Knowing how to make a film budget is one of the many skills an aspiring director must learn before getting into making lower-budget films.
I have also added some valuable tips for all those interested in doing low/no-budget filmmaking when putting their films together based on my own experiences as well as other people who I chose to quote. Let’s get started!
Read more: How To Make A Silent Film?
Table of Contents
What Is A Film Production Budget?
A film budget is an estimation of the money needed to produce a specific movie. Also provides guidelines for how that money should be spent. A good film production budget includes all expenditures related to producing the film including cast wages, equipment rental costs, location fees, etc. The point of creating a budget is to ensure that you don’t go over your initial financial expectations by estimating in advance.
What Type Of Film Are You Making?
You can make two types of films that will determine what type of budget your film will be. The first is a low-budget independent feature film which I’ll explain in further detail later in this article. And the second is a no/low budget micro-budget indie film (feature & short). There are several differences between these two types of budgets. So it’s important to know exactly what type of films you want to shoot before making them.
What Is Film Budgeting?
Film Budgeting is the art of knowing how much it will cost to make a movie. It is an important component in knowing how much time, effort, and money needs to be invested in the project before it begins. Try not to overestimate or underestimate your budget. But instead, work with what you have or can obtain through avenues such as grants, sponsorships, etc.
Low-Budgeting Movie
Low-Budget film productions are categorized by having an overall production cost. That usually falls in the range of $1,000 to $100,000 or higher. It is depending on what type of film you’re making that can fall. A low-Budget film can be shot on any type of camera (35mm, 16mm, Super 8, regular DV cameras, etc.) for the film’s appearance. While low-budget micro productions are usually shot on Regular 8 (reel to reel) Slides and MiniDV tapes.
Basic Film Budget Costs
The average price of one 35mm reel of film stock (most indie filmmakers use to shoot their films) nowadays ranges from $1,500 to $3,000 per reel. However, remember this cost doesn’t include any processing or transferring fees which would push up the overall total. This brings us to the next basic budget cost. The typical amount of money needed for “processing & transfer” charges per film reel tends to be around $400 – $500 apiece.
Conclusion
The conclusion of this article is an overview of how much investments are needed to make a film. As stated in the article, it is important for filmmakers to know their budget before beginning a project. The main areas that need budgeting include equipment rentals, personnel salaries, postproduction costs like color grading or sound mixing – even catering on set!
