The internet holds a wealth of tools for filmmakers, many of them free or very low-cost. Victoria Parks-Murphy reports on some of the most useful.

You've finally finished it, your labour of love for the past 5 years; 5 months; 5 weeks; 5 days or 5 hours. Your film script is done and all that's left is to acquire the proper funding, get the cast and crew and you're off! If only it were that simple. Getting a film of any kind (short, feature, documentary…) made in today's Irish film market is truly a daunting task. Funding is hard to come by, wages aren't cheap and once the thing is made you have to figure out a way for people to actually see it.

Enter from the left side of frame Robert Rodriguez and the art of Guerilla Filmmaking. Yes, you can make the film you've been agonizing about without investing thousands of euro in that pyrotechnics exploding air balloon scene, there are options for the soundtrack other than The Beatles' All You Need Is Love and if you're really stuck – you don't even need locations and actors to create the stories you've been dreaming about. Behold the Internet, great tool of filmmaking. There are plenty of freebies, resources and chat to inspire even the pauper filmmaker into creating a slick production worthy of the Guerilla title.

Navigating the internet for freebies can be time-consuming and occasionally lead you down some very strange roads. One thing to be aware of is that free doesn't always mean free. Sometimes things are 'royalty free' meaning that they're free to use in any way that you see fit, however it'll cost you to get your hands on this royalty free material. Items in the 'public domain' should typically be free to download as well as free to use. With music it can be a little tricky because occasionally you will need a license to use it, and this will be specific to a project. Ideally, items that are royalty free or in the public domain are your best bet.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 113.