Making movies with little money is not like big-budget filmmaking. This is self evident, but what also comes with the change in bank account status is a change in perspective. Not only are you lacking money to pay for certain things you need, the way you get to where you want to be will be fundamentally different from Hollywood filmmakers.

It's easy to fall into the trap of finding all the ways you can be just like major studio movie producers and the rest of the things you can't mimic you will just scale down. Unfortunately your movie will not turn out to be proportional to studio pictures. Yours will be very different in kind and it doesn't mean it's any less important.

Homemade Is Not Inferior

You don't have the slick quality that big movies have. You probably won't be using film at all and if you do you won't have the resources to get that look you really wish you could. This movie you are making will be rough around the edges, with plenty of imperfections. The challenge will be for you to come to terms with your abilities at this time and embrace them to come up with something brilliant. Don't lament the lack of perfect resolution or great acting talent, use what you have to make it work in your favor.

Film School Not Necessary

It would be nice to go to film school. Film school is a great way to learn the technical aspects of filmmaking but as I've pointed out before only a few students get to make a feature film of their own. Trial and error is how all filmmakers have become great and this is as basic as it gets. Trying something, fixing what doesn't work is the foundation. You can't get any more basic. This is how any unproven or risky venture manifests itself. The money that would have gone to film school could be better spent on making a film. Don't try to scrape that money together for schooling. There is plenty of free resources in libraries and plenty of time to make mistakes and learn from them.

You'll Never Be Ready

You can always be a little better, a little more experienced. We all can. The people that choose to keep learning and observing are academics, they don't make movies. You want to make movies, which means you have to go with a reasonable amount of knowledge and experience and take a risk. Acclimate yourself to trying some things you don't know exactly how to do. Don't fear the unknown. You are clever and crafty and can figure it out. Not every aspect of filmmaking can be taught and no matter how educated you feel you are there are always more things to learn. Do the best with what you have now and make it work for you.

Don't Fear Mistakes

You will make mistakes, you will fail at certain things. Most successful people in any field have failed more often than they succeed. From Henry Ford to Babe Ruth, it takes lots of mishaps to gain those few triumphs. Don't fear the mistake, it will serve you. Education at its core is knowledge that was gained from people making mistakes. They failed and you learned from their failures. Every movie is a new adventure and nobody can tell you how it's going to go. So you need to self-educate along the way and making mistakes is great education. The more you mess up, the more you will learn.

Past Doesn't Equal Future

You may have been unable to find many people interested in making this movie with you. You might have been unable to express to them the essence of the project so they never get excited enough to want to put effort toward making it happen. In the past you may have produced some lackluster films that don't do anything to foster enthusiasm from people who see them. These are all the past and they needn't dictate what is going to happen next. No matter what has happened to you before and what you've already done, it does not confine you to that fate again. You will learn as you go and you will get better. You will understand how to distill what your film is about and be able to tell others about it in a way that inspires confidence. Your previous films will seem quaint as your future movies show how much you've learned about making films.

Don't come with any preconceived notions about filmmaking, they won't serve you well. Take the process at its basics and come up with a idiosyncratic way to overcome each challenge. Don't hold yourself to a standard that is impossible to reach with your budget and don't assume everyone won't take your movie seriously because it isn't just like a "movie". Open your mind to accommodate the many variables that will be a part of indie low budget filmmaking and stay amenable to a variety of outcomes for the film. Don't tie your own hands, don't put on blinders and you might be able to come up with something remarkable.