Sid Kali

Shooting Format and Movie Budget



Posted: Sunday, June 06, 2010

by Sid Kali
Slice of Americana Films

To limit the risk of running out of money to finish a movie pay close attention to unavoidable costs associated with any format used to shoot. If you shot on film there will be a cost to have the film processed etc. High Definition (HD) is the rage with movie production right now. When dealing with HD the amount of data and storage involved will have its own price difference than working with film or standard digital video. Shooting on digital video (DV) is another animal all together.

Taking a practical approach to handling movie budget line items here can make potential costs of shooting and handling post-production much clearer. If you're not shooting on film your budget won't need to absorb costs for film processing, film transfers or film prints.

I looked at different shooting formats before choosing what fit best for my filmmaking needs. When it was narrowed down to either HD or DV I asked professionals their opinions on how each format would impact production.

When talking to a potential director of photography about the project I asked how shooting on HD or DV would influence the camera department. After discussing the visual pluses and minuses to each I asked two questions I felt were important considering the budget.

First, does one shooting format need more lighting or equipment than the other? And second, overall which shooting format allows for quicker set-ups when lighting a scene? These two questions would tell me any extra costs associated with shooting on a particular format and factor in precious time lost or gained setting up the next shot.

After looking at the production side of deciding on a shooting format I called around to different post houses to ask what the rates were for editing etc. Now I had information to make an informed decision taking into account my estimated budget, shooting schedule, and resources available would be.

When you decide on your shooting format don’t hesitate to ask questions. Many professionals are more than glad to provide you with answers. Once you’ve decided on your shooting format you can really get into planning your movie budget. Good shooting! This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing Marketing Tools For The Digital Movie Age!

Slice Of Americana Films was born in a pub that had a great jukebox, cheap happy hour and free freshly made popcorn. Check out the life and times of filmmaker Sid Kali to get crisp indie film production information on screenwriting, directing, producing, film editing, movie marketing and film distribution learned from the school of hard knocks.
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