#microbudget

[transgenderfrankenstein]

It's Transgender Day of Visibility, and I'd like to share this passion project of mine! Filming begins on Saturday! Dead Name is a Transgender Body Horror film about a college age trans girl who dies deep in the closet. When she wakes up in her casket and crawls out of her grave. She can't feel anything but the most extreme pain, and has a bit of a taste for flesh, but her mind is just as sharp as it ever was. Her return is treated like a miracle.

Having died without ever living as woman, she modifies her body, reshaping it. As her body changes and she begins to live the life she wants for herself, those who saw her return as an act of God turn on her.

[barbaragenova]

“Oscar Moreno is a Mexican-born screenwriter and director who just had his first feature released on Tubi. It’s called ENTE. It’s a creepy movie. The goal of this conversation is to make you click on Tubi real fast, so here’s another link to ENTE, free to stream now on Tubi.

Topics include: a working definition of “border horror”, going back and forth between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, real-looking people on a movie screen, the reality of being a fully bilingual writer in 2023, the great screenwriter strike of 2023, shooting on a micro-budget, the film Nuevo Orden and “being judged in the court of public opinion”, composer Carolyn Koch, “letting real life touch your own work”, “trying to figure out the smallest scale version of your ideas possible and from there, any additions that may seem extravagant are placed on the story because the story actually needs them”, fictional projects getting shelved because similar stories end up happening in real life with grim consequences, and the satisfaction of accomplishing your goals despite the odds.

ENJOY.” 

[hoochieblues]

[elfilibusterismo]

jaw drop ngl

[pipkrakes]

girl what in the banned from broadcast ????

[ribremoval]

watching milk & serial with my cat ❤ he loves horror movies just like meee

[elliesgaymachete]

I think Game of Thrones damaged collective expectations for television media and is the reason for the decline of full length low budget seasons.

We all know HBO is high budget cable even before, but Game of Thrones was arguably the first time one of their shows became so massively, globally successful. People who had never consumed fantasy media in their lives were watching Game of Thrones. It became mainstream culture rather than nerd culture so your coworkers weren’t going to make fun of you for liking it. In fact, your coworkers probably watched it too.

Before this the only TV shows that achieved anywhere close to this level of popularity (and even then were not nearly as popular as Game of Thrones) were network shows, usually TV comedies. These were low budget and had full seasons! Things like HIMYM, Big Bang Theory, The Office. You either watched them or knew multiple people who watched them. Sometimes TV dramas also reached this level of popularity—Shondaland shows to name a few. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder. Even if you didn’t watch them, you had heard of them. These were also network shows. Low budgets, 22 episodes. Not to mention network television is FREE so it has the potential to reach a much wider audience than cable.

But Game of Thrones exploded into common popularity. Even people who didn’t watch much television watched Game of Thrones. And you know what they had because it’s an HBO show? Insanely high budgets and 10 episode seasons. They were basically making ten short movies released as TV seasons. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that itself, it worked well for Game of Thrones. The problem is how its affected television production since then. Sure shorter seasons and miniseries have existed before, but it feels like they’ve been in an upward trend ever since Game of Thrones

Every studio with a streaming service wants to create the next mega popular phenomenon like Game of Thrones so they copy the formula. Big budget, shorter seasons. Quality over quantity. But in doing so they neglected the main format television has used for quite a while. Network seasons are fewer and far between with smaller budgets and shorter seasons so they can invest more in the high budget shows. And a few of them were good, but somewhere along the way, they lost sight of the quality part and throw microbudgets at shows for six episode runs and are surprised when no one gets invested after only six episodes when we used to get 22 episodes and since no one’s watching anyway they just cancel it without giving the show a chance to find its legs. If it happens to get a lucky with a second season but there’s not EXPONENTIAL growth in viewership? Cancelled. Why is no one watching tv anymore? Why does no one want to pay for our streaming service that releases maybe one show you like every other year? Why why why they ask when they ruined a perfectly good formula and make things less and less accessible

[cipheramnesia]

I'm trying to wrap my head around this shit based horror movie, because I've never seen anything like it.

I've seen poop used for shock value or as a joke or even as a set piece but I haven't really come across someone who made shit the center of the film. The whole premise hinges on the idea that the protagonist had some kind of gut biome disease, which drives people around her into a state of murderous rage. The condition gets worse over the course of the film both in terms of how rapidly the violence begins, and also how much pain the protagonist is from the stomach disease.

What I find striking is how seriously it plays things out, from the on-going and escalating paranoia of the protagonist, who is also constantly falling in and out of reality-questioning delirium, to the veracity of reactions excrement. It's difficult to put into words, but the shit scenes manage to convey the bone deep exhaustion that comes with wanting to use the bathroom easily, and not being able to. It's not a movie trying to express shit as "ew gross" but instead as this essential part of the human body which can go wrong in genuinely upsetting and awful ways.

It suffers a bit from budget issues - the acting isn't great, sets are obviously people's homes in many cases - but it manages to succeed thanks to taking material that could have easily become juvenile and ironic, and treating it seriously (also a solid lead actress). It's a movie that ends up being about how openly hostile the world can become when you have a disability, especially one which crosses social taboos as much as bowel issues does. About how quickly friends and strangers can turn on you when they discover your problems are related to excrement, and they might have to deal with that. And of course about what people who are disabled are expected to endure just to be treated like a human.

It's still muddled. It's a B- movie that's taking A-level swings and hitting most of the time. And in some ways I almost wonder if the small production value and budget actors are why it succeeds. I don't think even a low but not microbudget production would have been allowed to be so unflinching and get away with shooting as something that can be a source of genuine terror and unhappiness.

Anyway it's called GoodBi (2022, bi as in biome, sorry bisexuals), and it's on Tubi. Obviously this one is not for the weak of stomach, but there isn't much gore.

[the-blue-fairie]

I JUST WATCHED THE PEOPLE'S JOKER! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

The People's Joker is a microbudget Batman parody and transfem coming out story from Vera Drew that you might remember for being pulled from TIFF in 2022 under pressure from Warner Brothers Discovery. (The film opens with a disclaimer "This is an unauthorized parody" etc. and ends listing WB under the thank you's "for all the free publicity" lmao.) AND I JUST SAW IT IN LA AND IT WAS A BLAST.

Oddly enough, the emotional stuff worked better for me than some of the humor (and the emotional stuff hit me hard in the best of ways, y'know?) Her mother telling her as a child that she's being an emotional toll on her mother because she's a child who is... stumblingly questioning her gender. Jonathan Crane prescribing Smylex to her, which just makes you smile more so that you look outwardly happy and the people around you aren't inconvenienced by seeing you in pain. The complicated, conflicting emotions that come from memories of an abusive relationship, where you still remember the good times with a bitter taste in your mouth ("You were my happy beginning..." ouch.) Little soft moments like gender exploration during sex (in 2D animation even.) The final heart-to-heart between Joker the Harlequin and her mom. The unexpectedly poignant musical finale involving a puppet Mxyzptlk and a very earnest song.

And it's an absolute phantasmagoria of different styles. We've got 2D animation that veers between jagged and elegant. We've got greenscreen. We've got stop-motion action figures in place of our actors for certain scenes. We've got models. We've got sock puppets. And there's infinite displays of creativity on a low budget. It's a feast.

@themousefromfantasyland @thealmightyemprex @ariel-seagull-wings @grctw @brokenwild

[flanaganfilm]

Hi, Mike.

Do you have any advice for no-budget filmmakers or students working with microbudgets? I'm an MFA student and always find myself struggling with this. watched your movie Absentia recently and found it inspiring, even if it had far more of a budget than I think I'll ever have access to.

Thanks for your time.

I think there has never been more opportunity for microbudget filmmakers than there is today. Each of us is carrying a camera in our pocket that is way better quality than the camera I used to shoot Absentia. We shot that on a Canon 5D mark ii; today, my iPhone shoots 4k and handles low light better than anything we could have dreamed of.

And don't be too quick to think you'll never obtain an Absentia budget - we started with absolutely nothing, and ending up raising 25k on Kickstarter. That's all we had when we shot the movie.

Finishing funds for post production came after the movie was cut together, and we were able to show people the film and raise some more money. It's all doable. The best advice I have for no-budget or micro-budget filmmakers is to get shooting. You have access to equipment that will let you shoot, edit and even distribute insanely high quality work. For a few hundred bucks you can turn your phone into a fully professional tool. Get your friends together, write a story that utilizes the resources you have on hand (we shot Absentia in my own apartment and used the tunnel across the street).

Don't wait for permission. There is nothing that can stop you from making a movie - a short or even a feature - right now.

And on that note, remember that you don't have to make a feature film. In fact, a great short - something under 10 minutes - is far more likely to get you noticed. Look at Lights Out, or Mama, or Smile (which was based on the short film Laura Hasn't Slept). A great short can launch an entire feature film career overnight. What is stopping you? There's never been a time when the means of making a movie are more available than they are right now, today. This very minute.

You can do it.

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

SUMMARY: In the late 17th century, two Puritan witch hunters travel to a small Massachusetts town investigating rumors of devil worship, and are irrevocably transformed by the ungodly forces they encounter.

mod L loves two things: microbudget indie movies and weird horny Puritans. this movie delivers both.

Based on mod L’s comment, mod Z’s interest has been piqued!

[mysteryspotcast]

To answer a question from this latest ep: the season you’re on now actually starts in with the digital cameras!! They’re flipping between an Arriflex D-21, a Panasonic AG-HVX200, and a Red One Camera (im assuming in addition to their film camera (usually an Arricam)? A quick search didn’t immediately turn up what specific episodes used with cameras, and I feel like spending more time than what I already have violates the spirit if not the letter of “dont watch supernatural bc of this podcast”). All of those are digital cameras in some capacity: a camcorder and two of the earlier digital camera models for film production. Also looking for the answer to this brought me face to face with the fact that the camera they use for parts of s6&7 (Canon 5D II) is actually one model down from the one I have.

There is a chance. A SMALL CHANCE. that the microbudget horror short I shot with friends, would look INDISTINGUISHABLE from an spn ep.

I—don’t know what to do with this information, so it’s going in this ask like a church confession.

i am literally obsessed with the level of research that you did for this. thank you for your service. and this information is harrowing.

[fivecharactersinsearchofanexit]

what are your favorite horror movies/movies that you'd rec?

Yayyyyy okay this is a preddy long list all off the top of my head so I might reblog later with more lol. Some of these aren't exactly horror but everything on here is at least a thriller which for my money counts

Screenlife, faux broadcast, & found footage

Host (There's a couple pictures with this title, look for the COVID era film it's about an hour long. I believe it's on Shudder)

The Collingswood Story

The Blair Witch Project

The Last Broadcast

Creep & its sequel

Milk & Serial (recent microbudget horror, full film is on youtube)

This House Has People In It (technically not a Movie but look for the full version on youtube and you can watch it like one)

Lake Mungo (!)

Ghostwatch

The Bay

Give Me Pity!

We're All Going to the World's Fair

Sorry everything else is gonna be by decade instead of genre 😔

50s/60s

Look up anything produced by Roger Corman

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Seconds

Village of the Damned

Rosemary's Baby although I really prefer the novel and recommend that with a little more enthusiasm

Night of the Hunter

The Bad Seed

Really anything with Vincent Price is going to be a good time

Persona

70s

Obviously Night of the Living Dead is a classic for a reason but Dawn of the Dead is one of my favorite movies of all time. Watch this movie.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The Brood

Don't Look Now

Carrie

Alien

PLEASE double feature Let's Scare Jessica to Death and Robert Altman's Images

Deliverance

Jaws

Eraserhead

80s

Sole Survivor

Pick a Cronenberg. Any Cronenberg. My favorites are Scanners, the Dead Zone (good option if you're not into body horror), and Dead Ringers!

Poltergeist

The Changeling

Possession (!)

The Vanishing/Spoorloos (!!!!!!!)

Please double feature Blue Velvet and River's Edge in any order for an upsetting night in with Dennis Hopper

Reanimator

The Child's Play franchise gets worse with every installment but is always really, really fun

The Shining

The Thing

Blow Out

The Seventh Continent

90s

Benny's Video

Funny Games

IT (the miniseries)

Misery

Candyman

Jacob's Ladder

In the Mouth of Madness

Wes Craven's New Nightmare (great even if you don't like Nightmare on Elm Street)

Lost Highway

The Silence of the Lambs

Night Breed

Cure

Ring (original Japanese version)

The Sixth Sense

Se7en

Fire in the Sky

Stir of Echoes

2000s

Mulholland Drive

Inland Empire

A Tale of Two Sisters (remade in America as the Uninvited, also pretty good!)

Pulse

May

Ginger Snaps

The Descent

Signs

Dead End

The War of the Worlds

The Others

One Hour Photo

2010s

Get Out

Us

Midsommar

The Witch

The Lighthouse

Suspiria

Mandy

Beyond the Black Rainbow

Climax

The Wailing

Possum

Luz

2020s

Trap

Possessor

Nope

M3GAN

Malignant

Barbarian

The Night House

The Beast

Talk to Me

Watcher

The First Omen

I Saw the TV Glow

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Cuckoo

Crimes of the Future

Nightmare Alley (the original is also very good!)

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Pixar's ELIO, directed by COCO co-director Adrian Molina, would've opened today... Albeit a much different version of the movie.

The delay from this date to June 2025 meant that the fast food promo deals put in place a while ago couldn't be changed, thus - HOODWINKED TOO style - some of the toys are out now, as seen in the pic above...

Yep, I've heard by now what ELIO has supposedly been going through.

It's a unique Pixar production in that it was delayed by about a year and a half...

... AFTER a teaser trailer and poster for the film were released, following a big info drop on the movie at the fall 2022 D23 Expo...

Not even THE GOOD DINOSAUR, an infamously troubled Pixar production, went through that. That film was delayed before anyone outside of D23 attendees saw any footage from the scrapped version of the film, though renders of the older bigger Arlo and the bipedal version of Spot did leak.

All of this agita for ELIO...

... and I feel fine! Yeah, I'm not really worried about this movie.

It's easy to equate "troubled production" with "oncoming disaster", something that's absolutely gonna fail, an abomination from the get-go.

Yet, TOY STORY 2 and RATATOUILLE exist. Other Pixar films, and plenty of other animated movies, go through some form of hell before the ship is steered away from the cyclone. Sometimes within a year or so from release. The end results are always subjective anyways.

So, I have no idea how ELIO will turn out. If it's a movie *I* myself like, if it's a movie that resonates with the public, yadda yadda yadda.

ELIO, however, does not seem like a GOOD DINOSAUR situation to me. GOOD DINOSAUR not only lost its director (Bob Peterson), but the whole movie was thrown out and the replacement director (Peter Sohn) started over from scratch with a few core elements retained. ELIO seems like it's going to be half the movie we saw in the teaser this past summer, and a lot of new stuff. Sections being reworked, rather than the whole movie being thrown out and Molina & co. starting over. Voice work to be done, especially post-strikes, and they'll need time to animate all the new stuff. Pete Docter isn't the leader John Lasseter was, Lasseter likely would've canned Molina and had another director reimagine the concept/story to his liking.

I think it's cool, if this is all true, that Docter is giving Molina and the filmmakers more time to rework the film. Especially after the marketing campaign has kicked in. With that, it probably should stay in June 2025. I had thought for a bit that it could move up a bit and take MOANA 2's place, because that Thanksgiving release sounds like it's going to be a crunch production, what with Auli'i Cravalho and The Rock signing on *just recently* to reprise their roles nine months before release. I'd delay that to spring 2025, honestly. Disney can afford to miss the Thanksgiving slot this year, they'll be fine. INSIDE OUT 2 and CG LION KING prequel can be their sole animation releases this year, even if the latter won't be billed as such.

As for its box office prospects? Big budget sci-fi animated features, even in a not-COVID world, struggle. Especially space-setting sci-fi animation. TITAN A.E. and TREASURE PLANET, anyone? Only something very low-budget would cut it, but we're talking $200m Pixar movies, not that microbudget CLONE WARS movie. (STAR WARS isn't sci-fi to me, but you get my drift, right?)

Pixar, however, *did* score a box office hit with WALL-E all the way back in 2008. Despite the spacebound adventure and the future Earth setting, the marketing wisely focused on the cute robots in love. That got folks to see it back then, methinks. ELIO will need a similar hook, and it's a summer release as well, so it could be primed for a blockbuster run.

However, most non-sequel animated features play a different game now, in a post-COVID outbreak world: Open tiny, have ludicrous legs. That's fine if your feature cost $90m and you made around $250m at the worldwide box office, but like ELEMENTAL before it, ELIO's probably going to need to make around $500m worldwide to break even in the eyes of the money people - who seem to keep forgetting that animated movies have fantastic longevity beyond their theatrical release. ELEMENTAL had the fun premise and the love story working in its favor after its blah opening weekend (though it was pretty high for a post-outbreak animated opening), ELIO... I don't know what it has at the moment. Will the "kid becomes Earth's ambassador within a massive council of aliens" really get audiences to come flockin' in summer 2025? I do not know, but I hope it does good, for Molina's sake, and so we can be spared the five gazillion "is Pixar circling the drain???" articles...

All I know is, I'm looking forward to it. Space adventure and colorful aliens and stuff, by way of Pixar and their resources.

[mumpsetc]

Watched Murder Death Koreatown Last Night and It Might Be a New Favorite Film of Mine, a Tight 88 Minutes of Some of the Best Microbudget Found Footage Ive Seen

[thishadoscarbuzz]

303 - Red Rocket

With Anora anointed with the Palme d'Or this year, one of the narratives ahead in the coming season will be whether Sean Baker's microbudgeted cinema will be embraced by the Academy in a big way. After lots of buzz for Tangerine and an acting nom for Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project, Baker was buzzed again for Red Rocket and its showcase performance for Simon Rex. With Rex as a manipulative down-and-out porn star returning to the small town that cast him out, Red Rocket's moral minefield and rueful comedy was ultimately not embraced by Oscar.

This week, we talk about Rex's dynamic performance and the film's recreation of the 2016 election cycle. We also talk about the meta elements of Rex's casting, Baker's rise among the ranks of independent cinema, and the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Topics also include donuts, 2021 Best Actor, and READ posters.

The 2021 Academy Awards

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