Writing low budget action scenes.

H

harmonica44

I wanna shoot my first feature length and have a budget around 75,000 at the most, plus a few grand extra in case I go overboard. Now with the budget around that much, which includes everything accept for the actors lunches (since I can cook my own food to save some money), what kind of action sequences can I expect to film?

Like if I wanted a shoot out, how destructive could it be? Could there be explosions? How much of a car chase would be possible? Things like that. I wanna have at least 4 action scenes, and but two of them can be completely microbudget short ones, that can be filmed in someone's house or in an alleyway. But I do want at least two long ones with bigger action.

Another thing is location. I have written two scripts and am good with shooting either one. The one I am thinking about doing more has four action scenes, the other has eight. The eight one, the action scenes may be able to shoot in better accessible locations, compared to the other, if that makes a huge difference.

It's a tough question to answer of course, because there are also several other circumstances of where the money will go with the other scenes, but what kind of action scenes were produced before with movies of that budget? Thanks.
 
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He has also edited the short films and music videos he has worked on so he will be the editor as well.

I haven't made a shot list yet as I am still revising on of my two scripts I will choose to film. I was thinking of shooting shorts for practice first, which is why I am going to shoot one soon. I don't want to spend too much on them though since I wanna put more into the feature. Or at least have a few grand left over in case I go overbudget in the end. If I do things like blow up a car or crash one, just for practice shooting, then that can cost money, and I won't have a lot for the feature. So I feel it's my best shot to save as much as I can for special effects in the feature. I can practice shooting action scenes, of course, but I can't afford to practice with real cars.
 
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If you can find 10 minutes of your feature film that work as a stand alone short then that would be a great thing to film in order to get experience. Plus, if it looks good enough then you've got ten minutes of your film in the can, a good cast and crew in place and something to show potential investors.

Just a thought.
 
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Yeah I was going to use the subplot as a short film then send it to film festivals. It will be good practice as oppose to shooting a feature with no practice. I will also do a lot of no budget practice filming action scenes choreographically in the mean time. I do wanna get as much practice as I can but also save my money. Is it a must that I must practice shooting car chases, and explosions before I film one? That could be costly.
 
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Test shooting doesn't have to be full blown productions, it can be a couple of folks with a couple of cars in a largish parking lot you have permission to be in. Figuring out angles, marking down turns with cones and whatnot. That will give you footage to work with in post and figure out what works and what doesn't before you actually spend the $$$ to shoot the big thing.

Preproduction testing is (mostly) free/cheap and can save you tons of money in the actual production... whereas just jumping in to a shoot with nothing more than advice from an online forum will end up costing you more -- not that we don't know what we're saying, but the things we say work on our sets with our connections and permits in our countries/cities and may not translate to your set or vision at all.

The consensus is to write the scene, then alter it to fit your budget/experience/circumstances. More experience = better results on set. Testing = more experience.
 
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knightly said:
Test shooting doesn't have to be full blown productions, it can be a couple of folks with a couple of cars in a largish parking lot you have permission to be in. Figuring out angles, marking down turns with cones and whatnot. That will give you footage to work with in post and figure out what works and what doesn't before you actually spend the $$$ to shoot the big thing.

Preproduction testing is (mostly) free/cheap and can save you tons of money in the actual production... whereas just jumping in to a shoot with nothing more than advice from an online forum will end up costing you more -- not that we don't know what we're saying, but the things we say work on our sets with our connections and permits in our countries/cities and may not translate to your set or vision at all.

The consensus is to write the scene, then alter it to fit your budget/experience/circumstances. More experience = better results on set. Testing = more experience.
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Sure thanks. I was going to for sure practice driving cars around to get angles and all that.
 
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FIRST, I love your post and think your going to have a great experience, the rest of this post is meant to be helpful, not critical of you, just some of my observations and suggestions.

here goes... take this in the spirit of helpfulness as intended.



Id like to help you with your getting "local interest and people to help out" problem.

From this thread and other threads it might be that local people don't see you as "credible" for the same reason many folks here seem to think your in over your head. If your talking $75,000 budget on one hand, and on the other are clearly inexperienced it makes for a compelling argument that either
  • A: your completely full of BS
  • B: Your completely naive.

Regardless of the TRUTH either assessment does not garner "credibility" so what to do?

I suggest you keep the $75,000 budget a secret, in fact, keep the idea of making a BIG FEATURE a secret. Instead focus on finding someone ELSE'S project and volunteer to be a PA or do any job on the set. This will do more to get you REAL credibility than any talking you could do. Do this for a few projects and before you know it you will have a HUGE network of film making contacts, all of which are willing to help you for free on your project, all with the same "love of learning" the craft etc.

Then try your hand at DIRECTING at a 2 min short with all your new contacts. Everyone gets together, has a great time working with you and then you plant the seed... "I have some money, I want to make a FEATURE." By now everyone knows your serious about films, they've seen you on set, sure you have a lot to learn, but you have shown that you know HOW to learn and all that.. and they know how fun your are to work with... you will attract help like a magnet.
 
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High definition quick scenes can be caught on the extremely cheap Kodak Zi8 (75£ in UK) Ste up a few of them for different angles, can shoot in 720p 60fps.

All editing done in free movie editiors in LINUX....cinelerra, openshot, kdenlive.

$75,000 is a load of money for an independent movie these days. With that money I expect top quality.

Try using clever camera angles, suggestion, scene switches rather than a tonne of hardware
 
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For sure. Any advice on how to shoot a car explosion without actually blowing up one? If I try to hide the whole explosion from the audience but they can only hear it or see it from a very weird take, I don't want them to feel like it's cheap or too strangely done, or get taken out of the story by it.
 
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You don't write low budget scenes...
You film low budget scenes...

Don't worry about how you're going to shoot things at all whilst you're writing. 99% of screenplays go unproduced. Just write the action scene that you'd like Spielberg to direct and if you ever get round to making this masterpiece I'm sure you'll work out a way to film it. $75,000 buys a lot of stunt men...
 
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In many cases writing to what you can do as a producer/director is
essential. I agree with you, Nick, if the writer is writing to sell a script.
However, when I am writing to produce or direct a movie I write what
I know I can shoot.

For example, I know I cannot afford a scene with ten police cars, a
SWAT truck and 30 uniformed and armed cops. So I write the scene
to my budget. I know a lot of stunt people so I know I can write in
stunt scenes. I know I can afford the insurance and I know people
with licenses for automatic weapons so I can write in a gun battle.

I have always wanted to make a western. But I know I can't afford
to do it right so I write an action story based in the woods. Because
I know I can't afford to shoot on city streets but I can find more
rural locations I can afford.

Most of the time I write low budget scripts.
 
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I agree with you rik and I can affirm that from my last film where I wrote it to be set in a large shop but then couldn't find a shop location. Nightmare. I wish I'd written something set in my house.

However I don't think you should ever write the script whilst concurrently thinking about how you're going to shoot it. Sure, write it within your means but don't worry about how you're actually going to shoot it whilst you've still got pen in hand. I have today that this advice is mainly directed at harmonica because it seems to me like he's got wild ideas about how he's going to produce his movie before he's even got it all thrashed out.

I also think that with a first draft of a script the most important thing to do is to tell the story that you wanted to tell when you sat down at your computer or typewriter (or notepad). Constantly worrying about production details and limitations is only going to have a negative effect on your ability to tell the story, write the dialogue, make it believable; in other words, your ability to write a good screenplay...
 
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As is often the case, we are in (mostly) agreement.

NickClapper said:
However I don't think you should ever write the script whilst concurrently thinking about how you're going to shoot it. Sure, write it within your means but don't worry about how you're actually going to shoot it whilst you've still got pen in hand.
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I have a different method. Yours works for you and may work
for other writers. I always write while thinking about how I'm
going to shoot it. Always.

But I know where you're coming from. For you - and most of
the folks here - writing is a creative endeavor and you don't
want to do anything that will suppress or restrict your creativity.
I on the other hand, am a writer for hire. I am always writing
with restrictions. I not only have to think about production details,
but timing, budget, available locations, available actors and even
how many shooting days will be available. Makes writing quite a
challenge. A challenge I love.

I'm thinking that harmonica is doing at least one thing right - and
that's thinking about the movie he is going to make as he is writing.
There are a lot of things he's doing wrong (in my opinion) but thinking
about how to shoot isn't one of them.

That said, your advice to write the best you can without thinking of
the production is excellent advice in many cases.
 
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I have written one full feature script so far, and I wrote that with a lot of high budget action scenes, out of my current range. The one I am writing right now which I plan to shoot later on, has less action, less characters and extras, and less scenes. So it will be a lower budget that I want.

It's funny because directors say that $75,000 can buy a lot of for action, but most action movies you see aren't under a million. A lot of them hire actors that are known and get bigger salaries, but you think there would be more action movies shot under $100,000, since it's do-able. Even a lot of low budget straight to DVD movies, are shot for at least a few hundred thousand to few million it seems, and can't find any that were shot at my budget yet.
 
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I saved up for years. Of course I won't through it all into a movie if I don't have to. That was just a the most I could go, if my budget needs to be more. Seems like I could use less though and still get a couple of really good action sequences.
 
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With all due respect though, wouldn't a lot of actors and the crew just bring their own lunches? In every job I've worked I had to bring my own, and no one I know has a job where it is expected for the boss to arrange food for everyone. In my current job, if I didn't bring a lunch and wanted food, my boss wouldn't help me really, nor would he be required too. I don't mean to sound like cheap or anything it's just a little weird how this is the only job I've heard of where lunch is on the boss.
 
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harmonica44 said:
With all due respect though, wouldn't a lot of actors and the crew just bring their own lunches? In every job I've worked I had to bring my own, and no one I know has a job where it is expected for the boss to arrange food for everyone. In my current job, if I didn't bring a lunch and wanted food, my boss wouldn't help me really, nor would he be required too. I don't mean to sound like cheap or anything it's just a little weird how this is the only job I've heard of where lunch is on the boss.
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As numerous people have stated, get on a set as a PA. You'll learn more in a day on a professional set than you have in your month asking questions here.
 
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Yeah I have tried several times to get on set, but there are hardly any movies being shot where I live. I've tried but haven't been able to get on the ones that have been so far, but I'm still trying.
 
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harmonica44 said:
With all due respect though, wouldn't a lot of actors and the crew just bring their own lunches? In every job I've worked I had to bring my own, and no one I know has a job where it is expected for the boss to arrange food for everyone. In my current job, if I didn't bring a lunch and wanted food, my boss wouldn't help me really, nor would he be required too. I don't mean to sound like cheap or anything it's just a little weird how this is the only job I've heard of where lunch is on the boss.
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Welcome to the world of film… it might not seem normal to you, but that's how it's done.
 
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harmonica44 said:
With all due respect though, wouldn't a lot of actors and the crew just bring their own lunches? In every job I've worked I had to bring my own, and no one I know has a job where it is expected for the boss to arrange food for everyone. In my current job, if I didn't bring a lunch and wanted food, my boss wouldn't help me really, nor would he be required too. I don't mean to sound like cheap or anything it's just a little weird how this is the only job I've heard of where lunch is on the boss.
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A typical day of filming is around 12 hours, and the lower your budget the longer the days. The last big short I did was two 18 hour days and a 7.5 hour day finishing, all back to back. I fed three meals a day to about $32 people and had coffee and snacks on the craft service table between meals for about $110 a day. Two friends volunteered to manage it all, I gave them the budget and they shopped and cooked for us, it was great.

When your crew and actors are working from the second they get up till when they go to sleep, how are they supposed to find their own food? Do you want to close the set even longer for lunch so they can all drive odd in their cars to pick it up at local restaurants?

Also, there's something about being fed for free that makes everyone happy. It's less stressful on set and everyone gets along better. If any of your crew is volunteering, feeding them is the least you can do. It's like paying them $5 a day. If you're paying any of your crew, what's an extra $5 to keep moral up?
 
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