This video is sponsored by Squarespace, the all-in-one platform to build
a beautiful online presence. Making it to the top and directing the biggest
films in the world may be the ultimate goal for some, but there are definitely pros
to working in the more realistic, lower budget film world of indie films. Director Sean Baker is a prime example of
a filmmaker who has directed many features, has been to all the festivals, got all the
acclaim and yet chose to reside and make films in the low budget range. So let’s look at
his latest movie, Red Rocket, through this lens and examine what some of the advantages
are to producing low budget indie films. “That’s the big thing that I’m always conflicted
about. I’m like, should I make my life easier and make a film for a studio or go to a series.
It’s definitely tempting because of monetary purposes but it’s more than that. I want to tell
personal stories. Films take a long time, you put all of your energy, all of your heart into them,
so why not make the movie you want to make.” It’s important to remember that what allows films
to be made in the first place is due to financing. Like with any investment, when individuals,
or in this case a production company, is putting money down in the form of an investment they need to balance how much money is allocated
with the risk of making that money back. If a studio is throwing hundreds of
millions of dollars into a movie, they need to keep their risk tolerance
low by ticking off a list of items that have been proven to increase
ticket sales and make money back. For example, choosing a story about
a superhero with an existing fanbase, casting celebrity actors and doing
test screenings of different edits to make sure that the movie is understood by and
entertains the largest possible group of people, are known money printers and ways of decreasing
the film’s risk of financially failing. If instead you want to make a movie about a niche
subculture, without any A-list celebrity actors and be given complete creative freedom,
you need to accept that it’s a higher risk project for investors and will
therefore be allocated a low budget, of say one point two million dollars, which
is a much lower financial target to make back. Red Rocket falls into the latter category,
which looks at a niche character archetype of an adult film star that uses
and recruits women into that world. He cast the leads through a
combination of street casting, casting a theatre actor, first time actors,
casting the lead off of his Vine page and even casting one role to his producer slash
continuity supervisor slash costume designer. Operating at a low budget level
gave Baker the freedom to make the kind of film that he wanted
to - which was true to his vision. Some may see it as a disadvantage, but I
think another advantage that low budgets have is that they allow you to work with a small crew. “A four person camera crew pulled off those
images. You had Drew Daniels, you had a 1st AC, a 2nd AC and a gaffer/grip. Then you had a one
man sound team and then you had my sister who is the production designer on the film. The other
four were just producers wearing many many hats” This crew of just ten people
were able to move quickly, efficiently and pulled off the feature
on a tiny 23 day shooting schedule. While having more money, more crew and
more gear grants filmmakers more control, it also takes far longer to set up
shots and move to new locations. Drew Daniels shot the movie on 16mm
film on Sean Baker’s own Arri SR3, which were paired with two interesting 1.44X Auto
Panatar lenses from Panavision, a 16mm and a 50mm. These anamorphic lenses allowed them
to shoot in a widescreen aspect ratio on 16mm and created a unique look that
combined a Hollywood anamorphic grandeur with the more grainy, organic,
low-fi look of 16mm Kodak film. Daniel’s camera crew were super bare
bones, with a first AC to pull focus, a second AC to load the film and do the boards
and one gaffer slash grip to set up lights, rigs and any camera moves they needed. Having a smaller crew also created more of
a family atmosphere that put the performers, especially first time actors, more at ease. “My incredible actors go in front of a camera and
they’ll try something and if it doesn’t work, who cares, it doesn’t work. Let’s go for an alt take
and try something else. Getting everybody in that place where everybody is comfortable and feels
safe. Red Rocket was perfect for that because it was a small ten person crew, tiny, we were a pod,
we were very isolated. It just allowed for that.” To get an indie film out there and seen
requires having an online presence. This is something you can set up thanks to
today’s sponsor of the video Squarespace. Squarespace is an all-in-one platform that can
be used to easily create a beautiful, functional website without needing any complicated web design
skills. Which is why I used Squarespace to make the website for this channel by choosing from
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off your first purchase of a website or domain. “I think we just embraced that
spontaneity. We were saying there’s improv in front of the camera so why
can’t there be improv behind the camera.” Working with a small, flexible camera crew frees
filmmakers up and allows them to go with the flow far more than on high budget productions
where everything tends to be shot listed, storyboarded, pre-visualised, pre-lit and then
executed as per the plan on the day of shooting. As a general rule, the larger the setups are, the more budget is required which in
turn locks filmmakers into pre-planning. Some like working this way, but other filmmakers
enjoy working with less restraints, where it’s possible to add scenes, improvise dialogue or
change shots based on unexpected happy accidents. Many of the exterior scenes in the film were also
shot without location permits in the small town. Having a low budget and a small production
footprint allowed them to get away with it. On Red Rocket, Baker encouraged his actors to
improvise and explore at times. To find dialogue, blocking or actions that felt more natural and
aligned with what their characters would do. The best low budget films
are usually those that lean into their limitations and create a tone
and look that plays to their strengths. There’s a certain charm to films shot
in a more intimate on the ground, run and gun style. That adds a touch of realism
and puts the audience in the character's shoes. Filmmakers also have to be more careful in
thinking about what they can and what they can’t include in the story. If there’s a big car crash
in the story and you don’t have the financial resources to shoot it, it forces you into
communicating that information in creative ways. More time, more money and more
gear gives you more control, but sometimes accepting a lack of
control can actually improve a film. “I realised I couldn’t overcome
it. So, there was an acceptance during pre-production that I was going to have
to accept all of these freakin limitations. We realised we do not have the money and we
do not have the time to throw at problems, so instead of tackling those problems we’ll pivot
and go in another direction. So every day even though there was a problem every three hours
there was also a miracle every three hours.” An example of this happened
during the proposal scene. They knew that the local train passed
through once a day and therefore only had one chance to get it in the background
of the shot and only 20 minutes to set it up. As they rolled the camera, the conductor started blowing his horn at a moment that
perfectly complemented the dialogue, resulting in a magically chaotic scene
that couldn’t have been scripted. Red Rocket shows that low budget filmmaking
has many advantages. It allows the director more freedom to make the kind of film they want
to make while working with a small, efficient crew that offers possibilities for improvisation,
run and gun flexibility and finding magic moments. Ultimately, it’s also a case study in
how important it is to set up a lifestyle for yourself as a filmmaker which is both
financially viable and creatively rewarding. Baker balances the financial side of making
low budget films by also working on commercials on the side. Directing just one commercial a
year is lucrative and finances his lifestyle and expenses while working on the lower budget
films that he has complete creative control over. Balancing the kind of creative and financial
life that you want is something that everyone in the creative industry has to contend with.
It’s down to each individual as to where they fall on the scale and how they plan their career
to try and land in the space that they want to. Thanks to everyone for watching and engaging
with the video and a special thanks to all the supporters of the channel on Patreon or anyone
who has supported the channel by buying merch. Otherwise until next time,
thanks for watching and goodbye.
