#micro-budget

[cagesafe]

“Tears in My Heart” performed by Elizabeth Ervin and The Victory Girls in our independent film, “The Victory Lounge.”  This is an outtake - only a few seconds of the song make it into the film.

Song originally performed by Mildred Bailey and written by Leonard Whitcup/Powell.

[cagesafe]

The Victory Lounge is a micro-budget/no budget independent film shot in New Orleans, starring: Rebecca Barras, Johnny Rock, Edward Cox, Joey McRae, Tommy Vita, Holly Ladnier, Elizabeth Ervin, Vicky Illk, Lauren Allen, Martin Hovsepian, Jeffrey Martorell, Samantha Sitzman, Rebecca Laborde, Alex Payne, Bruno Doria, Danny, Joseph Meissner, and Helen Krieger.

Written and Directed by Miceal O’Donnell, Cinematography by Bruno Doria, Produced by Rebecca Barras.  Trailer music by Phil the Tremolo King, Score by Rick Szybowski, additional music by Phil the Tremolo King, Edited by Mike Ryan.

[rickyshoresingstheblues]

Marissa and Alex discuss screenwriting formatting and structure, offer tips on how to write for micro-budget films and big budget films, and share stories of their experiences writing screenplays.

Give a listen to the newest episode of our podcast. Hope you enjoy!

[rickyshoresingstheblues]

Marissa and Alex discuss YouTube culture and offer tips and advice on how filmmakers can build their audiences.

Second episode of our podcast about micro-budget filmmaking. This week’s topic is YouTube. Hope you enjoy!

[yetanotherfilmreviewblog]

Coherence (2013)

Micro-budget, sci-fi, edge-of-the-seat head-scratcher.

Micro-budget films are nothing new, but have had something of a resurgence and are now numerous enough to be noted as a proper movement. There are micro-budget horrors, sci-fi films, dramas, comedies… and where the budget issue usually shows, for me, is in the acting. A lot of these films will have great ideas, decent scripts, and with the sort of technology available to anybody with a laptop the production values are usually pretty damn impressive.

But if you can’t afford to pay decent actors, you’ve got a problem. Of course, you know you’re watching a micro-budget film, so you let it go.

That said, there are a few that really get everything right, and this is one of them.

Believable “everyman” performances from the whole cast; a really interesting and well-devised plot… some great twists and turns, and it always keeps you guessing. The final couple of scenes are a particularly nice touch.

The only problem I had was that two of the male characters look quite similar, and I’m hopeless with keeping track of who’s who anyway, so did have to pause about ten minutes in and consult Wikipedia! You should have seen me trying to deal with Gosford Park, for goodness’ sake…

Anyway, yeah - check it out. Nifty little thriller. I read an interview with the filmmakers that mentioned they were not so much inspired by that other micro-budget sensation Primer as they were by films like Carnage (2011, Roman Polanski), and that definitely shows. In terms of character development and atmosphere, it felt to me more like a cross between Carnage and the superb Spanish thriller (with an awful title) Timecrimes (2007) or Triangle (2009), all of which you should definitely check out!

Verdict: Brains Beat Budget!

[painshack]

Here’s the first in a series of videos about how we made Pain Shack for the cost of a bald cap, a pair of costume glasses, and a large pizza. Hope you enjoy.

[crypticmusing]

The Image of the City

[shinesmovieworld]

Timelock (2013) - How a Micro-Budget Film should be made.

Written and Directed by Bafta Nominated Director David Griffith, Timelock tells a very character…

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