6 Areas you should never skimp on.

6 Areas you should never skimp on.

6 Areas you should never skimp on. when you are making your movie.  
As a Director/Producer of your own films, it is prudent to keep budgets as low as possible.

However, there are certain areas I never cut corners on. I always hire excellent people in these areas, when I make my own movies. I advise you to do the same.

  1. DOP – CINEMATOGRAPHER. 

Hire a really good DOP who can do a great job for your film. Our resident DOP Jack Kelly is frequently hired by smart producer directors who have just completed the 3 Month Film Course. Jack helps theses filmmakers get that cinematic quality.

I stress this because most DOPS will actually have great deals for film equipment and this will save money. Also you will get the correct equipment.

It is so important to be helped by more experienced people when you are making your first few films.

This will help you cover the Camera Department and get great shots for your film and gain valuable experience.

We hire out Jack Kelly (EXPERIENCED CINEMATOGRAPHER as a package for our film course participants after the 3 Month Film Course conclude. This is only open to people who have graduated and being certified on the 3 month film course.

  1. SOUND RECORDIST  

Getting great location sound is essential for your film. If you use an inexperienced sound recordist, you will most certainly loose quality in your film and have to spend more fixing in post.

Also it will increase the amount of fixes you need in Sound Postproduction. This will increase cost there. Many times you can get an experienced Sound Recordist for $300 per day. The Sound Recordist I use on my films, works on Home and Away 4 Days a week and has the Friday to Sunday off . If you are shooting on the weekends that works out great.

  1. PRODUCTION DESIGNER

I always hire a Production  Designer when I am shooting interiors on my movies.  This person will take care of making the set look great and filmic. It increases the quality of your film.  I highly advise you to do the same.  You can find Production Designers via indie film networks in your city.

  1. FILM EDITOR

If you do your own editing this is great. We teach editing on our film courseas it is such an important skill to have as a filmmaker. Really good directors tend to be great editors and this saves  bundles of cash.

We highly recommend that you learn this skill on our 3 month Film Course or via an editing teacher.  However, if you do not do so, you can always hire out an experienced editor.  We do have editors we recommend to graduates of our film courses, if required.

  1. SOUND POST PRODUCTION / DESIGNER    

I always work with my professional Sound designer John, in Postproduction, He is an amazing technician and gets your movie sounding like Hollywood Movie. This makes such a difference and really increases your production value. The only downside is a good Sound Designer costs. I always cut a deal . It is worth ever dollar that I spend on this area.

  1. COLOUR CORRETION AND GRADING 

Now this will place the final sheen and polish and seperates your film from the average. This is something you can learn yourself or on our film course. This will save oodles of cash as  a good colourist is expensive. If  money is no object, you can also hire a colourist.

Summary 

As you learn on our 4 Month Film Course how to produce and direct your own movies, the above is essential for your movies to look and sound professional.

If any of these areas are skimped on, you will find that the your film loses points. It will not matter if you have the greatest script and really good actors, you need to make your film look and sound like high quality TV or Stream series on Netflix or even better look and sound like a Hollywood movie.

If you skimp on the above,  your film will fall down the pecking pole.  If you have great quality in all of the above areas, your film will gain quality and knock out the competition. out the door. After all, you want to make a movie not another low quality video.

Find out how and learn how to produce and direct your film on our Online Film Courses or  4 Month Film Courses

About the Author:  Colm O’Murchu  is a successful Indie Filmmaker and Director of three successfully released feature films and one documentary.
He has run Australian Film Base since 1997 and helped filmmakers produce hundreds of short films made on his filmmaking courses.
He has spoken at Indie Film Seminars all over the world. His most recent film Tabernacle 101 has been released worldwide in 2019 and will be released in Australia in late 2020. He is currently in development on his next feature film Absolute Freedom   His Films Here

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