Ever wondered if you could recreate a Hollywood Blockbuster for no money?
Well, today we're going to attempt to do it
with the fraction what Hollywood does it for.
And see what we can come up with
that may come pretty close.
Hollywood - a company town
and an industry that brings dreams to life.
Well, it brings relationships with the credit card companies to life
because filmmaking is expensive.
So is filmmaking and its success all about the money?
Or are there creative ways
to compete with the average Hollywood Blockbusters?
I say, let's put it to the test.
Today, I'm going to attempt to recreate a scene
from one of my favorite movies,
but not recreate the budget.
Let's go get some blockbuster results.
All right, guys, number one rule,
as an independent filmmakers
coffee is the most valuable resource you will ever have.
We are going to reshoot the last scene
of David Fincher's movie "Se7en."
"What's in the fucking box?"
This is one of the most iconic film scenes, in my opinion.
And, as a matter of fact,
the film wasn't even supposed to end this way.
What happened is that New Line Cinema
sent David Fincher the wrong script,
and Fincher fell in love with that version,
but New Line Cinema didn't actually want to shoot this film with this ending.
And then Brad Pitt came on board and he said,
he only wants to do this film if they maintain the ending,
and I think this made the film so great.
So the total budget of this movie was 33 million dollars,
and Fincher said, he really treated it like a tiny genre film.
If you think about it,
33 million dollars for a Hollywood Blockbuster movie,
it's actually not that much.
But I know one thing for sure,
I do not have 33 million dollars.
And I have to find a way now how to reshoot this scene
for a budget of...
$400.
And again, this budget only covers the visual aspect of the scene.
Nothing needy, greedy things
that studios of bigger productions actually have to deal with.
Such as like union rates, permits, safety restrictions, etc, etc.
That you shouldn't forget actually
but this is really really indy.
So let's jump into our break down
and shot list feature in StudioBinder
to see what we need to make this work.
♪ ♪
First thing is, I want to know where they shot this film here.
And when I go on Wikipedia,
it actually says it was shot in Lancaster, California.
Next, and big thing is camera, of course.
And there is actually a website called shotonwhat.com,
and we see here that they actually shot on super 35 which is film.
So I for sure know that I won't be able to pay for film,
so I got to go digital.
I know this camera,
it's called the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K.
So we see here, it's $75 a day
that it is something I can afford.
When I skip through this film here,
I see that they used really extreme lenses.
They used either a really really long lens for shots like this here,
or they had really wide-angle lenses,
for like these low angle shots such as this one here.
So what I will do
because I can not afford a set of prime lenses is
I will get two zooms
which is the Canon 16-35.
And then I will look for the Canon 70-200.
I used them before. I really like those lenses.
And for this particular shot here,
they probably shot this in a helicopter.
We will not be able to get a helicopter on set,
but we do have the advantage nowadays
that we have drones that are really cheap.
And the next thing is there is Khondji the cinematographer of this film,
actually shots on three different camera mechanisms.
He shot this film on sticks, such as in this shot,
he shot it on a dolly,
and then he shot handheld.
So for handheld, I'm not too worried about it,
I would probably just grab the camera in my hand.
And I mean as an independent filmmaker you probably have
a tripod somewhere laying around in your house.
And when it comes to the dolly, I cannot afford it,
I know that for sure
because it comes with additional crew such as dolly grip.
You need to get transportation to get this thing actually on set
and you need to lay tracks, it takes a lot of time.
For my camera that I have though,
I do not need a heavy-duty dolly,
so I think I can get away with a slider.
Okay, when it comes to lighting this is a little tricky
because I believe there is Khondji used a lot of reflectors to shape the Sun.
And if you actually look at John Doe's face here,
you see there is no continuity,
the Sun is all over the place.
The Sun is coming from behind, from the side.
So one thing we can use as a 5 in 1 reflector.
They come with like black and white, gold, silver and diffusion,
so I would just buy that one.
I would like to grab one LED panel.
Because if the Sun is not doing what I want,
let's say there clouds,
I at least have something to give a little light,
and those LED panels are usually pretty cheap.
We don't live in the silent film era anymore.
We need three lav microphones
and a boom mic with a mixer.
Moving on from our camera gear,
we're going to talk about costumes
because we really want to cover everything that's visual on this screen.
We have three main actors in the scene,
which is Mills, Somerset and John Doe.
So for Mill's we do have this black long leather jacket.
He wears a bulletproof vest
then he has a white dress shirt, a tie
and black slacks.
And then for Somerset,
we do need this white dress shirt, a tie, a black vest,
then we have this beige long code, black slacks and the hat.
And then for John Doe,
he has this typical orange prison scrubs.
Good thing is when you work with seasoned actors,
they usually have a lot of wardrobe available.
So I'm going to give them a call
and see what they have and what I still need to buy.
Hey, Whay Hayden's, it`s Marvin.
Travis, my friend. Do you have orange scrubs?
So I'm going to get you the bulletproof vest.
You have everything. I will have that ready for you.
As far as makeup goes,
I think the only person I really have to worry about is Mills.
He has some blood on his forehead and his nose,
then he has butterflies on top of that.
And he wears a cast.
So I believe I can get most of that stuff at CVS
at least the butterflies and the cast.
And then when it comes to fake blood
there are these Halloween costume stores,
and this will be our makeup budget.
So when it comes to props that we have our box here
that I probably can get for a few dollars.
And then we have two guns.
Luckily, we never see both guns in the same shot,
so we can actually just get away with buying one gun.
The next one here is our helicopter pilot.
He has binoculars.
(drumroll)
Okay, so our budget is looking pretty good so far.
And I'm pretty confident that
even though we have so many limitations and restrictions,
we can get pretty close to the original.
If we plan our shoot really carefully.
And that's where the entire pre-production process kicks in.
For this project here, I use StudioBinder
which is a production management software
and it combines all the pre-production elements
within one software all in one place.
And I'm talking about creating the breakdown as I just did,
a shot list because we shooting in a desert,
the Sun is going to be everywhere,
and we really have to plan this out
if we want to get this done in one day
which also directly relates to the shooting schedule.
And then because we are in the middle of nowhere,
we really have to be careful with the call sheet,
get the exact location, get all the information there,
so everyone is on the same page.
And if you want to dive deeper into pre-production,
we actually have an entire video series
about the pre-production process,
and our software StudioBinder and how it works
and how it will make your life so much easier as a filmmaker.
So now that we sorted everything out,
I'm going to do the boring stuff,
pick up the rentals,
rest for a little bit
and I'm going to take you on set to reshoot are,
What's in the box scene?
Excited.
♪ ♪
Alright, guys, so we are up here in Lancaster right now.
- Morgan Freeman right here. - Exactly.
I just want to say thank you for coming out today.
- I watch the scene again and again
and I watched breakdowns of the scene.
- We're applying a little makeup.
I want to just run through the scene.
We're going to do the semi-blocking.
We got our Blackmagic Production Camera 4K here.
I got a small rig just to attach it to the battery.
Thing is, I don't have a mount,
so going back to gaff tape,
so I'm going to tape this on here,
so we can actually power the camera.
This is what's happening,
if you don't have few camera PA`s.
You are your camera PA, in indy.
Cameras rolling.
- StudioBinder. Scene 1. Take 3. Barker.
- Action!
Trying to achieve this wide shot here
when Somerset is actually walking up to Mill`s and John Doe
but a definitely used to long a dolly.
So you definitely need to have some movement,
we would get that as well,
we just don't get exact same effect as they did.
Okay, the eye line has to be closer,
step forward a little bit.
- Oh shit, you`re okay? - You`re alright?
- This is the reason why you have hospitals on your call sheet.
♪ ♪
- Put the gun down.
For the close-up of detective Somerset,
I want to get really close
but I also have to go really really low.
Probably, can't shoot this on the tripod,
I need to put this in the ground level.
Yes, indie filmmaker definitely have to sacrifice your body
and can't complain about
little things poking in your face.
♪ ♪
For this particular shot,
you see that there are a bunch of clouds
and every other shot there is no clouds.
This was shot in a few different days.
♪ ♪
Action!
♪ ♪
They shot on film, so it's a super 35.
This one is a 200% crop almost.
Therefore, you have to multiply the lens that you have
which is a 16 here by 2,
which is the 32.
This is not quite wide enough to achieve the very same shot,
but at least it gives us the same kind of feel.
Same thing, we got to make compromises
but we get the point across.
♪ ♪
We really got to follow the sun
which is the most challenging part shooting in the desert, in an open field.
I really made my shot list depending on where the Sun is going to be when
and we flipping sides all the time.
I rather shoot it differently,
but I really don't have a choice so,
this is just what you got to do if you only have one day.
♪ ♪
The wind is pretty crazy and
the Sun is also gone.
We`re gonna do this, as far as the Sun is up.
Probably, have like five minutes.
Kane, look over here!
You know, there will be continuity issues.
We're trying to block the wind there and have an LED panel
to just give him Sunset a light on the face,
but it's tough
in our sound guy is flying away too.
Let's get this started.
We're gonna scrap the slate.
- What would you fucking say?
I saw you at the box. What's in the box?
- Cut.
Okay, so the problem is we couldn't get everything done,
so I had to make some sacrifices.
What was really helpful today though,
is to actually have a shot list handy here.
The cool thing about this is, it's all digital,
so you can actually move your shots around and cross them out.
Just use it on your iPad laptop, even your phone.
I think we did pretty good.
It started off really well.
We got the shots.
We really try to match it later on.
We literally just try to run through it.
It is indie filmmaking.
There you don't get everything you want.
We were technically need another day.
We would need more crew.
The shot list helps
but regardless of the shot list,
we do have to make some sacrifices,
but without it, you're screwed.
- California, stay out of here.
Don't come in here. Don't come in here.
- Whatever you here stay away.
- Don't come in here.
John Doe got the upper hand.
Mills!
- Here he comes.
- Throw your gun down! -What?
- I wish I could`ve lived like you did.
- Shut up.
What are you saying?
- Do you hear me, detective?
I'm trying to tell you how much I admire you
and your pretty wife.
- What?
Tracy.
- What`d your fucking say?
- It's disturbing how easy a member of the press can acquire information
from the men in your precinct.
- What the fuck?
- Put the gun down!
- I visited your home this morning.
After you left.
I tried to play husband.
I tried to taste the life of a simple man.
- Put your gun down!
- It didn't work out.
So...
I took a souvenir.
Her pretty head.
- Mills!
- What the fuck is he talking about?
- Gve me the gun. - What`s going on over there?
- Put your gun down.
- I saw you with the box. What's in the box?
- Because I envy your normal life. - Give me the gun, Dave.
- It seems envy is my sin.
- Oh, what's in the box?
What's in the fucking box?
- Not until you give me the gun. - He just told you.
- You lie.
You're a fucking liar, shut up.
- It's what he wants.
He wants you to shoot him.
- No. No!
Yeah, you tell me that's not true.
That's not true.
- Become vengeance, David.
- Nah, tell me, she's all right. Tell me!
- Become wrath.
- Tell me she's all right!
- If your kill a suspect, David.
- No! - You throw it all away
and he knows that. - No!
- She beg for her life, detective.
She begged for her life...
and for the life the baby inside.
- Shut up!
- Oh.
He didn't know.
- Give me the gun, David.
David.
If you kill him...
he will win.
- Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Oh.
- Oh fuck, he shot him.
- That's it for today.
I hope you guys got inspired to shoot your own scenes.
And as you can see you don't need a huge budget
to make a scene look cinematic,
if you're willing to make compromises.
As a next step, we included some free resources
in the link in the description to help you out with your next project.
To create your own free shot list in StudioBinder,
download the budgeting template,
and get our David Fincher inspired lot peg.
If you like this video, please like and subscribe,
and let us know what we should reshoot next.
Get creative and I'll see you next time.