By Scott Spears

Ok, it’s finally time to stop moaning about how lousy the movie you watched on DVD last night was, get off your butt and make a movie. The only problem is you don’t have a camera. Where do you start? First you have to determine how much you can afford. A useable DV camera is going to be at least $300 and climb up to $6000. If you don’t have $300 or somebody who will buy you a camera, then borrow one from a friend, rent one from a rental house or head to the local public access.

Location, Location, Location: Scouting Tips
by Scott Spears

Just like in real estate, when you leave the studio (if you were ever in one) one of the biggest factors to a good shoot, is location, location, location. I’ve been on many a location scout and have seen some great location and not so great locations. One of the biggest things when seeing what looks like a great location is you have to think will it work logistically. The factors to locations are cost, sound issues, power and logistics. We’ll break those down in a minute.

I couldn’t afford film school. That costs money. In some cases, USC, UCLA, and NYU – a LOT of money. There is a lot to be learned in film school. There is also a lot to be learned on your own. Going to film school does not guarantee you a job, but the networking, relationships, equipment, and the creative environment has a value that can’t be measured.

Scott Spears

(NOTE: The original article was written just before the release of “The Village” and I don’t talk about some of the later and not so great Shyamalan movies.)

My advice to microbudget filmmakers is take a look at the films of M. Night Shyamalan. These films could be made for almost no money if you take out the name stars and do a little trimming in the scope of some scenes. Night's filmmaking is very basic with little or no "showy" shots. Hell, in "Unbreakable" most scenes play in one shot.

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