Film budgeting

Film budgeting

Film financing can be given from a private investor, sponsor, product placement, film studio, entertainment company or out of pocket funds.

Tactics for cutting costs:

Eliminate night scenes: shooting at night requires expensive lighting therefore by eliminating the night scenes you would save millions.

Avoid filming in famous areas: For example filming on golden gate bridge would mean you have to stop traffic, whereas shifting location to San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge for close-ups would save the money.

Filming car chase scenes on a sunday morning: filming on a Sunday morning is when the traffic is at its lightest and therefore you would have to stop much traffic in order to film.

Use unknown cast members instead of stars.

Use a non-union crew

For blockbuster movies high budgets are advertised to make people want to watch the movie as they think it will be worth watching. In the Us film production system, producers aren’t allowed to go over the initial budget for their film.

Unbreakable:

• Story rights and Screenplay: £6,000,000


• Producers: £1,878,260


• Director (M. Night Shyamalan & Assistant): £5,081,749


• Cast: £ 35,068,388




• Bruce Willis: £20,000,000


• Samuel L. Jackson: £7,000,000


• Robin Wright Penn: £2,500,000


• Rest of Cast, Casting, Stunts, & Travel: £5,568,388

·         Production costs: £26,214,709

• Visual effects: £1,000,000


• Music: £2,253,456

Total: £74,243,106

Dramatic films – timeline

1 year to secure rights and funding

2 months of casting, scouting, preparation

1 month readying actual production logistics

2-5 weeks of production (stage and location)

8-20 weeks of picture editorial

8-20 weeks sound editorial and scoring (usually starts after picture is “locked”)

1-2 weeks of picture finish/conform/grade

1-2 weeks of audio mix (re-recording mix)

1 week to finalize all deliverables

 

If we were able to have more money to develop our film, I would spend it on buying a microphone for the sound, the updated version of final cut which would be final cut pro, a zip wire that I could attach the camera to in order to film the cast running. The microphone would be essential in order to get better sound, and final cut pro would also be needed as you could use it in order to put the film together properly and cut out the background noise.