Archive | Budgeting

16969

Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass Alumni Rhys Davies: Micro Budget Horror Case Study, Released This Weekend!

This weekend has seen the release of ‘Zombie Undead’, a micro budget horror film made by a film maker, Rhys Davies, who I first met a few years ago on my Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass. His journey and film is a classic example of micro budget film making, a true ‘micro crew’ production. In advance […]

Continue Reading
12-05-2017 14-54-50

Failing to plan is planning to fail… Film making success lies in pre-production

I am spending the weekend building and updating my presentation for The Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass on June 4th and 5th. (90% sold out now, so don’t wait if you want to come, and use the discount code CHRISJONESBLOG to get it for £60, reduced from £119.00 – go here http://www.guerillamasterclass.com) And I wanted to […]

Continue Reading
A large white house in the middle of a grassy field.

Micro Budget Film Making Law Number 8… Get A Single Shooting Location To Fulfill Multiple Story Locations

If you want to make the most out of your limited resources, look at the locations you have and tailor your screenplay to match what is available. I learned a long time ago that moving a cast and crew from one location to another is akin to pushing an elephant up a hill. When scheduling […]

Continue Reading
A man sitting in a chair next to a tv screen.

A Masterclass In Microbudget Film Making – Interview with ‘Paranormal Activity’ writer and director Oren Peli

Looking back at Paranormal Activity, the poster boy for microbudget filmmaking, what can we learn without just saying ‘it’s like Paranormal Activity’ and will be as successful (which I hear all too often)? First off, I have to say just how impressed I am with the film. Oren Peli managed to keep up pace, tension […]

Continue Reading
Invoices_2

Accounts… where did the money go?

It’s getting to the time where I need to file my VAT quarter, which means I will need to go through all the receipts and invoices on the spike in my office. This is not a job I enjoy. In fact, most people just bundle it off to the accountants! But I am going to […]

Continue Reading
Sabina

The budget is in…

Producer, Sabina Sattar, has spent the last week tallying up the budget. We have gone over budget. I knew we had so during the shoot as a number of problems came up and I just sanctioned them, saying we can figure out how to deal with it once we have it all in the can. […]

Continue Reading
Car

Stills arrive

Traditionally, on low budget films, you always have trouble getting certain crew members. Stills photographers and sound recordists are usually toughest. We were very lucky as we had Ro Heap record the sound excellently, and Mark Reeve took the stills. I only just took delivery of Marks pictures and I am blown away. Not only […]

Continue Reading
Sched

Scheduling

I spent most of yesterday and last night updating the schedule, which has gone through several major revisions already. The first one was done by Producer, Ivan Clemments, who then had to leave for two weeks, and it was subsequently revised by Sabina Sattar, who stepped into his shoes as acting producer. The schedule then […]

Continue Reading
tumblr statistics