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| The Movie Saw |
The one thing that will determine the budget of your script more than almost
anything else is location. It is not so much the location that you chose it is
moving from one location to another.
Every time that your story changes locations you will have to move cast
and crew. You will have to also set up again and then there could be electrical
concerns. There could be new permits that have to be gotten. How long will you
have access to the new location? How to feed the cast and crew there? When you
move locations you are moving everything.
In the ultra low budget world if you have more than ten locations you are
no longer shooting a low budget movie. Unless you own or have unrestricted
access to all the locations. This is why so many low budget movies are in the
woods movies or on the road movies. These locations are free.
I am not telling you to set your script in a closet and it will only cost ten bucks
to make. I am saying that you need to know your locations before you write.
Saw has a central location, half the movie is spent there and this really saved
the producers a lot of money and surely cut down on the shooting schedule. The movie
Saw is a good example. You can have that central location. Your main characters
spend most of their time there. Most of the story is told there, but for the sake
of making it more cinematic the script takes us on short trips to other locations.
Let’s look at easy to find locations.
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| From The Movie The Devil |
An apartment or a house. A good sized house is better than an
apartment because it can double for multi locations while at the
same time not requiring the production to pick up stakes and
set up across town. One bedroom could be in character’s A
house, while another could appear to belong to character B who
could live in another state or even country. The kitchen
becomes a location, the living room, the basement, the
backyard and the garage if there is one.
A car and or cars can become separate locations. Whole movies have
been shot inside of cars. The last half an hour of the Stephen King Film Cujo
is shot in and around a car. The great budget saving feature here is that the
car does not even have to be working. It is better if it does not. The production
saves on having to travel with the vehicle and spending money on gas.
When you write a script do not let this be the first thing in your head. The
story comes first, but when you re-write it consider location and budget.
Parks and wooded area are great to save on money. Parking garages are
cool too.
Locations where there is just enough room for conflict, while the tightness
of the space also adds to the conflict are great as well. The movie The Devil is
a good example, mostly shot in an elevator. Even if you have to build the
elevator set this is okay. It does not cost that much to build four walls and a ceiling
that can be moved depending upon the shot.
About special effects, do not be afraid to include them. Effects are
cheaper and easier to pull off with the available software today. I am
not saying that you are free to write the Matrix or Inception, but write the
story and later decide where you may have to cut or alter.
If you remind yourself that location is important then you will have less
trouble down the road with your script. It will be far more appealing to a low
budget producer if they can tell early on that you understand the basic facts
of the business.
This also applies to television movies as well. Most of them have limited
locations and limited set up’s. Look at the movies that Hallmark Channel and Lifetime
makes. Most of these movies are limited locations and limited shooting time. These
made for television movies are usually shot in eighteen - thirty days. A low budget
film shoot could be and usually will be between five and twenty one days.
Knowing the value of locations will help you create a script that will be
more attractive to producers and much more budget friendly if you decide to shoot
it yourself
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