History DoingItForTheArt / LiveActionFilms

** ''Film/{{Logan}}'': Just like Reynolds, Creator/HughJackman took a pay cut to ensure that the movie would be R-rated. Jackman also refused to appear in future ''X-Men'' movies as he didn't want to diminish the sense of closure for his swan song performance as Wolverine.

* Creator/GeorgeARomero envisioned ''Film/DayOfTheDead1985'' as "the ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' of zombie films," a ZombieApocalypse film done as a legitimate EpicMovie. One thing he was not willing to compromise on, however, was making sure that all of the violence and gore would pass uncut. To that end, when distributors balked at the prospect of releasing such a grisly film in theaters, he let the budget be cut in half, from $7 million to $3.5 million, in exchange for allowing the film to be released unrated rather than edited for an [[UsefulNotes/RestrictedRating R rating]].

* Creator/EdWood thought his work was for the art, and his films are SoBadItsGood (at ''best'').

* The late Filipino child actress Julie Vega reportedly [[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1534458963601196&set=p.1534458963601196&type=3 offered her role for free]] in the [[MissingEpisode now-lost]] 1982 religious drama film ''Milagro sa Porta Vaga'' (lit. ''Miracle at Porta Vaga'') out of devotion to her Catholic faith.

** Last, but not least, the final instance of this involved the Creator/MarxBrothers. At the time, the brothers were in a rut as they had just left Creator/{{Paramount}} over creative differences and financial issues and were considering exiting the film business, when Thalberg signed them to a five picture contract with MGM. When the brothers joined MGM, one of the provisions in their contract was that before filming would commence on any of their pictures, they would first go out on the road and perform their material on the vaudeville stage in front of live audiences, allowing them to work on comic timing and to learn what earned laughs and what did not. Many people, including Groucho Marx, believed that this helped to strengthen many of the routines. In addition, Groucho repeatedly said that their first two films, ''Film/ANightAtTheOpera'' and ''Film/ADayAtTheRaces'', were the best they ever made. Unfortunately, Thalberg's immediate superior, Louis B. Mayer, MGM's vice president of studio operations, did not think that the Marx Brothers were funny at all and was beyond ill-pleased when Thalberg offered them a five-picture contract. When Thalberg died in 1936 while ''A Day At The Races'' was still in production, Mayer used his position as studio chief to deny the brothers their favorite gag writers and limit the budgets of their remaining films.

* Creator/RichardDonner's work in ''Film/{{Superman}}'' went notoriously over-budget, and got him fired. His main concern was to make the best, most believable film he could.

** He also initially turned down directing ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' due to this trope, as he thought it would just be making a glorified toy commercial. When Hasbro convinced him there was more to this franchise than meets the eye, Bay realized the potential for making a film.

* Creator/ChristopherLloyd was {{Typecast}} for decades after ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', so he jumped at the chance to play a complex, serious role in the screen adaption of ''Literature/IAmNotASerialKiller'', even though it was a low-budget indie production filming over the period of a few months in subzero temperatures.

* Creator/ChrisDiamantopoulos was so excited by the idea of playing [[Film/TheThreeStooges Moe Howard]] for the 2012's ''Film/TheThreeStoogesTheMovie'' that he offered to do the role for free (due to union laws, Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios had to settle for the next best thing of paying him the minimum amount). Diamantopoulos later admitted that being in the film ''lost'' him money since he moved his wife and baby to Atlanta for filming while still paying for their house in Los Angeles, [[IRegretNothing but has no regrets]] since it was the role of a lifetime.

* Surprisingly, the film ''Film/{{North}}'' fits this. Apparently, director Creator/RobReiner wanted to make a touching fable that would be his very own [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]]. What he failed to realize is that he made [[Film/ThePrincessBride his own touching fable]] seven years before.

* Tommy Wiseau spent years raising six million dollars in order to write, produce, and direct his dream project without help from a studio. Say what you want to about the finished product, but Wiseau's dedication to making ''Film/TheRoom'' is nothing but astonishing.

* This can sometimes be a trap for directors who have too much power and influence, especially if they have done it for the art in the past and seen great success. This is what capsized the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood movement of the 1970s; such luminaries as Creator/FrancisFordCoppola and most notoriously Creator/MichaelCimino bet the farm on deeply personal labours of love and lost their shirts.

* The production of ''Film/HeavensGate'' became a disaster thanks to Creator/MichaelCimino's adherence to this trope. For example, he demanded 50 takes of at least one scene, and refused to start shooting for another until a cloud he liked rolled across the sky. Sadly, in this case the attention to detail did not pay off. The film was extremely delayed, went badly over the budget, is one of the least profitable movies of all history, and more or less killed the New Hollywood era. On top of that, for decades after its release it was regarded as a critical failure; it's only in the past few years with the release of a new, much-improved cut that it's been critically re-evaluated.

** A more recent example is the filmography of actor/writer/director ''Creator/NeilBreen'' whose self-financed movies show low production values, SpecialEffectsFailure, nonsensical storytelling and BadBadActing in spades. Breen's passion for his work is undeniable and helps deliver a SoBadItsGood viewing experience for each of his films.

* For ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', Creator/MelGibson fronted $30 million for production costs and $15 million for advertising out of his own (not-insubstantial) pocket. The film was distributed through independent distributor Newmarket Films, as none of the established film distribution companies wanted to touch it, thanks to the controversy surrounding the film. As it happened, [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity said controversy helped make the film a blockbuster in the end]].

** And Creator/BenKingsley. He even ''chose'' to be in ''Film/BloodRayne'' because he always wanted to play a vampire and be in the get-up, and the movie offered him that.

* Joe Camp created ''Film/{{Benji}}'' out of frustration with the flood of cheap family movies released through [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_wall_distribution four wall distribution]], [[SturgeonsLaw often of poor quality]], which led to the perception that, as Camp put it, "[[AvoidTheDreadedGRating If it's G, it can't be for me.]]" Thus, he made ''Benji'' as a high-quality alternative to those mediocre films. It worked; the first movie was a critical and commercial success, making $45 million worldwide on a paltry $500,000 budget.

* Creator/DarrenAronofsky turned down a chance to direct ''Film/ManOfSteel'' movie so he could direct ''Film/TheFountain'', despite knowing that it wouldn't make anywhere near as much money. He still insisted on getting it made, even after the studio cut half of his budget, forcing him to do the whole movie (an epic sci-fi film that includes a big portion set ''in space'') without any CGI at all. When it looked like the studio would never approve the movie, he wrote it as a graphic novel and got Creator/VertigoComics to publish it. Whether or not you like the movie, it's undeniable that Aronofsky cared about it. A lot.

%%% The below are actually OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt. I'll check on that page and move any examples there that are not already there.
%%* Some actors have done things [[MoneyDearBoy for the money]], just so they could afford to satisfy their passions for what they ''wanted'' to do. Creator/PeterSellers, mentioned above, is only one example.
%%** Creator/EwanMcGregor is a second. He only does big budget American films so he can afford to do indie Scottish ones.
%%** Creator/ChristopherEccleston has a similar attitude, except in his case, the Hollywood roles pay for British theatre and TV (the latter roles he chooses mostly based on his admiration for the writer), as well as charity work in his hometown and support of local bands by appearing in their music videos.
%%** Likewise Creator/GeorgeClooney. Each ''[[Film/OceansEleven Ocean's X]]'' movie allows him to make another ''Film/{{Syriana}}''.
%%** Every American action-comedy film Creator/JackieChan makes allows him to make another Hong Kong drama piece.
%%** Knowing he was dying of stomach cancer, Creator/RaulJulia let his kids choose from a set of scripts what would undoubtedly be his final film, as a gift to them. That film was ''Film/StreetFighter'', and dammit if he didn't [[HamAndCheese do everything]] to [[SoBadItsGood make it work]].
%%*** Damian Chapa agreed to play Ken when he found out Julia was on board, thinking that the film must be "something special" to involve such an actor.
%%** Creator/ChristopherReeve only agreed to do ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' in order to get ''Film/StreetSmart'' made.
%%** Creator/JohnCusack has gone on record saying he's always willing to [[MoneyDearBoy take a well-paying part in some low-quality (in his opinion) film]] because the paychecks involved allow him to finance the small independent movies (such as ''Max'', a film that puts forward the notion that even Hitler was redeemable at some point) that are his true passion.

** It might be hard to believe today, but ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' was a film of epic proportions which frankly had most of Cameron's producers worried. This thing cost $200 million to produce. Cameron even got the same companies (that still existed) to provide authentic recreations of the interior pieces, right down to the china that got smashed when the ship was tipping over. Finally, although (not without reason!) scathingly sarcastic about being called out on the night sky being wrong in one scene, he ''still'' had it corrected for the subsequent DVD release.
*** The person who actually called him out on it was Dr. UsefulNotes/NeilDeGrasseTyson, astrophysicist, teacher, Director of the Hayden Planetarium, and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. He is as perfectionist as Cameron is about ''his'' profession. To his credit, he tells the story of badgering Cameron about "the wrong sky" in ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' and Cameron's scathing reply with humor and relish, especially the part where one of Cameron's special effects people called Dr. Tyson to get the ''right'' sky for the Director's Cut of the film.
** When making ''Film/TheTerminator'', he actually called weapons manufacturers to ask about how to make a "Phased Plasma Rifle, in the 40 watt range". Understandably, they were confused. Later on in production, when executives barred Cameron from filming a key scene where the T-800 picks up on Kyle and Sarah's trail, the director snuck out with a camera and Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger to the back of the hotel set and shot the scene anyway.
** During the production of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', Cameron wanted to show a military unit that worked cohesively and acted like a group of friends. To that end, he brought the main cast up to England for a multi-week military training course, which allowed the actors and actresses time to get to know each other--which forged believable friendships.
*** Later on, during the shooting of the hive sequence, Cameron fired his cinematographer, Dick Bush, for not lighting the hive set in the "right way". Cameron, who had a start as a visual effects cinematographer (doing things like the wireframe in ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'') wanted the set to be lit with the lights from the actors. Bush however was an old school cinematographer who went against Cameron's wishes and added fill light.
** Cameron spent close to a decade continually refining the script for ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', even stating that he left it in his office desk for months at a time while he brainstormed new ideas. His team also spent ''three weeks'' rendering the opening shot of Pandora, down to the ''leaves on the trees''.
* Speaking of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', Creator/AndySerkis' [[SerkisFolk work]] on the trilogy and ''Film/KingKong2005''. Painstakingly crafting memorable MotionCapture performances even knowing that no one would ever actually see him on screen. Going to Africa to study gorillas in the wild ''on his own time and money'' to make sure he played the most convincing gorilla he could. And in the process, he almost singlehandedly elevates Motion Capture to a full-fledged art form. All For The Art.

* ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' was the culmination of a life's work, and was filmed ''twice''--the first time, so that the actors could see how it would look like with the CG in place before they filmed the "real" version.
** Creator/JudeLaw had said that it was his dream as an actor to work alongside Sir Creator/LaurenceOlivier. A pity he had been dead for 15 years. Instead, the director dug up ''decades-old'' test footage of Olivier, and spent God only knows how long piecing together sound clips in order to give Olivier a posthumous "cameo" as BigBad Dr. Totenkopf.

* ''Film/{{Doomsday}}''. On a budget of $30 million, Neil Marshall made a completely insane, RuleOfCool-driven action movie that uses as many practical effects as it can. Yeah, the Bentley driving straight through a fucking bus at ninety miles an hour? They ''really did that''. And since Bentley doesn't do ProductPlacement, that meant that they actually had to buy three high-end luxury cars, at $150,000 each, to smash up in order to film that scene. Then there's the props. The crew ''designed'' and made about a hundred ''different'' hand-to-hand weapons, a couple of guns, several punkish "mutant" cars, and a special suit of armor so it would look like it was makeshift. Finally, the two [=APCs=] in the film were designed and then built completely from ''scratch''.

* From Creator/MelGibson's works:
** For ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', he also fronted $30 million for production costs and $15 million for advertising out of his own (not-insubstantial) pocket. The film was distributed through independent distributor Newmarket Films, as none of the established film distribution companies wanted to touch it, thanks to the controversy surrounding the film. As it happened, [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity said controversy helped make the film a blockbuster in the end]].

* Creator/JackieChan: After all the broken bones, the organ injuries, and life-threatening misses...and even (by his own honest admission) the occasional MoneyDearBoy offer, almost all of the work he does, he does for the love of bringing his brand of physical entertainment to the world. Continuing a shoot with a broken leg using a rubber shoe-sock over his cast? Done. Rolling over a ''circular saw''? Check. Jumping from building to building with ''little to no safety mechanisms''? All the time. For ''The Young Master'', a movie he directed, co-wrote, and starred in, Jackie [[https://youtu.be/nKQgyXmCDME?t=272 doubled for a stuntman]] that couldn't do a particular stunt. His character wasn't even in the scene involving that stunt. He could have just stood behind the camera and ask another stuntman that could do it, but he decided to stand-in himself.

* Creator/TimBurton was so dead set on avoiding using CGI for ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' that he paid a team of animal trainers to train 40 real squirrels for the sequence where Veruca Salt meets her demise. It took 19 weeks of painstaking work, training each squirrel individually, but they pulled it off. And all for a scene that takes up less than 10 minutes of screen time.

* In ''{{Film/Stalker}}'' by Creator/AndreiTarkovsky, some [[SceneryPorn beautiful scenery shots]] were created by dyeing the real landscape in desired color scheme. Yes, the film crewmembers actually had painted the grass and trees.
* Creator/MichaelChiklis insisted on uncomfortable makeup rather than CG for the Thing in [[Film/FantasticFour2005 Fantastic Four]]. CG and voice over would have let him do the role in days. The makeup meant he spent hours a day in it, and could not even sit. He did this because he was JustForFun/OneOfUs and knew a CGI Thing wouldn't have the same effect on the audience. His efforts were arguably successful; although the films themselves failed to make much impression, Chiklis' version of The Thing is generally considered the best and most comics-accurate part of the venture.
* According to Brian Henson the initial impetus for ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'' was that they realised filming a Muppet movie on a realistic ship would be almost impossible, and therefore wanted to try it.

* Similar to ''Act of Valor'' there's ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers2011'', in which all the swords and other weapons were real, and none of the actors had stunt doubles.

* Creator/LaurelAndHardy were ''very'' dedicated to the art of comedy, but one example stands out during the filming of their most famous and beloved short, ''Film/TheMusicBox.'' Although the piano that was smashed in the finale was fake, the (empty) packing case was ''real'', and it actually was quite heavy. But Stan and Ollie decided to carry it up the legendary flight of stairs anyway, suffering falls, the summer heat and exhausted arms all the while, for the sake of laughs and joy everywhere.
* For ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'', not only did Creator/MelBrooks went through the effort to reuse the elaborate electrical machinery from the original Universal ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'' films, but when Columbia Pictures balked at his idea to shoot the film entirely in black and white, Brooks took the project the very next day to 20th Century Fox instead.
* ''Film/TheWitch'', a horror film set in [[UsefulNotes/TheThirteenAmericanColonies colonial-era Puritan]] [[LovecraftCountry New England]], was [[http://www.indiewire.com/2015/10/how-robert-eggers-combined-history-and-childhood-horrors-in-the-witch-56333/ a passion project]] for writer/director Robert Eggers, a New Hampshire native who had grown up fascinated with the history of the region. When his low budget forced him to shoot the film in Canada rather than New Hampshire for tax credit purposes, he went "off the map" to find a place in Canada that looked like rural New England, eventually finding the remote town of Kiosk in northern Ontario (population: 60). Since colonial Puritan-style homes naturally didn't exist up there, they had to build them themselves, hiring historians and experts in colonial construction, furniture, and clothing in order to construct an authentic homestead using period-accurate materials. The portrayal of the titular witch was also rooted in actual folklore and mythology about witchcraft from that time period, with Eggers describing it as "a Puritan's nightmare". Outside of nighttime outdoor scenes, all lighting was done with candles and natural light. Even the score was recorded using instruments dating back to the 17th century.

* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' ''embodies'' this trope. In an age when computer animation and fully green-screened film making technology were about a decade away, this film blended cel animation with live-action choreography, prop work, and humans, especially lead actor Creator/BobHoskins, so seamlessly that it was completely believable that humans and cartoons coexisted and interacted with each other.
** The lengths the producers went through to get the [[{{Creator/Disney}} rights]] [[Creator/WarnerBros holders]] of the numerous [[Creator/FleischerStudios cartoons]] characters to allow their characters to appear in the movie, and then weave those characters' involvement in a believable yet hilarious way, goes to show just how far these creators were willing go to create the ultimate love letter to these cartoon legends.
** On the special effects side, one small item paradoxically stands out yet is nearly invisible. In the scene where Eddie and Roger are handcuffed together, and Eddie is trying to find a saw to cut his way through the cuffs, the RunningGag of that scene is that Eddie keeps banging his head against an overhead lamp as he and Roger struggle against each other. The swing lamp causes the light to keep shifting and casting light all over the room throughout the entire scene, meaning the animators had to match up the light and shadows on and around Roger when they added him in later. Most people in the audience wouldn't notice, and no other collection of artists would have likely cared to put in such a minor, inconsequential, agony-inducing detail, but this team did it anyway. Such dedication and attention and care to detail has an unofficial name: Bumping the Lamp.
*** In one shot during the scene where Roger and Eddie sneak back into R.K.'s office looking for the will, Bob Hoskins inadvertently focused his gaze at human eye-level, not a 3-foot tall cartoon rabbit's (which in itself was notable, in that Bob could track an invisible character's movements without needing a stand-in to look at). This mistake was noticed during the animation stage. The animators' solution? Rationalizing that as they were on a clandestine mission, Roger would be the type of character who'd imagine himself to be a spy and draw him standing on his tip-toes whilst flattening himself against the wall behind him, bringing his eye-line level with Bob's.

* The PsychologicalThriller ''{{Film/CAM}}'' has a heavy focus on internet live streams with chatrooms. To fill the scenes with realistic "background chatter," Isa Mazzei wrote about one hundred pages worth of chat logs, including several "characters" with distinct personalities and inside jokes.