Now possible to make movies without big crews: directors

French producer and debutante director of 'You go to my Head' Dimitri De Clercq on Sunday made a pitch for more economically produced films.

"I made my movie with just four people in the crew. These days no movie is made with less than 100 people," he said said.

De Clercq was taking part in an interactive session at the 10th Bengaluru International Film Festival at Orion Mall.

The movie drew inspiration from the Taj Mahal. De Clercq produced it with money he got by selling his movie-poster collection.

Mahesh Narayan, director of the Malayalam movie 'Take Off', said it was lack of discipline among filmmakers that led to hiring large crews.

"Not many directors these days visualise the first frame to the last frame. They follow the idea that the actor will perform and they will shoot," he said.

Even when a large crew of 100 is hired, only 20 work at a time, he said.

Mahesh said his movie was inspired by what he had heard from nurses returning from war-torn countries. "These nurses are not briefed or given an orientation on what they are getting into. Once they go abroad, they are dealing with difficult shell wounds and bullet wounds. Often, they are not allowed to leave the hospital for months and years," he said.

Ratnottama Sengupta, film journalist and daughter of scriptwriter Nabendu Ghosh, said technology had brought down costs, and well-planned co-productions could solve the problem of funding.

Co-productions also act as a medium for cultural and talent exchange between countries, said Marc Baschet, co-producer of many Hindi movies, including the critically acclaimed Irrfan Khan-starrer 'Lunchbox'.