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There are many examples of making a film on a budget of almost nothing. Clerks, Evil Dead, the Sweding movement, most all of Tik Tok… You can make a compelli

There are many examples of making a film on a budget of almost nothing. Clerks, Evil Dead, the Sweding movement, most all of Tik Tok… You can make a compelling story via flip book.

bmelton 5y ago
ahem PRIMER
- elevaet 5y ago
  I came here to say that too. If ever there was a quintessential HN movie...
Joeboy 5y ago
"Almost nothing" in movie terms means "the cost of a house". Not "almost nothing" on a normal human scale.
- justinator 5y ago
  I would actually say, "almost nothing" in movie terms means, "human scale almost nothing" all the way to perhaps, "cost of a house". We all have phones, video editing software is free, there's plenty of distribution channels. If you want to make a movie for "almost nothing", you can do so. Doesn't mean it's going to be good, or that anyone wants to see it. Is this a peculiar concept? We all work OSS every day, right?
  - Joeboy 5y ago
    True, to the extent that any 90 minutes of smartphone footage uploaded to youtube is technically "a movie". In order to be "a movie" in the sense that Evil Dead or Primer are movies, I would say you need a bit more than that.
    - justinator 5y ago
      I really wouldn't consider, "a budget larger than, 'x'" one of the defining traits of what, "a movie" is. That's gatekeeping.
      - Joeboy 5y ago
        I would also vigorously oppose such a view.
onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago
For anything with a niche target audience - sure. You're not going to have multiple locations, good actors, good writing, good composition, quality cinematography, etc - unless you're incredibly talented and not counting how much your time is actually worth. Films for a wide audience these days basically require - at a minimum - 6 specialists working for a month of shooting. Plus 5+ actors. The absolute minimum that costs in labor - if you actually counted the value of your time - is ~$200k+. A good script itself is worth well over $100k... Realistically - it's almost impossible to make something with wide appeal for less than $2m in the US - or $1m internationally.

There are many examples of making a film on a budget of almost nothing. Clerks, Evil Dead, the Sweding movement, most all of Tik Tok… You can make a compelling story via flip book.

bmelton 5y ago

ahem PRIMER

elevaet 5y ago
I came here to say that too. If ever there was a quintessential HN movie...

Joeboy 5y ago

"Almost nothing" in movie terms means "the cost of a house". Not "almost nothing" on a normal human scale.

justinator 5y ago
I would actually say, "almost nothing" in movie terms means, "human scale almost nothing" all the way to perhaps, "cost of a house". We all have phones, video editing software is free, there's plenty of distribution channels. If you want to make a movie for "almost nothing", you can do so. Doesn't mean it's going to be good, or that anyone wants to see it. Is this a peculiar concept? We all work OSS every day, right?
- Joeboy 5y ago
  True, to the extent that any 90 minutes of smartphone footage uploaded to youtube is technically "a movie". In order to be "a movie" in the sense that Evil Dead or Primer are movies, I would say you need a bit more than that.
  - justinator 5y ago
    I really wouldn't consider, "a budget larger than, 'x'" one of the defining traits of what, "a movie" is. That's gatekeeping.
    - Joeboy 5y ago
      I would also vigorously oppose such a view.

onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago

For anything with a niche target audience - sure. You're not going to have multiple locations, good actors, good writing, good composition, quality cinematography, etc - unless you're incredibly talented and not counting how much your time is actually worth. Films for a wide audience these days basically require - at a minimum - 6 specialists working for a month of shooting. Plus 5+ actors. The absolute minimum that costs in labor - if you actually counted the value of your time - is ~$200k+. A good script itself is worth well over $100k... Realistically - it's almost impossible to make something with wide appeal for less than $2m in the US - or $1m internationally.