8 Insane Ways Movies Tried To Save Money

2010's Monsters is a brilliant little sci-fi thriller set several years after aliens have crash-landed on Earth, and follows a journalist navigating his way through a quarantine zone full of extra-terrestrial creatures, escorting his employer's daughter to safety on the other side.

While he was trying to get the movie made, director Gareth Edwards (now famous for Godzilla and Rogue One) wasn't the big name he is today, and as such, was given very little to work with. With a meagre $500,000 budget, he was forced to cut costs in all manner of crazy, creative ways, and it really is incredible that the movie looks and feels as good as it does.

For starters, most of the locations in the film were used without any sort of official permission, which is a huge risk for any production to take. Edwards also had no firm plans for paying any extras, and instead, he would arrive at a location and ask random people if they wanted to be in the film. In addition, the crew comprised of just four people, meaning that Edwards had many roles, including director, writer, cinematographer, production designer, and visual effects supervisor. This was cheaper than hiring separate people to do those jobs.

In post-production, the director used relatively cheap off-the-shelf software (like Adobe and Autodesk) to craft the film's 250 visual effects shots, a process he underwent by himself, in his bedroom, on a laptop. The film contains several impressive-looking alien beasts - especially in the third act - and you would be forgiven for thinking that a lot more resources went into their creation.

Overall, the film serves as a fine illustration that great movies don't need to have a lot of money behind them.

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Know of any other insane movie cost-cutting tactics? Let us know in the comments section!