Hacker Cinema
Following
1999 · Film · 69 min
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious character.
5 positive4 neutralfrom 9 commenters
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9 comments on Hacker News
Interesting take on Star Wars, because I think it should rather be used as a counterexample: Star Wars was made during the starting era of the "Blockbuster"-movie[0]. Just after movies like Jaws (1975) were a huge success at the box office two years earlier, studios were willing to throw money at directors to counteract any creative constraints.
Far better examples would have been The Blairwitch Project (1999) or Following (1998).
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_(entertainment)#Blockbuster_era
Some of the best content I've encountered is exactly this. A good example is "High Maintenance", which started as a Vimeo web series and cost $1000 / episode to produce. [1] Another example is Christopher Nolan's first film, "Following", which cost $6,000 to produce. "El Mariachi" by Robert Rodriguez famously had a $7,000 budget.
They could also pool their money, crowdfund, or otherwise shoot for a bigger budget, in which case they could mimic the first Coen Brothers movie, "Blood Simple", which had a $1.5 million budget. There's also "The Blair Witch Project" ($200k), "Clerks" ($230k), "Paranormal Activity" ($15k), etc. [3]
I truly hope this latest labor dispute causes an industry shift in the direction of creatives taking more control over production and distribution of their content. Musician Anton Newcombe said this about the recording industry, and I think it applies equally well to film studios:
"...it’s a mafia. And until they can write the letter that I’m writing, they are the postman, and I am the letter writer. Period. End of discussion."
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Maintenance
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Following
3. https://collider.com/movies-with-smallest-budgets/
I played Planescape back around 2015 or so, for the first time. I felt an uncanny similarity to the movie "Memento" by Christopher Nolan, which, coincidentally, was filmed around the same time, developing on themes from the earlier movie "Following" (that came out in 1998).
Then I came to know that this was actually a major point of discussion, with various theories swirling around it.
There was a Christopher Nolan movie (Following), where a guy does something like this. Trying to not add spoilers, but It doesn’t turn out all that great for him.
What a crazy story. Reminds me of the movie “Following” by Christopher Nolan. Similarly, a weird person who is stalking people. Worth a watch...
In case you aren't already aware of it, you should try to find a copy of his first film, "Following". It's extremely low-budget, but aside from that, showcases good direction, interesting camera work, and a fantastic, Nolan-esque plot.
Like Clerks, its creation story is super interesting, and a testament to how little it costs to actually make a film if you're super creative, and really determined to.
Christopher Nolan's "Following" and "Memento" come to mind as interesting, artistically succesful films in which scenes' chronological order bear non-obvious relation to their sequence. Wonder if anyone's mapped the chronological structure of fhe scenes. Bet there'd be an interesting shape there.
As somebody who has written and produced a feature-length film for $10k, and turned out nothing close to Christopher Nolan's Following, I have to say that this comment is spot on.
It's certainly possible. As with anything, it's a trade-off, and making the most of what resources you have and being willing to do the hard work and make the sacrifices necessary seems to be key.
Some notable examples made under $10,000 USD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_(film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Following_(film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mariachi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apu_Trilogy