Lesson 9

[RAMSEY ANDERSON]

Ramsey’s Budget

3. Learned? Meh.

1. Decrease the budget? I’d keep these:

MAIN VARIABLES

Number of Locations

Expensive locations

Number of characters

Special effects

Crowd scenes

Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes

Special sets

SECONDARY VARIABLES

Rights to music, brands

Explosions and Firearm

Weather — Rain

Water and underwater scenes

Night scenes

Helicopters, aircraft, drone shots

Green screen work

Extensive Make-up

2. Then go through the list and tell us what you might add if your budget was quadrupled.

Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes

Special sets

Rights to music, brands

Explosions and Firearm

Weather — Rain

Green screen work

Extensive Make-up

[Tom Wilson]

Tom’s Budget

Doing this assignment, I sought the best value possible for the budget.

Main Variables ———- Budget Lowered ————— Budgeted Quadrupled

Number of Locations —–8 locations lowered to 5 ———8 locations upped to 10

Expensive locations ——Cheap locations substituted —–3 expensive locations added

Number of characters —- 7 characters lowered to 5 ——10 characters used

Special effects ———– Actual props replace CGI ——–3 FX houses will do all effects

Number of pages ———95 pages slashed to 85 ——— Pages expanded to 110

Crowd scenes ————- 3 scenes shot on same day —–5 separate crowd scenes

Stunt, Chase, Fight scenes —-6 events reduced to 4——- 8 scenes will be used

Special sets ————— With changes, 1 set used for 3– 4 special sets will be used

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  Tom Wilson.

[H. Vince]

Subject: H. Vince’s Budget

Contained – 2023

Lesson 9: Keeping It Low Budget

What I learned from doing this assignment is…what could be taken out and/or added to increase or decrease the budget

Concept: While accepting an invitation to go on
an opposite views podcast in a remote desert location, the grid shuts down
and the group must create a pirate podcast to seek help. <div>

Main Conflict: Grid Shutdown

1. Run through this list and tell us how many ways you might be able to decrease the budget for your project if that was required.

MAIN VARIABLES

Number of Locations: One location <div>

Expensive locations: This could depend on renting out an already
built remote desert location or building one just for the movie. A cheaper
city.

Number of characters: maybe take out the undesirable person that
shows up

Number of pages: keep it 90 pages

SECONDARY VARIABLES

Rights to music, brands, books, etc. use not as well-known
musicians, books etc. </div><div>

Explosions and Firearm: use a slingshot haha

Animals – need a wrangler, more time to shoot, Humane Society: limit
to one or two desert wildlife, and/or this could mean the type of injury
that takes place say snake bite vs. scorpion bite/sting or just film one
randomly in the desert without showing the actual biting taking place
without having to have an actual snake or scorpion brought in to work with
the actor(s)
Weather — Rain, snow, wind, tornados- just keep it to earlier on
later in the day mostly to avoid heat stroke, but will need sun beating
down shots

Night scenes: stars in the skies are common for the desert and
beautiful!

Helicopters, aircraft, drone shots, these can be built as models
instead of using the real thing if need be

Extensive Make-up: work up a sweat and get dirty with desert dust,
grungy hair from not being able to use electric styling tools

Archival Footage: desert remote footage should be easy, maybe make
sure there are some Joshua Trees, dust devils and tumbleweeds

2. Then go through the list and tell us what you might add if your budget was quadrupled.

MAIN VARIABLES

Number of Locations: one already built remote location, flash back
locations </div><div>

Expensive locations: This opens up to more choice of city locations
to use

Special effects: more dramatic sparking of grid shutdown, a fuse is
blown

Number of pages: increase it to 120 pages

Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes: Paul goes up on roof to try
and cover it from the monsoon damage

Special sets: a remote location built for the movie or add-ons to existing structure

SECONDARY VARIABLES

Rights to music, brands, books, etc.: more well-known music &
book brands could be shown plus some brands they had for food items </div>

Explosions and Firearm: Firearms and ammo could be discovered hidden
in the home
Animals – need a wrangler, more time to shoot, Humane Society: could
bring a few different reptile/desert life handlers for snakes/scorpions/lizards/tortoise/bat,
bird wrangler for vultures, another for coyotes or a bobcat or skunk

Weather — Rain, snow, wind, tornados. Could incorporate more elements
than just the dry heat such as wind and rain/monsoons

Night scenes: have a high power telescope

Helicopters, aircraft, drone shots, use drones for area shots
showing how remote it is, maybe some helicopter help at the end?

Green screen work: Use this for help with snake/scorpion bite/sting
maybe. Maybe use to avoid some of the outside camera work to keep the
desirable weather in order to film a scene
Extensive Make-up: use unnatural make-up to create fantastic
original looks that later turn into natural weathered looks

Archival Footage: use for flashbacks of the desert location and for
the characters in past experiences

Anything else dangerous that increases preparation time and/or
Insurance. Monsoon could create roof damage which creates a hole or
serious leak

</div>

[Gustavo Cosenza]

Gustavo’s Budget

What I learned doing this assignment is to understand the impact of decisions at this moment. It’s nice to see the budget from this perspective at this moment.

General Breakdown

Victoria’s house INT – Child

Victoria’s House EXT – Child

Banana truck with hidden space – 10 more people

Night – Border control – guns – stunts – 15 people

2-4 Natual environments – 5 people

Prison vehicle – 10 people

Night – Escape prison vehicle – 10 people

Government building 1st reunion closed circle – 10 people

Forest Escape – 7 people

Victoria’s House Raid – 5 people – guns – child

Night – Prison killing – 10 people

Border Control – guns – 10 people

Lab – 5 people

Prison building – 10 people

Revolution HQ – 10 people

Prison exterior – 10 people

Government building 2nd reunion – 10 people

Cleaning truck – 2 people

Government building corridor – 20 people

Government building president’s office – 30 people

Government building corridor – 20 people

Government building office – 2 people

Government building press room – 30 people

Government building president’s office – 3 people

Cleaning truck – 2 people

Countryside house – 3 people – child

LOW BUDGET:

MAIN VARIABLES

Number of Locations: 9

Expensive locations: Government building (can be any classic style building with rooms), revolution HQ (warehouse o abandoned building).

Number of characters: 1 Main, 3 support, 30-50 extras, 1 child

Special effects: gunshots, some blood

SOLUTION: Off-screen kills.

Number of pages: 90

Crowd scenes: 2

SOLUTION: Maybe reduce the number of extras by half and solve with camera angles.

Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes: No

Special sets: No

SECONDARY VARIABLES

Rights to music, brands, books, etc: No

Explosions and Firearm: No explosions, yes firearm

Kids — shorter work days, tutor on the set: Yes 2 set days

Animals: No

Weather — Rain, snow, wind, tornados: No

Water and underwater scenes: no

Night scenes: yes 3-night scenes

Drone shots: Yes

Green screen work: Maybe the last car scene

Extensive Make-up: no

Archival Footage: No

QUADRUPLED BUDGET:

MAIN VARIABLES

Number of Locations: 15

Expensive locations: Government building (can be any classic style building with rooms), revolution HQ (build from scratch and located in an underground bunker).

Number of characters: 1 Main, 3 support, 50-100 extras, 1 child

Special effects: full-on battle scenes, with gunshots, stunts, explosions, blood, and 20-30 extras, tank, and helicopters.

Number of pages: 110

Crowd scenes: 5

Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes: Yes, two big fights unravel at the border and a chase scene where they manage to barely escape

Special sets: No

SECONDARY VARIABLES

Rights to music, brands, books, etc: Music licensing from big artists

Explosions and Firearm: Yes explosions and extensive use of firearms.

Kids — shorter work days, tutor on the set: Yes 2 set days

Animals: No

Weather — Rain, snow, wind, tornados: Yes, forest scenes or escape scenes with constant tropical rain

Water and underwater scenes: no

Night scenes: yes 5-night scenes

Drone shots: Yes

Green screen work: Maybe the last car scene

Extensive Make-up: no

Archival Footage: No

[Thomas Doran]

Tom’s Budget

What I learned doing this assignment is learning what elements will lower the budget costs, thereby increasing the chances of selling or optioning the screenplay. I also learned what elements to add if working with a larger budget to increase the intrigue and dramatic elements.

1. Run through this list and tell us how many ways you might be able decrease the budget for your project if that was required.

MAIN VARIABLES

Number of Locations– 3- Int./Ext. SUV ,Road; Snowbank; Int./Ext. small building.
Expensive locations – None.
Number of characters – 2 Main characters; 2 extra characters, 1 character with one line of dialogue.
Special effects – Snow/Wind Conditions. No other special effects .
Number of pages – 90.
Crowd scenes -None.
Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes -None.
Special sets -Icy/ Snowy Conditions.

SECONDARY VARIABLES

Rights to music, brands, books, etc. -None
Explosions and Firearm – None
Kids — shorter work days, tutor on the set – No Kids. Animals – need a wrangler, more time to shoot, Humane Society – No Animals
Weather — Rain, snow, wind, tornados: The blizzard is central to the story, therefore must create Blizzard like Snow and Wind conditions.
Water and underwater scenes – No water scenes.
Night scenes – Do not need to have night scenes, however they could increase the drama and suspense.
Helicopters, aircraft, drone shots -None <div>

Green screen work. – Yes, if it contributes to the snowy blizzard.
Extensive Make-up -None
Archival Footage – None.

Anything else dangerous that increases preparation time and/or Insurance: Driving Scenes through hazardous blizzard like conditions.

2. Go through the list and tell us what you might add if your budget was quadrupled.

Add a dozen or so SUV’s buried in snow.
Add multiple night scenes to create more drama and suspense. It will increase the sense of isolation.
Add dramatic music. </div>

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Add make-up– frozen snow, ice covering Alex is face; wound in the side of Alex’s face after trying to save people trapped in hater vehicle. Add make-up to Kris – showing that she’s completely pale from the freezing cold.

Add drone shots to show how many vehicles are stranded in an endless sea of snow and ice.
Add more scenes at hospital.
Use helicopters for rescue and search.
Add dogs for rescue scenes.
Archival footage could be used in the beginning to show a history of hazardous blizzards in Buffalo.

10.More dramatic Rescue of Kris.

11.Increase pages from 90 to 110.

[Aurora AURORA Harris HARRIS]

Aurora Writes for a Budget

I learned that writers’ imaginations can unreasonably explode a film budget but clever rewriting can quickly reduce expenses.

1. How many ways might I be able decrease the budget for my project if required?

Decrease budget by using the same or variations of same costumes. (Note that period costumes was NOT on the list of added expense items but needs to be. ) Reuse some of same background actors, ie use Dominick’s fellow runners or some of the prison guards as some of the nighttime assailants. Instead of using a child, use a young adult as the shepherd boy. Have sound of sheep instead of actual sheep, don’t show Theo on horseback, but just the head of his horse as he is dismounted or eliminate horse all together. Use green screen instead of using a location with a view. Shorten the number of locations by reusing some outdoor area nearby a villa. Shoot more outdoors to limit lighting issues. Use different ends of the same cobblestone street for the two street scenes. Get re- enactors to bring their own Roman uniforms.

MAIN VARIABLES

Number
of Locations -12
Expensive
locations- establishing shots of the ancient temples of Rome
Number
of characters 21
Special
effects- none
Number
of pages- 52
Crowd
scenes- 3
Stunts,
Chase scenes, and Fight scenes- falling while running, kicking a man
sprawling, soldiers dragging
Special
sets-steep flight of stone steps to replicate Gemonian stairs, top and
bottom.

SECONDARY VARIABLES

Rights
to music, brands, books, etc -none.
Explosions
and Firearm- none but crowd scene with soldiers requires swords and Roman
armament
Kids
— shorter work days, tutor on the set- child in field
Animals
– need a wrangler, more time to shoot, Humane Society- horse ridden by
Theo, sheep
Weather
— Rain, snow, wind, tornados.- none
Water
and underwater scenes-none
Night
scenes- yes, the torch light attack during the Seder meal
Helicopters,
aircraft, drone shots- none
Green
screen work- yes, establishing shots from the top of the Gemonian steps.
Extensive
Make-up- dead soldier on the Gemonian steps, blood on doorway at Seder
Archival
Footage- establishing shots of Rome
Anything
else dangerous that increases preparation time and/or Insurance.- Roman
clothing, soldiers’ costumes

2. What I might add if my budget was quadrupled.

Better actors. Fancier uniforms. CGI views of city of Rome and its Temples. Larger group of soldiers practicing maneuvers. Use an exterior shot of the baths.

[Robert Barhite]

Bob’s Budget

What I learned doing this assignment is… a small budget forces a writer to focus on the characters and conflicts rather than be Michael Bay. The story always comes first.

MAIN VARIABLES

• Number of Locations

o LOW: Bar interior, Bar exterior, Car exterior/driving (B roll), Car outside a run-down shack (B roll), Beach exterior

o $$$$: INT: Bar, INT: Bar basement, EXT: Bar, INT: Ritzy hotel room, EXT Car driving (B roll), EXT: Car outside a run-down shack (B roll), EXT: Beach, EXT: Causeway, EXT Police

• Expensive locations

o None, the more run-down the better

o $$$$: Ritzy hotel, high-end bar, Beach scene – Hawaii

• Number of characters

o Four principals, maybe a couple bar flies, and maybe a couple VO

o $$$$: show the final mob scene rather than do it as a VO, people on the beach, people at the hotel, three or four sheriffs.

• Special effects

o INT: Approaching hurricane thru the bar windows, EXT: Rain outside bar. Fake gun shot/murder

o EXT: Hurricane (flying debris, trees, etc…)

• Number of pages

o 75-85

o $$$$: 120

• Crowd scenes

o None

o $$$$: People scurrying about, evacuating the island.

• Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes

o Maybe one fight scene between The Lieutenant and the Bartender and The Bagwoman as they try to escape.

o $$$$: Car Chase – The Lieutenant chases The Bartender and The Bagwoman. The Lieutenant crashes on the causeway and rolls into the ocean.

• Special sets

o None

o $$$$: INT airplane first class cabin, INT terminal, INT: storm prediction center

SECONDARY VARIABLES

• Rights to music, brands, books, etc.

o Beer tappers. No books. Original music – simple arrangements.

o $$$$: Use music from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc. in the soundtrack.

• Explosions and Firearm

o None. The destruction of the bar is a VO. No gunfights.

o $$$$: Gunfight between the Lieutenant and The Bartender right before the bar is set to explode (ticking clock). The Lieutenant is blown thru the bar door when the bomb detonates.

• Kids — shorter work days, tutor on the set

o None

o $$$$: A school bus of kids being loaded and evacuated. A family with kids trapped in the bar.

• Animals – need a wrangler, more time to shoot, Humane Society

o None

o $$$$: Stray dog running thru the streets as the hurricane hits

• Weather — Rain, snow, wind, tornados.

o Rain in Act 4 as The Diamond Man leaves, then when the Lieutenant races away.

• Water and underwater scenes

o None

o $$$$: Car sinking in the ocean as The Lieutenant tries to escape it

• Night scenes

o Simple EXT shot of the bar and the hotel with lightning

o $$$$: Hold the evacuation at night.

• Helicopters, aircraft, drone shots

o B roll of The Bartender’s car on a highway (day shot)

o $$$$: National Guard helicopters arriving at the island

• Green screen work

o None

o $$$$: Use Pixomondo’s Toronto stage in place of actual locations.

• Extensive Make-up

o None

o $$$$: Gunfight aftermath

• Archival Footage

o None

o $$$$: Pond5 – news story about a hurricane, show not as a VO, Hurricane damage, etc…

• Anything else dangerous that increases preparation time and/or Insurance.

o None

o $$$$: Actor trapped in a car underwater. Buildings collapse as The Bartender and The Bagwoman race away. Falling power lines.

[Bent Hanlen]

Bent’s Budget

what I learned doing this assignment is …….. I came in with a low budget show and maybe my biggest expense will be name stars. A listers. But I can go without I think.

Number of Locations One location a soundstage

Expensive locations none

Number of characters minimal

Special effects None

Number of pages maybe 45

Crowd scenes none

Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes none

Special sets lobby, hotel rooms, cafeteria, offices

secondary

Rights to music, brands, books, etc.

Explosions and Firearm

Kids — shorter work days, tutor on the set

Animals – need a wrangler, more time to shoot, Humane Society

Weather — Rain, snow, wind, tornados

.Water and underwater scenes

Night scenes

Helicopters, aircraft, drone shots

Green screen work

Extensive Make-up

Archival Footage

Anything else dangerous that increases preparation time and/or Insurance.

OF THIS LIST, ID SAY KIDS AND MUSIC RIGHTS. THAT’S ALL.

If I had a larger budget then I’d choose an elaborate hotel set. Maybe green screen work for dream sequences which would be rare.

[Martha Manuel]

LESSON 9:
Keeping It Low
Budget

SUBJECT LINE: Martha’s Budget

What I learned doing
this assignment is: there is always more to learn.

ASSIGNMENT

Run through this list and tell us how many ways you might be able to decrease/increase the budget for your project if that was required.

Cut By 25 Percent MAIN
VARIABLES Quadruple
Budget

N/A (only one) Number of Locations Add forest scene – convicts escape

N/A (rural country store) Expensive locations (see above)

Cut
from five to two Number
of characters 5 original + 2 deputies + 5 firemen

Hear noise from hurricane Special effects Show scenes with hurricane

Cut from 120 to 90 pages Number of pages Maintain 120 pages

N/A Crowd scenes Firetruck, ambulance, etc. at end

N/A Stunts, Chase scenes, and Fight scenes N/A

Fire at door to back room Special sets Show back room engulfed in flames

Cut By 25 Percent SECONDARY VARIABLES Quadruple Budget

Use stock music Rights to music Use hit music for theme song

Hear, don’t show explosion Explosions Show explosion that starts fire

Use obviously defective gun Firearm No need to use more realistic gun

N/A Kids — shorter work days, tutor on the set N/A

N/A Animals – need a wrangler, more time to shoot, Humane Society N/A

Hear sounds of hurricane Weather Show hurricane and its’ effects

Hear firetruck in distance Water scenes Show firemen putting out fire

N/A Night scenes Show convicts escaping prison

N/A Helicopters, aircraft, drone shots N/A

N/A Green screen work N/A

N/A Extensive Make-up Lance hit by fire’s flying debris

N/A Archival Footage N/A

N/A Anything dangerous that increases preparation time and/or Insurance N/A