What to Avoid in Low Budget Scripts
(c) Peter D. Marshall
Last week I attended several Trade Forum panel discussions at
the 19th Annual Vancouver International Film Festival.
One of the panels was called “Writing for Low-Budget Features”
with Writer/Director Guy Bennett (“Punch”), Director Mina Shum
(“Happiness and Prosperity”) and Producer Marc Stephenson (“On
the Corner.”)
The main topic of the panel discussion was the following “10
Things to Avoid in Writing Low Budget Scripts”
1) Avoid too many characters
– keep your speaking roles to a minimum
– try and combine characters
2) Avoid too many locations
– a large part of your movie should be in one location
– a house can offer many locations (rooms)
– try and combine scenes to accommodate a few locations
3) Avoid too many special effects
– squibs, smoke, rain, explosions, wet downs
4) Avoid to many stunts
– physically demanding on your actors
– safety concerns (takes more time)
– stunt performers are expensive
5) Avoid large exterior scenes on streets and sidewalks
– crowds, police control, vehicle movement, extra crew
6) Avoid large night exteriors
– expensive to shoot (lights, manpower, equipment)
7) Avoid places where you need crowds
– extras are expensive
8) Avoid period pieces
– expensive for art department and costumes
– limited location availability
9) Avoid children and animals
– children can only work a few hours a day
– during school months, they need tutoring several hours a day
– animals take time to work with (plus use up a lot of film)
10) Avoid scenes that are dependent on weather and water etc.
– you can’t depend on the weather (sun or cloud)
– when working on water, everything takes twice as long
Many of these items are self-explanatory, but as you write your
script, or you are in pre-production with a low budget feature,
review this list often to help bring your movie in on time and
on budget!
Copyright (c) 2004 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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