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Low budget film production is a chicken and egg scenario. For the
production to be successful you need experience to avoid potentially
costly mistakes. If you have that sort of experience already, you are
unlikely to be making low budget films at all. If you want to go the
low budget route, how do you get the experience you need to make a
success of it?
The sensible and constructive answer to all these things
is to get your hands on a copy of this book, Planning the Low Budget
Film. It will cost you $29.95 which is excellent value and it is a good
guide. Seriously good.
Robert Latham Brown who penned
it, is known as Bob Brown in the business. Mel Brooks calls him "Mr
On-Budget." Bob Brown has had 30 years in the movie business and
accumulated a lifetime of knowledge and hands-on practical experience,
on location.
His credits include producer, line
producer, production manager and 2nd unit director. His films include
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Return of the Jedi at the top
end to The Anarchist's Cookbook at the $2m end of indie production and
he has for the last ten years also taught film production at university
level, which makes him a tutor of distinction. He can not only do it,
but he really knows how to teach others to do it.
The
text divides into three sections; The Basics, The Schedule, The Budget,
followed by an appendix of very useful information and sources as well
as a complete budget.
The essential detail within
these sections is the practical stuff anyone in production needs to
have a firm grasp of. Filmmaking has evolved slowly to where it is
today and it has evolved this way because only practices that work well
have survived. It is not clever to re-invent the wheel, so following
Bob Brown's layout of film production method is probably the best
exposure to the process you can get without being in a studio or on
location to get it.
Brown not only feeds you the hows
of everything, he gives you the whys as well. Many of the anecdotes he
uses to explain these forwhys are amusing now, though were not at the
time, but the funny stories will help to pin them in the memory. As
permanent fixtures in a production board.
That
reminds me of another important tool in the book. Before film
scheduling software and film budgeting software was developed, people
used the production board to schedule and budget their movies. Brown
likes to use a production board and without the distractions of
computer technology, it is still the best possible way to plan a
production. The difference is that it is YOU who works the production
board, not a piece of software, so you become much more aware of what
you are doing with your production planning and what the implications
of any changes you make are going to be. It is going back to the
drawing board to some extent, but this is a fallback position that
still works efficiently without a megabit in sight.
Brown's
text is clearly laid out in sections and handy-size learning chunks and
it is very readable. There are a few line drawings, topsheets and
day-out-of-days tables to provide clarity where examples are needed,
but this is a book for intelligent minds that are addressing a steep
learning curve, so there are no distractions, just essential knowledge.
Bob "Mr On-Budget" Brown is a moviemaking mentor of
distinction. No one can guarantee success with any movie, but armed
with Bob Brown's formidable 30-year accumulated knowledge and insight
is the best possible insurance against failure in production at any
budget level. This is THE guide to budgeting and scheduling a low
budget film. Even before securing the rights, secure this book.
James MacGregor
Netribution.co.uk
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