to inform the police (fair enough) and have them on-set (at $125+ per hour). The police would likely insist I have a filming permit ($$$$$) which also mandates insurance of $5 million ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$) - yes even for micro budget indies. If you're a film student at a registered film school, you're likely covered under their insurance.

And CGI gun shots, blood and hits typically look pretty fake unless done very well.

I don't know any good techno thrillers or action movies that were shoot for sub $50k. That's not saying there are none but I don't know any.

Primer's techno but not a thriller. It made a star of it's director and was shot for a reported ultra-low $7k. I thought the movie pretty damn boring - but the director did very well for $7k.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384/
 
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Yeah exactly I cannot find any. I haven't found out how much the guns will cost for the outdoor scenes. Their are two outdoor scenes with guns. One is in the park, and their will be a lot of trees to seclude the actors from public view, but people can still walk in and see.

The other is in a parking structure, but again if you look into the parking structure, you can see. I will ask about insurance, and hope to find a loophole. It's very difficult to rewrite the screenplay logically, so their are no guns used in the plot.

I know it's one of the hardest to on a budget. El Mariachi was good for doing something with action in a budget. It's just I have a script in my possession which actors and crew told me they want to do, and it's the best one I have in my possession. I wouldn't do it right away or anything by any means but I have an opportunity here.
 
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El Mariachi is an interesting one.

I have heard and read quite a few articles that say the released El Mariachi was very different from the one RR originally shot. If the $7k budget is true then he did an amazing job.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104815/board/nest/11329211?ref_=tt_bd_3

But it was shot in Mexico. Hence ChimpPhobiaFilms's point.

In Canada if you want to use guns or airsoft outside, you HAVE to inform the police and get hit for the various things I mentioned in my first post.

If you don't you could land in jail, or get yourself or your talent shot.
 
IndiePaul said:
El Mariachi is an interesting one.

I have heard and read quite a few articles that say the released El Mariachi was very different from the one RR originally shot. If the $7k budget is true then he did an amazing job.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104815/board/nest/11329211?ref_=tt_bd_3

But it was shot in Mexico. Hence ChimpPhobiaFilms's point.

In Canada if you want to use guns or airsoft outside, you HAVE to inform the police and get hit for the various things I mentioned in my first post.

If you don't you could land in jail, or get yourself or your talent shot.
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Rodriguez went up to the police, and without any legal papers, licenses, or money asked if he could use their jail and machine guns. They were happy with it. All that they asked was that their names were in the credits.

Not only was it shot in Mexico, but it was before all of these school shooting and other violent crimes by teens and younger people. The rules are more strict, and people are more paranoid. Safety is more of a concern. If I went up to a police station, and said I want 20 machine guns, I'd most likely be arrested.
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Rodriguez went up to the police, and without any legal papers, licenses, or money asked if he could use their jail and machine guns. They were happy with it. All that they asked was that their names were in the credits.

Not only was it shot in Mexico, but it was before all of these school shooting and other violent crimes by teens and younger people. The rules are more strict, and people are more paranoid. Safety is more of a concern. If I went up to a police station, and said I want 20 machine guns, I'd most likely be arrested.
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Wow, that's pretty damn cool. Fair play to him for having the **** to even ask, and they said 'yes'.
 
IndiePaul said:
Wow, that's pretty damn cool. Fair play to him for having the **** to even ask, and they said 'yes'.
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Rodriguez: Hi, my name's Robert, I'm a filmmaker who is hoping to shoot an action film here. I was wondering if I could use your jail as a location for a few hours. Oh, could I also borrow 20+ machine guns, pistols, and explosives?

Cops: :hmm:

Rodriguez: For free?

Cops: :rolleyes:

Rodriguez: I'll give you a credit in my film!

Cops::yes:
 
I actually thought that Rodriguez would have a harder time in Mexico since the police force seems more strict down there.

Yeah I will ask city hall soon about if it's okay to pretend to shoot prop guns with the attention of adding in gunshot effects afterwards. If they hopefully say yes along with the location owners, that will make it a lot easier.
 
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harmonica44 said:
El Mariachi was good for doing something with action in a budget.
Click to expand...
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Rodriguez went up to the police, and without any legal papers, licenses, or money asked if he could use their jail and machine guns.
Click to expand...
harmonica44 said:
I actually thought that Rodriguez would have a harder time in Mexico since the police force seems more strict down there.
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For the love of God, would everyone here stop trying to apply any metric from thirty+ years ago to anything relevant today?!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104815/?ref_=sr_1




ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Rodriguez got away with stuff that would land us in jail.
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AAAAAAAMEN!
The world has changed so much since then.
'EM's production is no longer relevant.
Myth.
Folk lore.
Ancient f***ing history.


Modern no/lo budget films of relevance include (NOT 'Blair Witch', BTW):
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=saw.htm ← Pushing ten years = rapidly becoming irrelevant
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=paranormalactivity.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=devilinside.htm ← Enviable marketing machine. Truely impressive.
 
Irrelevant yes but still influential.

I wonder why it's so hard for 24 like thrillers to get made, cause you see a lot of microbudget slasher films out there that get made every year. Isn't chasing a half naked screaming woman with a large knife down the streets, just as legally bad as waving a prop gun?
 
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harmonica44 said:
I keep coming back to it, cause it is the best script I have in my posession and I have three actors who want to be a part of it.
Thanks.
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Make it! MAKE IT! MAKE A SHORT FILM H44! You can do you it! You have a good script, and 3 actors. Don't delay it. GET YOUR CAMERA, PROPS, SCRIPT, AND GEAR TOGETHER, AND SHOOT SOMETHING!!!!

SHOOT SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHOOT SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:beer: :coffee: Drink 10 coffees and red bulls! AND MAKE A SHORT FILM!!!!!!!!!:director:
 
harmonica44 said:
Isn't chasing a half naked screaming woman with a large knife down the streets, just as legally bad as waving a prop gun?
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Kind of...

A large knife with a film crew... The cops may just laugh about it.

But replica guns etc have all kind of restrictions. Break them and you could be in big trouble. Go your own way and shoot with them without informing the police and following the regs, worst case: you or your talent end up dead or in jail...

Jardoss used an airsoft in a shoot - he was smart about it but still had an armed response unit storming his set:

http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=48771&highlight=police&page=2

We didn't close any street actually. I'm 17, and live in Norway- so shot this on a school night in the middle of the week. No people around.

Having a gun on set was a little problem. We called the police to let them know we were filming, and we had two police men with us on set at all times (which is how we got the car for example). But some guy drove past the set, and saw someone screaming while another one pointed a gun at him- and called the cops.

So in the middle of a shot, two vans come screeching into our set, and 8 armed police men jump out, haha. Luckily, they knew the cops we had on set, so they just had a laugh and went back. So yea, make sure to give absolutely EVERYONE a notice. We told the entire neighborhood a week in advance, but you can never be sure.
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I didn't say I was going to not tell the cops. I will. I just meant I'm surprised on microbudget horrors that the cops let knives go by and not care.
 
h44.

If you want to produce a "tech thriller" for less than $50K you are going to have to dial back on the action, like a lot. Like think about how the script would work if it was a tense burn/build-up to a single large action set piece. That's about the most bang/buck you would get out of the genre - but even that set piece could cost $50K by itself.

You have to get creative with your storytelling and find ways to do it without resorting to a full on "action" film.

Think less about 24/Bourne and more about Primer, Sunshine, Johnny To (man I pimp his stuff alot) and other films that are less action centric, but still contain sci-fi/thriller elements and even some action scenes. Obviously you can't make Sunshine or Vengeance for that budget, but you *can* make a "tech thriller" with some action elements if you write it for low budget and are creative in your storytelling.

My very good friend's film (for which I 2nd AC'd for him) might be a good example on how to do a "tech/sci-fi story" on a shoestring budget. IDK what the total budget was for this, but it was not large at all.

http://futurestates.tv/episodes/refuge

Sorry if posting that as an example breaks some sort of "promotional" rule or something.

--

The alternative is that you hold this one in your pocket, refine it from time to time, and when you've made a couple of features and someone asks what else have you got on deck, bust it out, wow them, and secure the budget that the project needs.
 
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