GOOD AND CHEAP: Money Saving Tips for Your Low-Budget Feature
Who’s ready to make a movie? Who has everything they need but financing? Funding is often the number one obstacle that filmmakers face, but we are here to help you keep costs low. If you have a clear vision and simple story, you don’t need all that much cash, after...
THE ALCHEMY OF SOUND AND PICTURE: Midge Costin on Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Effects
Walter Murch estimates that about 98% of what you hear in a movie has been added by sound editors. Yet sound is one of the most underappreciated aspects of filmmaking — even USC professor and veteran sound editor Midge Costin dismissed it when she was in film school....
FROM DAYS OF THUNDER TO MAKING WAVES: Midge Costin on the Story of Sound
Sound is 50% of the cinematic experience. It’s the cheapest way to raise the production value in a film. And it’s easily one of the least understood and most underappreciated disciplines in Hollywood. Veteran Hollywood sound editor and USC professor Midge Costin...
LOW-BUDGET FILMMAKING: How Much Does It Really Cost To Make Your First Feature?
Fellow indie filmmakers continue making micro-budget feature films. Glen Schultz (Red Trail 90) says he did it with $10,000. Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) suggests you only need $1,000. Those figures notwithstanding, keeping costs low can set you up to turn a...
FINDING THE STORY: How Narrative Filmmaker Tamar Halpern Directed Her First Documentary
About Tamar Halpern Tamar Halpern is a writer and director with 9 feature films behind her — all low-budget and produced for less than $1.2 million. She graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in 1998, the same year she started filming what would...