As a young producer I thought I could always trims a budget by cutting a few extras in some scenes. True, I saved money by not hiring those extras because extras have daily wages, require being fed and require extra attention by the 1st AD or even require hiring an additional AD to direct them.
What I quickly learned was that yes I saved money but the film's sales value was less because the production value dropped. Extras are supposed to simulate real life because when was the last time that you walked into a coffee shop in a decent sized city during normal business hours and it was empty? Audiences know that there are going to be people in the coffee shop or something is wrong or it looks not real.
It's a tough lesson to learn but sometimes extras are a cheap way to add production value. A win-win solution to this issue is filming in a smaller location that requires less on-screen actors to fill it.
For guidelines on how much to budget for extras in your film budget, check out www.quickfilmbudget.com
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