Once the domain of the very well funded, movie magic has never been more accessible than it is today. While it’s true that Hollywood blockbusters boast increasingly stratospheric budgets – many of which that would put the GDP of several small countries to shame - at the other end of the scale independent films are being made for less and less as formerly prohibitive equipment now able to be picked up at your local supermarket. This year alone we’ve seen the likes of Son Of Rambow and Be Kind, Rewind demonstrate the simple pleasures of making movies on a shoestring and filming by the seat of your pants with nothing more than a script and a handycam.

Of course, it’s nice to have a budget of several hundred million dollars to make a movie but it’s never been required to produce a classic. While ultra lo-fi filmmaking is a relatively new phenomenon, it has its roots in the independent film movement of the 1940s when a number of filmmakers decided they didn’t need no stinking studios to make their movies and set out on their own with a few dollars in their pocket and a lot of ambition. Independent film achieved legitimacy when Raymond Abrashkin’s Little Fugitive became the first independent picture to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 1953. These days, with the cost of filmmaking equipment lower than ever, anybody can pick up a camera and make a movie. That leads to a lot of garbage, but it also results in some hugely entertaining and successful pictures.