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HOW TO MAKE A GOOD LOW BUDGET MOVIE

The Producer's Ten Commandments for A Successful Shoot

1 Set Your Sights High

You want the best possible script, crew, cast and locations that you can get.
Limited funds do not limit your choices, only how much you can pay for them.
Be honest. Let people know this is a low- or no-budget operation.
Ask for things for free. At worst, people will say no. Or they may say yes.
If not for free, ask for discount.

2 Plan Well

This is the key to good filmmaking (after setting your sights high!)
The more restricted your budget is, the better your planning must be.
Plan for the most efficient use of time and resources.
Know everything that needs to be done and order them in the best possible way.
Use people efficiently. Conserve their energy.
Good planning will help you forsee problems and, with any luck, help you to avoid them.

3 Slow But Steady

You must give yourself time to get things planned.
Time you spend in prep now will save you time on the shoot.
Take time to rehearse before the shoot.
It's much cheaper than rehearsing with a paid crew standing by.
Rehearsing with an empty camera is cheaper than with one turning film.
Allow plenty of time in pre-production and in post-production.
You can always finish earlier than planned
Working always to deadlines is wearing on everyone and costs you in the end.

4 Choose Cast & Crew Carefully

You need good acting, good directing, good cinematography, good lighting, good editing and more, to make a good film.
Make sure you can achieve these things by hiring good people.
Choose them with great care.
Choose people with the right experience and abilities for your film.
If they care about the film, they will give you more.
Once hired help them do their best work
Give them time and space for prep
Give them resources (within pre-set limits) to do the job

5 Evaluate Regularly

Assess your strengths and your weaknesses at different stages
Maximise the strengths
Compensate for the weaknesses.

6 Learn As Much As You Can - About Everything!

Learn about directing, acting, camera work, sound, lighting and editing
The more you know the more effective you will be as a producer
The more you know, the better the decisions you will make
The more you know, the better you can teach and advise others
Set a tone that values and fosters learning, others will follow your lead
This is more important when you have some less experienced crew members
Help others increase their knowledge
Arrange workshops and seminars about film craft for inexperienced crew
Let people have time to learn new skills on the set
Make sure though, that people meet their responsibilities

7 Set High Standards

Set them for everyone working for you - including yourself - and stick to them
You need to know how each job is done just to set the standards
Pay careful attention to the detail of what needs to be done
Hiring good people makes this job easier
Good people will always strive to do a good job for you
Work with people you trust whose work quality you know

8 Have Good Communications - Always

People working together need good communication
Communication to the crew must be chrystal clear
The clearer the instructions, the better they will be carried out
There will be less waste of time and money of you say exactly what you want
Communication should go up to the top as well as down from it
Set up communication structures - regular production or crew meetings

9 Seek Advice

But use it wisely
Remember, advice is often subjective, rarely objective
Needs of experts may be different from yours
Don't be blinded by expertise, but do listen to it
Remember that the decision is yours, not the expert's
Make sure your experts are aware of this as well!
Get experts to share their knowledge in ways to help you decide

10 Keep Your COOL, maintain your SANITY

Stay sane and healthy (or try to!)
Keep a clear head to do what is a difficult job
Take care of yourself and your crew