Film Characters To Put Into Your Low Budget Film.

The key to low-budget film-making is to have as few locations as possible. Locations and travel cost money.


Anna Paquin who is in the vampire TV show True Blood

Now, onto characters. You can’t afford to have a baseball player in your film if you want to see him in action. The key is having characters who can look authentic without renting expensive stadiums.

CIA agents are always popular in films. All you need is an actor in a suit, and, possibly, a fake gun. (If you are filming outside with a fake gun you must alert the authorities and tell them you will be filming in the area. Least you get shot by armed police thinking you are some kind of homicidal killer).

FBI agents: Ditto.

Waitress. Make a gritty, real life drama. It is relatively easy to talk a cafe owner into filming in their establishment for free. They will probably say yes for some publicity and a thank you in the credits.

People in love; everyone loves a good love story, and a happy ending. The purpose of film is to tell a story visually. Is there possibly an easier story to tell than a story about love and relationships. Something we all understand and go through?

Gangsters. a suit, a fake cockney accent and a fake gun. Brevity is the soul of low-budget film-making. Be careful when doing a gangster film though. They are heard to do well as Martin Scorsese has put the bar so high. You could make a good short if you have a good, original take on it.

Zombies; It’s easy to find a trainee make up artist who wants to add to their portfolio so your zombies will be authentic. It’s another popular genre.

Vampires; They are huge right now thanks to Twilight and True Blood. How hard is it to find some black clothes and fake blood? Bloody easy in fact.

More important than the genre and characters for a film is the script. An original film, well acted, and with a good script can beat any big budget blockbuster. Money is no longer a problem for independent filmmakers. You can make a film on a shoestring budget.

Photo credit: DarkChacal

Twilight's Peter Facinelli Launches #ifiwereaVampire Campaign to Raise Funds for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

Fantapper Campaign Gives Fans Vampire Treatment While Supporting Childhood Cancer Charity

Actor Peter Facinelli, star of THE TWILIGHT SAGA and “Nurse Jackie,” has launched a new effort to raise funds for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer through an online experience. With the help of Fantapper, Peter has invited fans to submit photos for a special vampire treatment which they can share digitally with their friends. Once the campaign reaches two million viewers, the Southern California Foundation will make a $50,000 donation to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

A longtime supporter of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ASLF), Facinelli hopes to bring new awareness to the organization while engaging with fans through Fantapper.

“Fans can support ALSF without spending a dime – and have some fun in the process,” said Facinelli. “Fantapper gives me a way to connect with people directly and share the things I’m passionate about – like supporting kids and families struggling with childhood cancer. And who wouldn’t want to be turned into a vampire for a great cause?”

“We have been so thrilled to have the continuing support of Peter Facinelli in the battle against childhood cancer,” said Liz Scott, Alex’s mom. “We are hopeful that Peter’s fans – and everyone interested in supporting kids facing childhood cancer – will participate and share #ifiwereaVampire with their friends and family. We think the Fantapper campaign is a win-win opportunity to support our efforts.”

The campaign is currently live and will run through Monday, June 27; full details are available at: www.fantapper.com.

Being Human 3 officially an awesome foursome {TV}

As you can tell, we here at Frost can’t wait to watch the new series of Being Human. We’ve scoured the net to find behind the scenes clips and brought you the views of the actors and creators.

Like all re-commissioned supernatural series, it’s expanded from the original premise and everyone seemingly has a supernatural element to them. It’s no longer ‘a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost share a house in Bristol’ as Nina, the new werewolf, will be going with the original three to the new residence in Wales.

Werewolf couple George (Russell Tovey) and Nina (Sinead Keenan), and reformed vampire Mitchell (Aidan Turner) have fled their beloved shared house in Bristol and are looking for a new house to rent in Barry, Wales. They are also without ghost Annie (Lenora Crichlow), who is stuck in purgatory and desperately trying to escape.

The BBC have released a George & Nina trailer and some new artwork of the four in the world’s tidiest supermarket to keep us all excited…and it’s working. Click on the image below for a larger version. Wait… chicken, steak and tea in the same aisle?

Series three boasts an impressive array of guest-stars, including Lacey Turner in her first role after EastEnders as Lia, who Mitchell meets in purgatory; Robson Green (Wire In The Blood) as primitive werewolf McNair; Michael Socha (This Is England ’86) as McNair’s son Tom; Paul Kaye (It’s All Gone Pete Tong) as twisted vampire Vincent; Craig Roberts (Young Dracula) as teenage vampire Adam; Nicola Walker (Spooks) as social worker Wendy; James Fleet (Vicar Of Dibley) as George’s father George Snr; and Jason Watkins making an eventful return as vampire leader Herrick.

An online extension to Being Human will also launch online mid-way through the third series. Created by Toby Whithouse, and written by Brian Dooley, Jamie Mathieson and John Jackson, Becoming Human is set in a fictional college and will follow a new group of characters over nine episodes.

Being Human returns to BBC Three on Sunday 23rd January 2011