[Weekly Update] No budget filmmaking

If you somehow recognize the film on the thumbnail, you win nothing. But you are cool in my book!

CHANNEL UPDATE

Over the next few days, you'll see our channel go through some aesthetic changes. Most of the assets for the video and channel itself is completed. But I still need to update all the images used on Patreon and other social media sites. I'll keep adjusting it after, so if you have any feedbacks, let me know.

Our video on Tony Jaa is still being edited. Progress is slow because of the new motion graphics. However, it should go live on Thursday like usual. In the mean time, go watch Ong-Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong!

I'm still slowly crawling through the movie Switch, because it is... oh god it is so hard to watch. It did give me a lot of material to work with, though. I think I'll talk about "Diaosi" culture. If my eyes don't go blind first.

Finally, it's unfair for me to only talk about bad movies from China, so I'm looking for infamously bad movies from around the world. At this moment, I'm looking for "Deshdrohi" from India, "Ah Girls Go Army" from Singapore, and "Ashiap Man" from Indonesia. If you know where to find them, I love you and I hate you.

MEDIA TALK

We are tired of blockbusters, and by that I mean Indiana Jones 5. I think everyone would agree that we should pay more attention to indie productions, where new and fresh ideas were made with passion and curiosity.

Well, I was one of those people who found interest in the no budget world, and gradually found myself sinking deep into a rabbit hole. I have seen the darkness, and I can't come back. Not that I would, mind you. It's insane but also pretty cozy here.

Alright I'll spare you the poetry. Let's start with the obvious choices. A lot of directors made their first movie with no budget what so ever. That means they are paying the production out of pocket, without major investors. A prime example would be Christopher Nolan's The Following, which was made with a budget of 5000. Kevin Smith's Clerks is also a great example.

Funnily enough, under this definition, The Room is technically an out of pocket no budget production, but Blair Witch isn't.

Of all the examples, though, the one that always surprises me is El Mariachi, by the always resourceful Robert Rodriguez. I won't go into too much detail, but there is a great video on YouTube where Rodriguez talks about the making of the film, and it is eye opening all the tricks he used to cut cost and make the film look bigger than it is.

But it is the bottom of the iceberg that really interests me these days, way past the crowdfunded works of Neil Breen, the Christian movies made by individual churches, even beyond the YouTuber movies. These are truly the passion projects made just for the fun of making it. And the most famous example: Who Killed Captain Alex. Which we already have a video on.

So, instead, allows me to introduce to you: Stephen Groo, who hides so deep in the ocean, your first picture of him is actually just Jack Black. Yeah, somehow he got Jack Black to appear in his movie.

So, Groo is an eccentric DIY director who also happens to be a weeb. That means, some of his earliest projects are fan movies of anime and video games. The one I saw was "Time to Duel", which is a full remake of the first few episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime.

in 2018, he made what is often considered to be his magnum opus, the Unexpected Race, in which a human woman falls in love with an elf played by Groo. It's his magnum opus, because Jack Black is in it. (It's actually a remake of the, imo, superior 2003 original film of the same name)

I don't recommend watching them, unless you are morbidly curious like me. However, I would recommend watching the documentary "The Insufferable Groo", which tells his story and Groo's successful attempt at casting Jack Black! It's an odd story about a delusional man, yet almost all interviewees look back to this story with a smile. Perhaps it's because there's just this odd charm about Groo. Or maybe it's because he's persistent with film even when he make no money from any of his works. I don't have to love him or his work, but I can't help but respect his commitment. And that's the kind of story that keeps me here in this rabbit hole.

I have much more to share, but this update has gone on long enough, so maybe I'll share more next time. Do you have an interest in seeing this DIY projects? If so, do know any no-budget filmmakers?

I'll see you in a few days with a new video!