Filmmaking Craft

Most solo creator film budgets fail because they’re flat lists, not systems. Production eats the post fund, the film gets shot, and nobody finishes it. This is the four-section framework I learned as a set decorator on Netflix’s Maid—Above-the-Line, Production, Post, and G&A—scaled down to an $800 short that screened at SOHO 2024. Includes a free Google Sheet template, cash benchmarks for $300, $800, and $2,000 budgets, and the 10% Lockbox rule that keeps post-production funded for solo filmmakers.

Five filmmaking techniques that actually work — audio, lighting, composition, editing, camera movement — each grounded in real productions, real budgets, and real mistakes. No gear worship. No theory that falls apart on set. Includes the RØDE NTG, the Neewer kit, DaVinci Resolve, and honest “who should NOT buy this” notes for every recommendation. If you’re tired of advice written by people who’ve never lost a take, start here. Then go make something that doesn’t suck.

Your camera doesn’t make films cinematic. Movement does. You can drop $5,000 on glass and still watch actors walk through a scene like they’re delivering mail. The fix costs nothing but twenty minutes of rehearsal and a plan you write before the day. Steal the body map, the 8×10 Rule, and the three-step blocking workflow. No gear required — just a room, a pencil, and actors who finally know where to put their hands. Read the full guide on PeekAtThis. Your editor will thank you.

You can have a perfect cast, a clean script, and a DP who knows exactly where to put the camera. Your ensemble scene can still die on set. Here’s the system that fixed it for me — five techniques, one failure story, and the gear that actually earns its place. New on PeekAtThis.