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I sometimes think Horror movies, particularly low budget ones, abide a totally different set of rules. It may not be true, but it's just something I think.
The small budgets (1.5m for Hatchet) and high, high, high likelihood of a good ROI make producers and investors much more likely to invest in them.
Also, the guy who wrote and directed Hatchet (Adam Green) has been involved in every other project that ArieScope has produced, either as a writer, director, or producer. Could this be just a case of a few buddies making films together and managing to make them high profile? I'd say yes.
Yeah Shelton, I agree. Wasn't sure the budget was that low, but in thinking back about the piss poor setpieces, and horrific makeup on Mr. Crowley, I guess that makes sense.
Just shocked though with the overall plotting, again, based on the script. So much more could have been done, and some easy fixes were so apparent.
But again, you're right in that it's obviously a bunch of guys, who are most likely freinds, who have money and film making "talents", that are greenlighting films like this. There are numerous "bad" scripts in here in the same genre and spirit, that are actually much better and more interesting than this. Seriously! Would you agree?
For me it just goes back to my beliefs that a "professional" isn't always better than a pre pro script, and coneversly, a pre pro script can be much better than a pro script.
That's the reason I wrote my first feature... I'm currently on my second one. An extended Dark Side of Man horror. Both have low budget appeal. Few characters, few locations and nothing too expensive to create.
Sure they are both juvenile, btw I wrote them that way on purpose... back on topic, how much attention should we pay to comedies/horror that appeal to the low budget filmmmakers and how much should we just go wild and write whatever just to be awesomely different?
Hope this post made sense... sometimes it does to me, but others get confused...
There are numerous "bad" scripts in here in the same genre and spirit, that are actually much better and more interesting than this. Seriously! Would you agree?
I agree, wholeheartedly. In fact, I'm going to go on record as saying that I wrote one of them.
...how much attention should we pay to comedies/horror that appeal to the low budget filmmmakers and how much should we just go wild and write whatever just to be awesomely different?
Why can't you combine the two? Low budget and "wild" are definitely not mutually exclusive.
...how much attention should we pay to comedies/horror that appeal to the low budget filmmmakers and how much should we just go wild and write whatever just to be awesomely different?
That question makes perfect sense. I wonder about that one, too. Quite often.
That is at least part of the reason my own budget-buster (Starbuck) has been in hibernation for so long. Is there even the smallest of chances that will ever see the light of day? Probably not, but it might make a nice "calling card" script, once complete.
"The Farm" gets the occasional nibble -- but Starbuck? Not even a peep. And I do not kid myself that it ever will.
And I think of "Kill the Person Next to You" by Brea. Or Phil's Burnout. And George’s Fempiror, too.
Honestly -- are those kind of a waste of time for us? Are we ignorant to go with anything but low-budget at this stage?
Are we ignorant to go with anything but low-budget at this stage?
No matter what there will always be low budget films. And there will always be more low budget films than there are massive budget films. Even if you were able to sell a high budget film, you still need to sell the next script in order to have a career. Selling lesser budget films seems to me like a steady market and even once you have your big break, you may be tapping it more than you expect. So is concentrating on lower budget films a good idea? Hell yes.
We may be ignorant in some regards, but not in what we write, and why we write it. We write because we love to write. I think it's a wise choice to be able to write something that could be done on the relatively down low, but I believe we should always write whatever it is that we feel we want to write.
I truly believe that when it's all said and done, the cream will rise...it may take some time, but if you've got something special, someone, at some time will realize it. Let's hope at least, huh?
Off the subjext, I took alot to heart of what was written about my Fade to White script, and have "slashed" 8 pages and added an additional kill scene that will change the flavor of the initial buildup scenes, and changed the ending a bit, by adding some insight into Xavier and his ways.
I want to thank everyone for their valuable input and time invested in reading and discussing my script. I'm actualy entering it tonight at the Movie Deal Screenplay Contest. Call me crazy, but you just never know. Could be that 101st reader...
There is absolutely nothing wrong with writing a high budget script if it's a concept that you like/love. Yes, it may not be the best thing to pitch for sale as a first script, but it can get you work on an assignment, which is a very good thing.
Also, if you do get an assignment, that can snowball into other things like another assignment, a pitch for a low budget script, and eventually pitch for a high budget script, not necessarily in that order.
Moral? Don't limit what you write. It can always have some value in some context. Pitching is an entirely different story, but writing? Let it fly.
... back on topic, how much attention should we pay to comedies/horror that appeal to the low budget filmmakers and how much should we just go wild and write whatever just to be awesomely different?
On the subject of budget, I’d like to discuss how to determine the budget. With I Want to ___ Your Sister, Verdugo guessed the budget would top out at around $25 million. How can he know that?
This script has a billionaire character who drives expensive cars. It’s got a fire at a polo club. It has scenes at the NYSE (which will presumably be shot on location). It has a mansion with a big company party, etc.
How can one gauge the budget of a film? How do you know, for example, if your explosion is too expensive or if it’s no big deal?
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Script Club V: I Want To _____ Your Sister
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