Writing Low Budget Films

by

J Young

There are numerous books and classes you can take on how to write a screen play. Some are good and some are bad. Others are worth the time investment to go through while most are not. I recommend only one book on screen writing and that is “Foundations Of Screen Writing” by Syd Field. There are a bunch of other good ones. Some focus on character, sequencing, plot points or getting it done in 21 days. The problem is your first project should be something that can be filmed on a small budget. It is very rare that screen plays are sold for big dollars by first time writers.

So what is a good low budget script? It would still be high concept. It would still make a good elevator pitch and log lines. It would still have 3 acts and be at least 90 pages. The first 10 pages are still important. There would be a mid point and a final act of resolution. It would have all the same elements as any other script. Don’t forget about compelling characters. The difference for low budget movies is no pets. No children. No action. No special effects. No car chases. No expensive sets or props. It is set today not a retro film. Think about things that cost money and eliminate them from your plot. Now the key to a low budget film. Very few characters. A good rule of thumb is to keep them under 10. That includes extras. No scenes that require a ton of extras. No football games. No club scenes. The other important issue is locations. The rule of thumb is to keep th0em under 10 also. Having crew moves is something that takes time, resources and time. Time is money. If you could set your movie in one main location. The other locations should be scenes that do not require a lot of actors or crew or equipment. Now the bad news for all you movie buffs. Your low budget script is in essence a stage play. You might even want to perform it live a few times before you film. All your actors would be well rehearsed when you film. Before you get sad and close this article keep in mind that there have been a lot of great plays on the stage. 12 million people went to see Broadway plays in 2010. You don’t attract that many attendees unless you have something special. So the trick to writing a low budget movie is to do all the same things as any other script just keep in mind the budget when you are writing. The key things we talked about that drive up costs can be eliminated and still create a wonder story. Now the good news! If you do all these things in your script it is a zillion times more likely to be films.

This article is part of a series of tips on low budget film making provided by

Video Film School

Article Source:

Writing Low Budget Films