DIRECTOR: I want to do a movie!
PRODUCER: you don’t have 10 million pounds, or even 1 million, forget it!
DIRECTOR: Then I’m doomed! I’ll become… a baker!
When we think about movies, the very first things that come to mind are: a lot of money and big budgets. It’s common belief that if you don’t have the dough, you don’t make … the bread. But things have changed enormously in the past few years.
The excuse, “I did not have enough money to do it properly” does not apply anymore and nobody can hide behind the lack of budget when things are not working.
Technology is cheap these days, tutorials, tips, tricks, video lessons, online seminars swarm around like killer ants in the forest.
Who wants to make a movie, today can achieve good results with a little budget. Money is not an obstacle anymore. The only thing that can stop you is your own imagination, your lack of creativity and your laziness. If you don’t want to grow, wether technically or creatively, if you don’t want to know more about techniques or methods, then it’s your problem. You can’t say your movie is not good because… you could not acquire knowledge, expertise… it’s all there, for free. Get as much as you wish. But the point is, actually, now you can have a camera, maybe a little dolly and a Steadicam, for not much money. You can study on YouTube and get tricks from the masters. But what do you do with all that? The only realization you come to is: all you need is a great story.
Look at movies like “Monsters” or “La Casa Muda”, they are great examples of what I’m trying to say: no-budget movies, no crew movies, not much equipment, great ideas, good acting, good results. They are inspiring projects for all film-makers with great ideas and little finance resources.
In the Soob’s little world, Eva’s Diamond, for instance, is a big fat story, one of those you can find among the Hollywood blockbusters , staring Bruce Willis and Susan Sarandon. But it’s done with a little money, it’s not 4K, it’s not on film and no, Bruce and Susan are not starring (they would have loved to, though), but it is a movie that excites you, scares you, intrigues you, moves you and makes you wonder. And this is because Ice Neal, the writer/ director, had a great idea and the ability to turn it into visuals and words. Yes, there might be some technical mistakes here and there (maybe we should have watched more film-making tips videos on Youtube 🙂 ) but what’s important is the story.
Yes, locations were expensive, maybe we could have pulled some more favors. But Eva’s Diamond is there, it’s a movie, it’s a great story which poured on Ice Neal without limitations. If she had stopped for a second and hidden behind the thought, “I don’t have the money to do it”, nothing would have ever happened. No Eva’s Diamond at all. But she took me under her arm, she got a camera and bags of tricks and together we explored the possibilities. We embarked on this great adventure without having the fear of not being able to… whatever. Today people who can, make movies. People who can’t… write bitter comments on IMDB.
Leo Baron
(Picture from nostradamus2012.com)
