No-budget film
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A no budget film is a produced film made with very little, or no money.
Young directors starting out in filmmaking commonly use this method because there are few other options available to them at that point. All the actors and technicians are employed without remuneration. The film is largely non-profit. Usually the director works alone on such films, or uses a very minimum "crew" of volunteers to assist him/her on such projects where no money or financing is available, not including the cost of film.
Many experimental films have been made in this no budget manner. In 1960, Ron Rice released The Flower Thief, starring Taylor Mead, to great acclaim. The film was produced for less than $1000.00 using black and white 16mm 50' film cartridges left over from aerial gunnery equipment used during World War II. In the early 1960s, filmmaker Jack Smith used discarded color reversal film stock to film his no budget film classic, featuring Mario Montez, called Flaming Creatures. Some directors' early works, such as John Waters' 1964 black and white film with Mary Vivian Pearce, Hag in a Black Leather Jacket, which cost $30.00 to make, are no budget films. Craig Baldwin's Flick Skin is entirely made from discarded film, or 'found footage' as it is known as, retrieved from a projectionist's booth. The No Wave Cinema movement of the late 1970s, represented by filmmakers such as Vivienne Dick, produced many notable no budget films shot on Super 8 such as Beauty Becomes The Beast starring Lydia Lunch, as did the Cinema of Transgression in the 1980s. Most of the films featured in Miranda July's film anthologies Joanie4Jackie, which were first released in 1996 and are still ongoing, are made with no budget. In 1993, Sarah Jacobson made her first film I Was a Teenage Serial Killer with, she says, "one camera, one tape recorder, one mic and, like, four lights". In 2006, Richard Rossi made his debut feature " Aimee Semple McPherson" with a consumer camcorder and Mini DV tapes he bought at a drugstore. It was voted one of the top no-budget films of all time and has generated mostly positive feedback since it's worldwide release by Maverick Entertainment under the new title "Sister Aimee: The Aimee Semple McPherson Story."
The previously cheapest every done (budget 2000 Euro, 10 days shooting) feature length dramatic film, that ran in the competition of an A Film Festival was the film The Gamblers by Sebastian Bieniek.
Filming for no budget films are often done on location without permission, which is referred to as 'Guerrilla filmmaking', using sites such as the home of the filmmaker or their friends, in the backyard or local neighbourhood. No budget films have often been made in the past using Super 8 mm film or video. Recent films have also been made using digital film cameras and edited using home computer editing programmes. The cost of a no budget film is generally that of the film, and the film processing, itself.
No budget films have frequently been screened at Super 8 film festivals which are held around the world, such as the Flicker Film Festival in Los Angeles in the U.S., and Splice This in Toronto, in Canada. In the UK, Exploding Cinema is a group devoted to no budget and experimental film who hold regular screenings. Many No Wave directors screened their films at clubs and bars. Others set up DIY screenings. Some no budget films are transferred to video and DVD and can be obtained at alternative outlets or by mail. In the 2000s, some no budget directors began to show their films on the internet, either on their own websites or sites devoted to such films.
It is rare that a no budget film manages to receive recognition; only a handful have achieved any level of acclaim, but it is possible. They sometimes arise from subcultures existing outside of the mainstream and so also become important documents of the various movements and scenes that they originated from. While generally ignored by the commercial film sector, they have, on occasion, garnered much recognition in the world of alternative culture and arts.
Examples of No Budget Films
- The Flower Thief by Ron Rice (1960)
- Flaming Creatures by Jack Smith (1961)
- Hag in a Black Leather Jacket by John Waters (1964)
- Flick Skin by Craig Baldwin (1977)
- Staten Island by Vivienne Dick (1978)
- They Eat Scum by Nick Zedd (1979)
- The Yo-Yo Gang by G.B. Jones (1992)
- I Was a Teenage Serial Killer by Sarah Jacobson (1993)
- The Ramones and I by Rusty Nails (2002)
- Aimee Semple McPherson (2006)
- The Gamblers by Sebastian Bieniek (2007)
See also
- Arts funding
- List of highest-grossing films
- List of most expensive films
- Box-office bomb
- Hollywood accounting
- Film finance
