A new starting point

Filmmaking is not an easy task, and Lyman was well aware that he needed to be adequately prepared, especially in terms of funding. Therefore, the next day, he appeared on time at the coffee shop where he had arranged to meet Christopher Lambert.

During their meeting yesterday, as an investor, he had put forward some new requirements. For example, he proposed increasing the investment budget to €500,000 and taking a 50% share in the profits.

For Lyman, who was trying to make something out of nothing, there was no reason to refuse. After hesitating for a while and pretending to be reluctant, he agreed to the investor's new conditions. That's why he came today, to sign the contract.

"Thank you for your support, Mr. Lambert."

In the coffee shop, under the witness of a lawyer, Lyman signed his name and pressed his thumbprint.

"No need to be polite, it's what I should do."

"..."

Only at this moment did Lyman finally obtain the film's initial funding as he had wished. So when they bid farewell to each other, he specifically shook hands with Christopher Lambert and said, "This will be a pleasant collaboration."

Lambert smiled and responded, "I think so too."

After saying that, he walked out of the coffee shop with the lawyer.

Lyman watched his figure, shrugged his shoulders, relieved the excitement in his heart, and then left the coffee shop when his mood calmed down a bit.

On the way, he went to a Swiss bank. Sure enough, he found an additional 500,000 euros in the newly opened account. Christopher Lambert hadn't deceived him.

Returning home, Lyman sat on his bedroom's bed and began to contemplate how to use the money.

First of all, he definitely couldn't invest the entire amount into the film's production. He had to leave around €50,000. After all, filmmaking was risky, even though he had many memories from future lives related to the film industry, it didn't mean they were absolutely reliable. In case of failure, the remaining money would prevent him from immediately falling into a predicament.

The days when he first transmigrated still haunted Lyman. After going through so much trouble to secure the investment, he couldn't risk it all. As a rational person, these €50,000 were his contingency plan. No one could guarantee that the first film he directed would be recognized by the film market. He had experience, that was true, but it was mostly in the realm of television dramas. Making a film was still a first for him. The previous film didn't count; Lyman didn't consider it his own.

So now, the amount available for the film project was only €450,000.

It wasn't a lot of money, so he had to carefully consider the design and content of the script. As for the script he had written to lure investors, he simply put it aside. The story framework built on ambiguity and sensuality was only popular in Europe, and Lyman didn't like that style.

What's the difference between making an art film and shooting adult films? Lost in thought, Lyman began to recall the masterpieces he had seen in his previous life, trying to find a film suitable for his current situation.

With limited funding, it had to be a low-budget production. The lower the cost, the better. After all, Lyman was a beginner, and he didn't know what situations might arise during filming. He needed to allocate a budget to handle any potential issues. This meant considering scene transitions, the number of actors, camera positions, and the backstage crew.

After such a screening, there weren't many films left.

In the past two years, there was a non-typical success story like "The Blair Witch Project", with a production cost of only $60,000 but earning hundreds of millions of dollars in the North American box office. However, that approach wasn't suitable for Lyman. The success of that film was largely attributed to the incredible marketing investment by the distribution company.

Marketing expenses reached tens of millions of dollars. If Lyman had that much money, he wouldn't need to consider films like "The Blair Witch Project". Of course, he currently didn't have a distribution company willing to take on the film's distribution. Whether it could be released was still uncertain. Therefore, films like "Paranormal Activity" that relied on similarity also wouldn't work.

So what other good choices were there? Lyman pondered for a while until the name of a film came to mind.

"Buried"!

The only character that truly needed to be portrayed on screen was one person. The other few roles were extras. The scenes would be easy to handle as more than 80% of the plot took place inside a closed coffin. There was no need for excessive scene transitions. With a small amount of money, they could easily create several coffins suitable for filming.

There was also the need to find a behind-the-scenes production team. Lyman couldn't possibly direct, shoot, handle lighting, do makeup, and manage props all by himself. Even if he wanted to, his skills didn't seem to allow it. At the very least, his makeup skills were terrible, not to mention simultaneously controlling the camera and lighting. So he needed to find a suitable and affordable cinematographer. It would be even better if they were good at lighting. If not, he would have to find a lighting technician to assist.

These expenses couldn't be spared because the quality of the footage directly depended on the quality of the filming work. As "Buried" was a thriller film, the camera shots were crucial. Similarly, he needed a makeup artist. If the actors appeared on camera without any touch-ups, the high-resolution camera would magnify even the tiniest flaws. Additionally, there were some scenes with wounds that required the makeup artist's assistance.

Thinking about this, Lyman realized that the previous €450,000 that seemed sufficient were actually quite tight. Just setting up the production team would require a sum of money, not to mention the post-production of the film. Tasks such as scoring and editing also required funds to be completed.

Lyman should plan carefully on how to save expenses. Otherwise, it seemed like the money would be stretched too thin. This was a realistic society, and if you wanted someone to put in labor, you had to provide corresponding compensation. So how could he assemble a professional production team with minimal spending? Lyman couldn't help but ponder.

Right, "interns".

Lyman's mind flashed back to the conditions mentioned by the lady when he went to apply as a graphic designer. Interns didn't require payment, so why not find some interns himself? In the Cannes region, there were many schools related to film and television production. Most of the students there started from the most basic positions after graduation, just like Lyman did in his previous life as a production assistant.

This was indeed a good method to solve the problem, and Lyman was very satisfied with his quick thinking ability. With this approach, the expenses for the backstage crew could be greatly reduced, easing the financial strain.

Regarding the issues of shooting and production, Lyman spent the entire afternoon considering them thoroughly.

No one could guarantee the success of a film, but being well-prepared was never wrong. With a reasonable production mindset, the chances of failure could be reduced.

When making a film, either don't do it at all, or understand and resolve all potential problems in advance. Even if the investment was small, he couldn't neglect these aspects of the work.

For dinner, Lyman went to a nearby restaurant not far from his home. He ordered a local specialty buckwheat pancake and a plate of grilled beef ribs. The portions were large and satisfying, and the taste was excellent. The total cost was €42. No matter what, he was now someone with a large sum of money. Being too frugal with his stomach wasn't appropriate. Lyman didn't want to keep eating bread and drinking cold water. He should treat himself better; there was no need to save in this aspect.

After returning home, Lyman took out a notebook and carefully recorded the ideas he had thought of during the afternoon. He also prepared a proposal along with it.

With these preliminary preparations completed, Lyman began writing the script. Although the script wasn't considered the most crucial element in a film, many directors didn't strictly follow the plot design on the script during shooting. They might even deviate from the script completely. However, it was still the foundation of the film's production. Having a script would also help in better conceptualizing the shot composition and developing a shooting plan. It could be given to the actors so that they would have an idea of the story being told and could easily immerse themselves in their roles. Overall, there were many advantages, especially for a novice director like Lyman.

He first wrote the script outline. The entire film revolved around a single "protagonist". The story was simple, depicting an American construction contractor who, while working in Iraq, was attacked and woke up to find himself buried alive in a coffin. The plot revolved around his efforts to escape.

Since the majority of the story took place inside the coffin, there were few other scenes involved. Moreover, the bold setup, starting and ending in the coffin, meant that all the relationships between characters and the world outside the coffin had to be conveyed through the protagonist's dialogue. This placed all the plot's progress on the lead actor. Therefore, the film had very high requirements for the lead actor.

In the confined space of the coffin, the events had to be conveyed through expressions, actions, and language, filling the audience with information. How to depict the simultaneous events inside and outside the coffin, the explosive and engaging nature of the story, and how to restore the original background of the character relationships in a crisis situation—all of these would test the actor's skill.

In reality, there were very few works that resembled this kind of one-man show. It was challenging to keep the film engaging and prevent the audience from becoming tired with prolonged scenes and a single actor's appearance.

Lyman needed to pay attention to how to handle this as a director.