So we needed a new cameraman as our original guy, Abe, was in jail on murder charges and didn't look like being released anytime soon. I managed to find one on twitter of all places. He made corporate video's for a living and was keen to do something creative, even if it was for little or no money. His name is Kearon De Klouet @kearondc and he turned out to be the best money ever spent- $200. Not only was he a gun behind the camera, but he could to great sound, colour grading and sound mixing.
I managed to get my make-up artist friend, Natalie, to help with make-up. I had written a screenplay for Natalie at a cheap rate so she was more than happy to provide free make-up. I also had a mate, Phil, who I had helped out with a short film as a production assistant, so he was happy to return the favour.
What this illustrates is the importance of helping out other budding filmmakers in the hope that they will return the favour when it comes time for you to need their help. If they don't… fuck 'em!
On top of this I asked an old acting teacher of Wayne and mine from drama school, Laurence Coy - he was now a successful television director. I sent him the script, which he loved, and he agreed to direct it for $100. This was a massive boost for us.
So now we had camera/sound man, make-up artist and production assistant. As both the actors/producers/directors/writers Wayne and myself. Compared to the first shoot it now felt like the set of a high budget blockbuster… Okay, not quite, more like the back of an old, shitty landscape yard. My girlfriend (who works at the site) had cleared another shoot with her boss. All he required was a case of beer - $40.
So the budget so far:
Camera/Sound - $200
Director - $100
Location - $40
Food/drink - $20
Total Budget - $360
Now when you hear about preparing yourself for things to go wrong on a set, it's true. We were all on time and ready to go and I was getting make-up done by Natalie when Wayne and Laurence came to discuss the script. As they were talking to me I noticed their expressions changing to a concerned/disturbed look. I soon found out why - this is what they saw:
Haha I looked like mime artist! Wayne hastily dragged me into a back office out of site from natalie so as not to offend her and he rubbed all the make-up off with the sleeve of his shirt. By the time we were ready for the first shot we were already half an hour behind. Natalie is a usually good make-up artist, I just think she had a brain fart that morning.
Besides that the shoot went pretty smoothly, around four hours. On set at 9am and finished by 1pm. My only concern was the DOP and director working together for the first time, but except for a few artistic differences it was all good.
Now we still couldn't afford a proper editor so Wayne was got to work again in post. Kearon, however, said he was happy to do a colour grade for us. A main rule Wayne and myself had set for ourself was that every episode must be a step up in terms of overall quality than the previous one. I highly recommend you take on this rule as it works in lifting your game, constantly learning and improving.
I was now living in a Halfway House and met another fellow in recovery who was an ex-sheep shearer from the bush and now studying music at Tafe. He is extremely talented and had really had that acoustic guitar country music thing down-pat which I thought could suit McCracken perfectly. I showed him what we were doing and what kind of jingle we were after and a few days later he had put together the McCracken theme song. For free!
When making micro budget film or series it is SO IMPORTANT to be aware of the potential resources you have around you. All the time. My jingle creator did this for me for free and I have since returned the favour. Remember, what goes around comes around.
The end result of McCracken Part 2 "The First Delivery" turned out well. With the colour grade, theme song and overall higher production value it was definitely a step up and although we weren't the Coen Brothers just yet, we had stuck to our goal and delivered on it.
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