Zachory John Drisko

Major: Film Studies

University Honors with Honors in Film Studies

Supervisor: Dr. Todd Berliner

LOW-BUDGET FILMMAKING:

A CROSS-CURRICULARPERSPECTIVE

Making a feature-length film on an ultra-low budget will always be a difficult undertaking because of the amount of coordination and the limited resources required. For those who are looking to make one regardless of the difficulty, there are principles that filmmakers can apply to the design, organization and production of the project that will help the project turn out to be something that the filmmaker is proud of and something that provides a learning experience that he or she can apply to more ambitious works in the future. These principles are 1) to design a story concept that takes into account the production’s limitations and exploits them to create solutions that best serve the aesthetics of the project, 2) to focus on building a strong production team by generating and meeting with the greatest number of applicants and determining the predictors of job success through auditions and interviews, and 3) to maximize the productivity of the production team by inspiring a high level of lasting motivation and by increasing social bonds among the group.