The Sunday Mail
Stanley Makuwe
The local film industry is headed for major changes as the nation will be migrating to digitalisation in television broadcasting in the near future. This will, inevitably, open a number of opportunities for film-makers. Here is an inspiring story from an upcoming film-maker . . .
I am not writing this as a master in film making, I am only sharing my personal experience and what I learned after going through this journey for a period of over a year.
l hope that I might inspire someone to fulfil their dream.
I recently shot a film but I haven’t started editing it. However, I feel comfortable talking about it.
I have been successful as a playwright, being privileged to be nominated for awards such as the BBC International Playwriting Award, Adam New Zealand Play Award and Zimbabwe’s National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA).
A few years ago, I thought of venturing into film making.
I had been part of a major film, working as a double for Kevin Gravioux in Underworld, Rise of the lycans, but I wanted to be a man of my own, to make something myself.
The idea of being a guerrilla filmmaker excited me so much.
Obviously I took up “arms” after getting inspiration from somewhere. My major inspiration came from Hollywood director, Robert Rodriguez, who made his first film, El Mariachi, with almost nothing ($7 000). Today, El Mariachi stands as a national treasure, firmly inducted into the Library of Congress. Any aspiring filmmaker will tell you that they draw their inspiration from Quentin Terantino.
I am no exception. I watched a heap of foreign films whose success is based mainly on the story rather than the size of the budget. Wadja, Rust and Bone, Blue is the Warmest Colour, The Other Son, Amour, A Separation, Samson and Delilah, are some of the films that really inspired me. I read a lot of articles, best being from scriptmag.com, and what I learned was so exciting and inspiring.
To those wondering what guerrilla film-making is, this is independent film-making characterised by low (or no) budget, a very small crew (in my case, just myself), and simple props, using whatever is available.
Scenes are shot quickly in real locations without permission from the owners of the locations. It’s hit-and-run! In and out! Open, fire and run!
I might call my journey guerrilla film-making, but there were times when I didn’t really have to utilise “guerrilla tactics”. On a few occasions, yes. I was more of a one-man crew, a “rebel without a crew”, playing the role of script writer, costume designer (or buyer/collector/hoarder), director, camera-man, and sound-man.
I did almost everything alone, except acting. Most times I used locations provided by people who were willing to help. I filmed in a supermarket, in a restaurant, in a nursing school, in an old people’s homes, in a graveyard, in offices. I had even been allowed to film at a top school but my story changed and I didn’t need the school anymore.
What I learned from this experience was that people are willing to help. I got so much help from strangers, from people I got to know through other people, from my work colleagues. Strangers volunteered to be extras. One workmate organised the restaurant, the other booked a hospital bed in a nursing school, another one turned his garage into a bar and organised extras and a live band, a doctor friend gave me a full POP kit. Friends turned up to hold my make-shift boom for me and to record sound.
I remember one friend coming from a 12-hour night shift to do sound recording.
I auditioned a few people for lead roles. During the auditions, I met this young lady named Keagan who had just graduated from acting school.
Acting for her is a full time-job, a career, not just a hobby as other aspiring actors I met took it.
Because of her “seriousness,” I told her I couldn’t work with her. I had no money to pay her as acting was her only source of income. Earlier on, she had told me of her younger sister who was also interested in acting. I told her I would prefer to work with her inexperienced and untrained sister. But she strongly refused, saying she wanted the role!
Well, who was I to deny her?
This young lady gave it her best and acted professionally all the way through. For nothing! And yet she had to return home to find other means to pay her bills.
Some may ask why I took so long to complete the shooting. I have a full-time job and other commitments. So do the actors I worked with. We had to shoot when we could.
It does sound a bit over-ambitious or silly to believe that one can be a one-man (woman) crew. It’s almost impossible, but it’s not impossible. It is achievable. The challenges are there, and can be big, and you have no-one to share them with, but it is one experience that I challenge any aspiring filmmaker to take up. And you will never regret ever doing it.
Of course, there were times I regretted why I even started, but when the days to shoot came closer, I felt so proud that I had achieved a dream of doing “the impossible”.
I will not fool myself by saying I made the best film that will go on to make an impact in cinemas, but I believe I did a job good enough to inspire others, mainly the young ones who dream of making a film, to pick up a camera and go do it.
Dreaming of film-making? Well, stop dreaming. Wake up and do it! No money? No problem. Just get a camera and a good sound recorder. As for your actors, all you need is people who are interested, share your vision, have the basic talent. People are willing to listen and do what you want them to do, and are willing to endure the journey.
For the male role, I wanted a good looking, fit young man with a sportsman physique to play the role of an injured rugby player. I found one young Kiwi named Sam. He loves modelling, and looks like a model too. Above all, he is good looking and is in top shape. What I would call The Twilight Eclipse movie look.
His willingness to do the job, to learn, to stick with me all the way, was enough for me to cast him. He even went on to talk to his mum to allow us to film in their mansion which suited my film’s ending perfectly well. My other character had a daughter who drowned in a swimming pool. Sam’s parents’ house had a beautiful swimming pool right at their door-step.
However, the biggest challenge for me throughout this journey was the camera. I used my Canon 7D and a 50mm, 1.4 lens. Focus was so difficult. Controlling the light during daytime was hell. I know the camera is great because it has been used a few times to make successful films such as India’s Stanley Ka Dabba, and Like Crazy, but I am still not sure with the lens though.
I don’t know if I should have spent more money to buy a much bigger lens. Would that have made a difference? I am still to find out and I will let you know if this is a good choice for the next guerrilla film-maker or not.
For sound, I used Tascam DR-40. I know Zoom H4N is the “celebrity” recorder for most film-makers working on a low budget. But I chose the Tascam because it was cheaper than the Zoom H4N. I don’t think the quality of the sound would have been any different. It is a great recorder, for a good amount of dollars less.
As for costume, I used what was available for free right in my house. If I could not find something that I thought I really needed, then I would go to the second-hand shops where I got discounts on top of really small fees. I remember getting a discount on a pair of shoes worth $5!
How much was my budget? I had no budget. I just bought what I needed when required. And I made sure I spent as little as possible. The most expensive tool in my collection was my 7D, which I bought at a negotiated fee of NZ$1200.
I come from Zimbabwe where film-makers really struggle to get funding for films. What I learned as well is that film-making is not about money. It’s about skill, talent and ability. You can’t buy these. Either you have them or you don’t, as they say.
I don’t know if I have them all, but I can safely say I have the potential. Good thing with potential is it can be developed. But it takes hard work to develop potential. Question is, am I prepared to walk the talk? Of course, yes. I wish I started at a younger age though. At my age, I shouldn’t be talking of potential. I should be talking of high success. But then we are all blessed at different times.
As I wrote and re-wrote my script, I realised that I had written some things that I had no means to shoot. Lesson I got is, write your script according to what you can afford, according to what you can achieve. If your story is going to start in your small village in Mexico and end on a snow mountain in Antarctica, think of how you will achieve this. Are you going to make the journey from your small village to Antarctica? With a bunch of unknown actors and a Rebel T2i? Probably not. If you can achieve this in some way, great.
In my own opinion, and from my experience, the basic needs for a low (or no) budget film are a good camera, at least one good lens, a good tripod, a good sound recorder, a good microphone and a good story then most of all, skill. You can buy the rest for cheap. As for skill, well, find it somewhere, be it studying at a film school or learning on the job, or digging deep within yourself. Choice is yours. You just have to have it.
Robert Rodriguez says, “Creativity, not money, is used to solve problems”.
I am a believer of the same. He goes on to say, “You make a list of things you have access to like cool cars, apartments, horses, samurai swords and so on, and then write the screenplay based on that list”.
In other words, no point to write a script based on helicopters and fighter jets that you will never lay your hands on. You have a dog that can perform a somersault. Your lovely neighbour owns a mini that he at times drives at high speed in paddocks. Why not include these in your script and make your $2 000 film look cool? As long as you have a good story to back up what you are showing, you can’t go wrong. Of course, money matters. If you can get it, oh great, use it.
But without the skill and the talent, any amount of money is worthless. Instead of spending months or years begging for money, better invest time and the little that you have in skill.
As I said earlier, my film might not be the best in cinemas, but I strongly believe that some day someone shall be inspired to do what I did and come up with a top-notch film. Maybe that person shall write my name as their inspiration. When that happens, I will pull the curtains of my grave windows, peep outside and say, yes, I made it!
Email: [email protected]
