Meet The Emerson Student Making Movies With $0

Deniz got on Stuudeo radar when he sent a series of $0 short films he made in the pandemic. We chatted with Deniz to get his advice on being creative with limitations.

October 24, 2022

Making Movies is Expensive…

Usually.

Every here and there, you meet creators who figure out how to tell stories with small teams and no money.

Welcome to the first issue of our weekly newsletter, featuring the best filmmakers, short films, and success stories on the Stuudeo platform.

The first person we're featuring is 20-year-old Emerson-based filmmaker, Deniz Aryuek.

We sat down with Deniz to learn about:

  • His best movies

  • The gear he uses

  • How to shoot award-winning movies with a 3-person team

Using Limitations

Projectionist is a simple documentary portrait of Tom Welch, the lead projectionist at the Coolidge Corner theater in Brookline, MA.

Deniz, and his co-director Noah Matalon, had their work featured across multiple short-film features online.

✅ Projectionist is being screened in high-school film classrooms across the United States.

The Projectionist (2022)

💰 Budget: $0

Crew: 2

  • 📣 Director

  • 📢 Co-Director

🎥 Camera Used: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6k

🌊 Locations: Collidge Corner Theater

🖥 Editing Suite : Adobe Suite

Deniz used the story to motivate style. When we asked him about the visual style of the film, he said:

I really like how our limitations let us play with style

We were staring at our low-light footage and my co-director, Noah, was like “what if we made it look like it was filmed being projected.

I honestly think that realization is what made the movie work

Creating Fantasy Worlds With $0

The Mirror And The Ring was the finale in a series of 5 horror movies Deniz wrote and directed in the pandemic.

Each film was shot with a minimal crew with 6-8 week turnarounds.

The Mirror And The Ring (2021)

💰 Budget: $50 (for fruit snacks)

Crew: 4

  • 💡Gaffing & Camera Operator

  • 🎨 Art Director & Makeup Artist

  • 📣 Director

  • 📢 Co-Director

🎥 Camera Used: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6k

🌊 Locations:

  • Green-screen

  • 1 Beach night shoot

🖥 Editing Suite : Adobe Suite

When we asked Deniz’ advice on shooting big-concept movies with no budget, he said

When you’ve got no budget, you need to be fast. Fast on set, fast to edit. If your advantage isn’t money, it’s gotta be speed.

I think the key is to have people you trust on your crew because you’re going to end up writing your project on set and in the editing suite just as much as on paper.

👋 Editor's Note

Hey! Eric here. If you're getting this first issue, I've had the time to watch your work or learn about your classroom. Thank you for your feedback and support.

If you're a teacher, help us spread the word about these terrific filmmakers. Forward this email or send your peers the link to stuudeo.com!

We'll see you next week