whatsabudget films

@whatsabudget.com

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Indie filmmaker. Prolific poet. Really just a guy named Rob. Check us out on the Tube too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHL4fmvstvNn4mVsecOB24Q

Poster for a short film consisting of two screen shots of footage from the short film being shared, one at the top of the poster (a close up on a character's tired eyes as he fights off sleep), and at the bottom of the poster, an eerie image of a figure standing in the darkness staring at the camera). These two images are separated by a black box with three lines coming off the top and bottom equidistance apart, cutting across the bottom and top of the aforementioned images respectively. The title of the film in stylized typography cuts across the middle bar reading, Sleeperzzz. In the bottom right corner, the two lead actors names appear in the same stylized text. Nick Gatsby & Skye Armenta.
A yellow and blue background divided by a black bar across the middle, establish the two sections of the image. Each dedicated to one of the upcoming short films we have on deck, Is That Yours? : The Suitcase II is in the yellow section on top, with Karma Kops occupying the blue section at the bottom. A picture of Travis Eckland, our cinematographer for The Suitcase II sits to the left of the image in the yellow top section, with his name and title next to him. He is behind a complicated camera setup on a film set looking at the image he's capturing. A paragraph sits next to the image detailing his being a long time collaborator of ours, and one of my favorite people. It highlights his skill and talent that he brings to the project. The bottom blue section has a picture of cinematographer Nate Letteer behind his own camera rig, peeking out from behind it and looking directly at the audience. Nate is the cinematographer for Karma Kops, and has a paragraph discussing this being his first Whatsabudget Films project.
a bi-color yellow and blue background with a dark gray bar diagonally cutting across it separating the colors. At the top left corner text reads, "Whatsabudget's Summer of Comedy" and across the bottom right corner text in scripted font reads, "who doesn't need a laugh right now?" In the middle of the image is an oversized heart-hands emoji with a lightly transparent white background that has text inside the heart reading "Supporter Shout-Out! Much love for donating to the films!" with a list of four names of our initial backers, "Ian Brander, Mandy Bowen, Susan Basler, Mike McNern".
Picture of me laying on a couch with a small gray and tan cat laying curled up against me in the crook of my arm and chest. She is Balthus, and I am scratching her belly as she rolls over to give me access to her tummy.
image of a cloudy night sky with a bright full moon. At the top, in parenthesis it reads "a midnight musing". Below the moon, is a centered text block that contains the following words, "when the world reaches midnight all those who pushed us over this brink will look on shocked having ignored our generational words of warning and collective cries for caution scratching at their thickness, wondering...how did we get here?" It is signed below that by midnight shadow.
A black and white picture of a dimly lit figure against a pure black background, bearded and wearing glasses and a dark hat, reaches towards the camera with a glass in hand offering a toast. He grins somewhat sinisterly.
Collection of Criterion Blu-rays on a book shelf, consisting of the films (from left to right): The Princess Bride, Short Cuts, The Silence of the Lambs, The Ascent, Mikey and Nicky, The Great Dictator, Bamboozled, Triangle of Sadness, Trainspotting, Dr. Strangelove, The Graduate, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Brazil, Being There, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, Inland Empire, The Virgin Suicides, The Magician, and The Color of Pomegranates.
Title still of the film, with the film's title occupying a large area of the image at the bottom left corner. The image itself is an extreme closeup of the main character's eye as she stares into the lens, tired. A soft blue-green light highlights and shapes the image. In the upper right corner of the image are the Official Selection laurels for the French Duck Film Festival 2024.
an image of the world against the black of space. A small slightly transparent black bar goes across the center of the image, with text printed over the top of it. It reads: I won't accept my fate ...I will create it!" Signed by Midnight Shadow!
A close up screenshot from the final scenes of From Dusk Till Dawn the film, of a soot covered, and slightly bloody George Clooney. His arm and neck tattoo for character Seth Gecko highlighted somewhat in the still. George's face is in the left of the frame, with a blueish-white box covering most of the images right side and more. A quote from the film sits large in yellow text over the transparent colored box that reads, "Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them. I don't give a fuck how crazy they are!" with some small text below it identifying the actor|character|film.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Black and white image of a man center frame in a turtleneck and coat looking to the right of the camera. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Ralph Giordano as TBD" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
still frame of a character, in a mask and veil holding a roughly made hand painted sign in a graffiti-riddled tunnel, and the sign reads, "FREE HUGS"
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a close up headshot of an actor looking directly into the camera. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Quinton Blanche as Pit Boss" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a woman looking out passed the camera, a large glass building breezeway in a still frame from a short film. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Erica Erickson as Jane | Assistant Director" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Black & white image of a woman center frame, looking with a coy smile away from the lens, the background behind her is out of focus. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Megan MacGrath as Producer/Production Manager" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a young woman in a yellow sweater smiling at the camera. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "McKenzie C. Martinez as Hair & Make-up Artist" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a man on the phone in black and white, his demeanor suggests he is tired and worn down. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "J. Giordano as 'Johnny Cash'" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a young woman in black with a lav mic on her collar, looking into the lens delivering a news report in a previous role in one of our short films. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Cynthia Rodriguez as Melissa" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a young woman staring into an unseen light source below her against a large painted mural. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Kathryn Diana Rogers as Gerda" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a woman mic'd with a lav mic "reporting on a story" looking directly into the camera. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Cynthia Rodriguez as Melissa" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
A Meet the Cast & Crew image for our upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Image of a young woman of color, in a faux fur coat with a tshirt underneath. The image has a frame with all of the info about the film, reading "Whatsabudget Films presents E is for Expiation" across the top from the left corner. On the right is a small raised box extending out over the picture that reads, "Meet the Cast & Crew" Across the bottom, there is a QR code in the left corner, that part of the frame also extends out over some of the picture. The code says "donate today!" below it, with hands framing the corners of the code like a filmmaker framing an image with their thumbs and forefingers. Next to the code is a block that reads, "Erynn Mitchell as Darlene Pullen" and the website address sits in the bottom right corner.
an image of a red apple hanging from a tree, sitting largely in the frame, the rain covered apple dripping, with its branch occupying the right side of the image going out out frame. Yellow and brown spotted leaves decorate the background mostly out of focus, a single leaf extending off the left side of the apple's stem is in focus. A soft gray box with text extends from the top left of the image, and the bottom right. White text across both. The top reads, "the fruits that they yield are determined by the roots and the field" While across the bottom, just below the apple it reads, "...what tomorrows will we harvest?" The image is signed by midnight shadow.
An image of old, tattered books with a small band of lightly transparent white cuts across the bottom half of the image. A small musing is written across the band. It reads: "if the past was so inconsequential so much of today wouldn't be devoted to misrepresenting it to the leaders of tomorrow ~ midnight shadow"
A background image of a close up blue rose with a lightly transparent white bar across the lower section of the image. Over the bar the words are written: "Roses are blue We live in a dream The owls are not At all what they seem ~ Happy Lynchian Valentine"
selfie that is pretty much cut off at the head and shoulders. A colorful painting slashes across the upper half of the frame's background. Headphones are in, and my glasses have small reflections of the tv screen filling the centers of both my eyes. My mustache and goatee have grown in somewhat wild and long, favoring a bit of an Old West flavor to it.
Screenshot of Adina Porter (Lillian) from The Changeling, standing in a hallway, looking hurt and wounded beyond mere physical pain or distress. The frame is slashed with a blue angular highlight that keeps the sides of the frame underexposed and desaturated.
Picture of me and my wife at our wedding, nearly 26 years ago, standing by a candelabra. She has the hand with her wedding ring placed against the taper candle, and is looking at the ring. I am standing behind the candelabra and am looking at her.
A still pulled from the short film of the Chaos Demon in the center of the frame in the liminal space they occupy for portions of the film. A red tint and light gives the scene it's tone. They are holding something akin to a bejeweled pocket watch looking into it, in something of a profile shot as the Demon faces to the left. A mist comes into the frame from the right.
A screenshot from the poetry short, that features the Pawn (a black plastic generic chess piece) stands center frame against a starkly lit hell scape diorama. Flames and a gate behind him with light coming from beneath them. The Pawn is barely visible, more a silhouette against the red tinted backdrop.
A dark room lit by a single Nanlite Pavotube IIc, affixed magnetically to the corner of the room divider wall. The angle is such that the ceiling and several items hung on the walls are softly highlighted by the single point of illumination. Just towards the edge of the left of the frame is a sign on the wall that reads "Abort the Court"
a gardening club sign on plain wood planks with some tree branches across the top and bottom of the image. A line runs across the planks with words raised up and coming off of it. The words say, "a dirty hoe is a happy hoe."
perspective image of a stone railing of a bridge with three crows standing on it extending forward in the frame from the bottom left corner just passed the center of the lower section. Green out of focus trees are in the distance surrounding and filling the rest of the image. A vignette effect shading the corners of the image. Across the top, in writing that appears in two lines of verse extending out from a white bar that runs vertically for about half an inch. Signed by Midnight Shadow, the lines read "be careful which bridges you burn... for later you may need to retrace your steps"
A graphic announcing our new film project of 2024, and the newsletter to go along with it. The screenshot of the landing page for the newsletter subscription makes up the main background image of the graphic. Dozens of title images or posters from our ouevre of films with a white slightly transparent overlay. The top of the graphic reads "Whatsabudget Films presents, E is for Expiation." Below that it reads, "based upon a short story by Stephen King." With the Whatsabudget Films logo on the right side of the newsletter subscription box of the screenshot the newsletter title and subtitle, "Budget Filmmaking, All the Whatsabudget news(letter) that's fit to print" also has a red arrow above it pointing to them with a note that reads, "Sign up for the newsletter to follow the production!"
A collage poster of images and the various characters from the film, now with three sets of laurels in the upper right corner of the poster. The film title, cast list, and the name of the writer/director also appears. The film's tagline also appears in the lower right corner and reads "just because the past cannot be changed, doesn't mean change isn't possible."
A screenshot from the film. In the still, we see a close up of a bookshelf where the Pawn stands in the right of frame, before a picture of a young man and his dog (a collie). Behind the picture frame are books that cannot be made out.
an image of a close up plant, with light blue borders. overlaying the center of the image is a black, semi-transparent, box with two blocks of text verses, signed by "midnight shadow". The text reads, "and when you needed air was there to help you breathe when I'd no more to spare you decided to leave I turned to you for air instead just watched you leave I guess you didn't care I could no longer breathe"
an image of a snow angel made in freshly fallen snow. above the image, across the top of the frame is a mostly transparent royal blue rectangle with writing contained inside. it reads, "may your warmth be what melts the cold heart of this world," signed by midnight shadow.
Close up of the bottom of our apartment's front door where a strip of frost and ice covers the door and the door frame's metal plate.
A screenshot from the film of the Chaos Demon character back to camera turning, the red devil's mask on the back of their head shimmering in the red light. There is smoke filling the frame also.
Image of a snowy day in Manitou Springs, Colorado, the gazebo next to 7 Minute Springs, with an image of Gaza, a plume of smoke from a bombing rising up from the buildings and the city, faintly overlaying the main background. A small blue box sits at the bottom of the frame containing the words, "the cold of the seasons will never compare to the coldness of the human heart -- midnight shadow"
Screen capture from the poetry film of the chess pawn placed on a rock overlooking the main rock formations in the Garden of the Gods.
An animated Scooby Doo and Supernatural crossover tshirt design featuring the main characters from each series and the iconic vehicles behind them.
Still frame from the poetry short, where the Pawn is set upon a downed tree, overlooking the main rock formations of the Garden of the Gods. The red rocks in the distance matching the red tint of the wood of the tree.
an out of focus background image close up of ashes and burning remains of a campfire, the orange flames cutting across the upper right corner of the frame. A small black box with light transparency is overlaid centrally on the graphic. The writing in the box is four lines of rhyming verse that reads, "you wanted to build on my ashes a world rooted in my demise but I'll watch as your construct crashes when up like a phoenix I rise" with a signature line in a scripted font that says "midnight shadow"
A collage image compromised of seven vertical "slices" of multiple scenes from the short film stacked together arranged side by side with the title of film overlaying the middle three images.
Screen capture from the episode of Mr Robot episode 3.08 where Trenton's younger brother sits on the beach with Elliot at Coney Island, preventing Elliot's plan to commit suicide. The carnival rides and large ferris wheel softly out of focus in the background behind them.
Close up of a character from the film (an agent of chaos), right up at the lens, looking into the camera and audience's eyes and they are screaming. Some trees are seen in behind them, in what little area of the frame they are not choking out. The bottom left corner of the image shows a large metal sledgehammer head being brought up in the character's hands. The makeup is dramatic, with black lips and eye makeup to match. Their hair has blonde streaks in the front, mixed with the dark brunette locks behind them.
cartoon image of a Jeopardy-like looking gameshow called "Facts Don't Matter." Across the top, the image reads "New gameshow for college students" Across the bottom, the host is saying, "I'm sorry, Jeanette. While your answer was correct, Walter was offended by it, so he gets the point."
Screen shot from our latest short film Avoid as Able. Two characters face one another in a room lit with red, in a close up shot that has only their faces in frame, one on either edge. On the left of frame the character looks wide eyed and a little frightful. The character on the right of frame has a half mask over the top half of their face, looking like a red painted skull. A text box above him reads, "I wanna go home!" The text box below the other character reads in response, "but baby, it's cold outside..." Between them is a graphic message that says "an overly enthusiastic seasons greetings from Whatsabudget Films". The "seasons greetings" is in a 3d orb with green and red/orange lettering.
In the left of frame, one character is walking out of the night's shadows through a park carrying a bag of groceries, headphones on their head. Next to them on a bench are two people sitting next to one another, an ancient book of unknown origins between them. They are reading from the book and talking about the contents.
A shot from the foot of a stairwell looking up at a shadowed figure descending the stairs. A single, warm light shines behind them illuminating the stairwell slightly and draping the figure in shadows.
A dejected figure, clad in a gray hoodie with black sleeves, slinks out of the backseat of the car he was laying in wait in.
A man is getting out of his vehicle, parked next to another car. His attention is fully on something that is just off camera in the foreground. He is closing his door and moving in that direction as if to investigate something he has seen.