"A Nubian Affair" is after all an independent student film, despite the fact that Tuskegee did not really "help" us, but they did allow us to use the campus and most of who were involved were students.

I want every future film maker to realize that it's not how much money you have, but your desire to make something creative that will make or break your movie. So to illustrate how we created our 87 minute movie, I've decided to list how we spent our initial $300 bucks and show how we only had to add a few extra hundred to finish up!
 

"Ok, ok. 'How Much Money?'"

Production
VCR Rental ($20/week for 4 weeks)                    $80 
10 TDK Hi-Pro VCR Tapes ($10 ea.)                   $10 
8 Sony CD - IT audio tapes ($3/per 2)                  $12 
Microphone                                                            $25 
Small Halogen Light                                              $25 
Small Props (Balloons etc.)                                   $50 
BB Gun to pose as nine mm                                  $20 
Cables and misc. stuff                                            $30
Post Production
Iomega Buz Multimedia Producer                       $170 
Adobe Premiere (Education Version)                  $350
CD-R (for storage)                                                 $40 
CD-WR (for editing)                                               $40 
Other fees and costs                                             $100
                                                                    Total:                                                                    $952
 

"How did you get by Locations?"

One thing that you must do as an independent Director/Producer/Writer is deal with location issues. No one wants to watch a movie that is only in one bedroom of a house. We were blessed and crafty enough to have a screenplay that would allow us to create a story around our environment, i.e. in college. 

And when we became a valid member of Tuskegee University's Student Associations, we had free reign over all of the campus to film. Now some spots like the dorm scenes were hard to come by, we had to beg borrow and steal to get those. We also had to hustle to get the beginning location. But the Lord Blessed us and we were able to get where we wanted.

I would advise to first, figure out your locations, then write a screenplay around those. We did it and so did Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Til Dawn, Desperado).
 

Our Locations

Beginning Fight Seq. filmed at Poster's Restaurant. 
Love Scene and Rob's "Cook Out" Scene were filmed at the "California House." 
The Party Scenes were films at "The Ranch" 
"Tarik's Dream" was filmed at Tuskegee University Farms 
"Mickey's House" was at  University Apartments Kecia & Tisha's Apt.
The rest of the scenes were filmed on Tuskegee's Campus at: 
Adams Hall 
Alumni Bowl 
Bethune Hall 
The Campus Ave. 
John Andrews Building 
Kresge Center 
The Little Theater 
Logan Hall 
Oliva Davidson Hall 
Tompkins Hall 
White Hall 
Younge Hall