Cheap Movie Tricks: How to Shoot a Short Film for Under $2,000
By Rickey Bird
Copyright © 2017 Rickey Bird.
Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.
Cover Design: Rickey Bird
Layout & Design: Roberto Nunez
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Library of Congress Cataloging:
Name: Rickey Bird
Cheap Movie Tricks: How to Shoot a Film for Less Than $2,000
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017906610
ISBN: (paperback) 978-1-63353-543-5, (ebook) 978-1-63353-544-2
BISAC category code PER004010 PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / Direction & Production
Printed in the United States of America
Dedicated to the strongest woman I know
Anita Catherine Vivo-Williams
I love you always Grammy
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Experience of Sensory Detail
Introduction to Short Films
Big Tricks, Small Packages
Hey, you, with the camera. Yeah, you—the aspiring filmmaker. We’ve been watching you, trying to get your attention for a while now. Want to know something?
We believe in you.
That’s right. You probably didn’t realize this, but we know you’re a little lost right now, not knowing how to use that camera, attempting to figure out what kind of story to tell, planning a budget (that you don’t have) for set, makeup, actors, editing, sound and light. You’ve really created an unreachable fantasy. Anyway, listen up. You can make quality indie short films. You really can.
For starters, you need to get your butt off the couch. Uh oh. You’re not on the couch? You’re locked in a closet? You’re actually sitting in the dark thinking your movie dreams might be over? Is it that bad? Stop this nonsense.
Quit crying about not having a $25,000 budget for that short film you always wanted to make about two psycho lovers, or the one about that zombie who can live without his head while wandering aimlessly through Hollywood searching for it. You don’t need that much money to pull it off. And no more whining. A film school degree is not the only thing that will help you hone those indie filmmaking skills you desperately need to grow.
Got