Jake & Will: CONTEST WARRIORS

The best way you can improve your no budget production is to find people who are more talented than you, in specific areas, to help out. For example, our good friend Eric Frank, who is a master musician, composed a song for us to use in the new video contest entry. The second talented person we called on was an old friend from my voice over directing days at SBV. Cara Pifko is a supremely talented and good looking actress who likes me just enough to be in our no budget short.

With our cast and crew ready we stepped outside into the rain. One can never account for weather and even though the daily report said their was a 0% chance of precipitation, reality said otherwise. There was no way I was going to cancel the shoot because of a little rain, so we all mustered our courage and went ahead anyway. We held an umbrella over the camera while the diffused light from the clouds gave our shots an even, soft look (as compared to the high contrast and stark shadows a sunny day would bring). All in all, the rain turned out to be a blessing.

One of the most important ways you can increase production value is through sets and extras, but those two things can be expensive. The script called for a Farmer's Market, and I knew I couldn't build one and fill it with extras, so I found one. The Hollywood Farmer's Market is just two blocks from my house. When we got there we not only had a Farmer's Market to shoot at and extras to keep the background busy, but really nice people who were interested in what we were doing. We even had a girl at one of the booths sing a line from the song.

The video will be coming out soon, so until then hold on and sit tight.