Procrastination and budget

[SenorKaffee]

Procrastination just loves budget issues!

Amongst my boxes with idea notes there is one that contains a short movie.
I really feel like I want to do this. Soon. VERY SOON. Of course some aspects feel awkward, like asking for certain filming permits. But there are far more "yes"es than "no"s.

The problem is - looks like I can keep on scribbling logo drafts and whatever for the next year, because I need to save the 1000€ for the cam I chose.

Part A says - "Why save? Get started before you loose interested and just pay back the debt of you bank account!"
Part B says - "Woah - easy, man! You know that this is the path to the dark side. Keep you bank account balanced, your project is not going to run away."
Part A - "Sure? You plan to move next year - maybe you will loose contact to the friends that aggreed to play the characters, maybe you won´t feel comfortable filming those spots anymore since you will no longer live near them."

And so on, and so on.
I could say "avoiding procrastination is just an excuse to make debts" or "avoiding debts is just an excuse to procrastinate".

[stockaholic]

Can you rent the equipment you need without such a large up-front cash outlay? Would one or more of the actors be willing to split the cost of the equipment with you in exchange for a slice of the potential future profits? With regard to taking on debt - debt is not a bad thing if you believe your idea has merit. It just gives you a way to accelerate the realization of your idea.

[kyokushin]

What camera do you want to buy? Have you ever shot a movie? What kind of movie do you want to shoot?

Borrow a camera from your friends, family, relatives. Go out and shoot something, it doesn't matter what you shoot. You just need to get some practise, to get a feeling for what it's like to shoot with the camera. It takes time to understand your camera. You don't need any actors, you can shoot animals, plants, traffic, some sightseeing spots in your city or even your room. There are so many things to discover and so many things you can do with even a cheap camera. You con't need to shoot movies with a 1000 Euro cam. There are great movies that have been shot with one-chip cameras. I think that Festen was shot with a one-chipper.

If you really want to shoot a movie, just don't it. Don't worry if it will turn out good or not, it's more important to just do it. Don't think too much.

If you wait too long, your project will indeed run away. You won't be the same person one year from now, if there certain emotions or thought that you want to capture now, the you should shoot the movie now. The movie that you shoot in another year will be a different movie (not necessarily worse, but you might want to express different things by then).

Good luck!

[kyokushin]

Originally Posted by stockaholic

Can you rent the equipment you need without such a large up-front cash outlay? Would one or more of the actors be willing to split the cost of the equipment with you in exchange for a slice of the potential future profits? With regard to taking on debt - debt is not a bad thing if you believe your idea has merit. It just gives you a way to accelerate the realization of your idea.

I doubt that there will be any future profits for a short film. And I doubt that he's planning to shoot anything professionally.

[Mycroft]

"I doubt that there will be any future profits for a short film. And I doubt that he's planning to shoot anything professionally."

It's a good excuse to buy a cool toy though, eh?