History Main / MovieMakingMess

* To the surprise of no one,''Film/TheRoom'', according to ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist''.

* RichieRich once tried to make his own western, with Freckles and Peewee as actors. The reviewers hailed it as a great comedy film, but [[spoiler:Richie wanted a drama]].

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Jason's attempt to make a stop motion version of ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' called ''Mesozoic Park'' (which he claimed was a more accurate title as the Mesozoic Era included all of the dinosaurs featured in the film) was a disaster and left him with about thirty seconds of film. His later attempt to film his own version of Film/KingKong met with similar failure.

* [[TheBradyBunch Greg Brady's]] history project of making a movie about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, thanks to casting drama (Marcia refusing to be in the movie if she couldn't be Priscilla), special effects goofups (Peter messing around with the fake snow) and Mike's well-meaning meddling. Greg ''definitely'' earned his A that time!

* From WebAnimation/HomestarRunner, Strong Bad's "Dangeresque" movies are full of these. Slip-ups include Coach Z saying, "Okay, how was that?" right after speaking a line woodenly, to the blatantly obvious use of [[ButtMonkey Strong Sad]] as a stunt double.

* {{Bowfinger}} and his "big movie [[NoBudget on a shoestring budget]]" project.

* ''SonOfRambow:'' A couple of kids remake ''Film/FirstBlood''.

!'''Examples'''

* ''The Franchise/EvilDead'', as SamRaimi and friends found out a feature was much harder than the shorts they had been making so far.

* ''TheEvilDead'', as SamRaimi and friends found out a feature was much harder than the shorts they had been making so far.

* Bowfinger and his "big movie on a shoestring budget" project.

* Anyone who's ever had to make a group film for a school project has probably run into this trope. Members who forget to practise, BadBadActing while looking in an awkward direction reading a (perhaps not so) hidden script, wind whistling in the microphone, crappy costumes and props because you have next to no budget and of course the rushed editing that is inevitable because it's always due way too soon.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' had [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick make their own ''Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy'' movie, mainly due to the fact that they thought the new one that was coming out was a fake [[spoiler:because of the actors who were replacing the real Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in the title roles]].

* ''ManosTheHandsOfFate''

* The entire plot of ''{{Action}}'' is Peter Dragon's attempt to make the film "Beverly Hills Gun Club". Said film is plagued by such problems as a drug-addicted star who demands a bigger codpiece, a director who drowns, a lead actress who suddenly puts on weight just before shooting (leading to an emergency liposuction), and so on.

* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Jason's attempt to make a stop motion version of ''Film/JurassicPark'' called ''Mesozoic Park'' (which he claimed was a more accurate title as the Mesozoic Era included all of the dinosaurs featured in the film) was a disaster and left him with about thirty seconds of film. His later attempt to film his own version of KingKong met with similar failure.

* ''TheFairlyOddParents'': Timmy Turner once tried to make a movie to win a film festival to impress his crush, but using nothing but his close friends and a handheld camera, the results were pitiful. So he ended up using his fairies' magic to film at exotic locations with professional actors with real special effects.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'', "Dag for Night": Dagget and Norbert find an old trunk full of movie-making equipment and some footage from an unfinished Oxnard Montalvo {{BMovie}}, ''[[LongTitle The Not-Too-Friendly Creature from the Off-White Puddle Who Will Eat You]]''. They decide to finish it themselves, and HilarityEnsues.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' - After Dee tells the characters that she scored a part in a MNightShyamalan movie, Mac and Charlie attempt to write a script. The script turns out horrible and MNightShyamalan doesn't show up anyways.

You decide to make your own movie, so you do whatever you can to get a video camera, some of your friends to be the actors, and props to make the movie more believable. However, your movie project hits a few snags in the filming process, so {{Hilarity Ensues}}; the actors forget their lines or screw up their parts, props are always falling over at inopportune times, the equipment is clearly visible while filming, etc. It turns out that making a movie isn't as easy as it looks at all.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' has a variant in which the characters attempt to film a commercial, with several characters treating it as an actual [[{{Serious Business}} film shooting]] and things go horribly wrong.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' - After Dee tells the characters that she scored a part in a {{M Night Shyamalan}} movie, Mac and Charlie attempt to write a script. The script turns out horrible and MNightShyamalan doesn't show up anyways.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Ralph Bighead, creator of ''[[{{Show Within a Show}} The Fatheads]]'', lets Rocko and friends do their own cartoon show for him, hoping that the results are so awful that Ralph will be let out of his contract. The result, "Wacky Deli", is as bad as Ralph hoped, but ends up being a runaway hit anyway.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Springfield decides to have a film festival in order to boost tourism, and several townsfolk make movies themselves. In particular, Mr. Burns has "the Mexican non-union equivalent" of StevenSpielberg make a movie [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie based on his life]]; at one point after he helps some villagers and tries to go RidingIntoTheSunset his foot gets caught in the stirrup of his horse and he's dragged away.

* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Jason's attempt to make a stop motion version of JurassicPark called ''Mesozoic Park'' (which he claimed was a more accurate title as the Mesozoic Era included all of the dinosaurs featured in the film) was a disaster and left him with about thirty seconds of film. His later attempt to film his own version of KingKong met with similar failure.

** This troper once tried to improvise a fake moustache out of fibreglass, orange hairspray and sticky tape.

* ''RaidersOfTheLostArk: The Adaptation'' was one of these. A bunch of teenagers took about a decade of summers to hack together a nearly shot-by-shot remake of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. They had to make five or six giant boulders and nearly burned down the house where they filmed. On the other hand, the final film is a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for everyone involved.

* From WebOriginal/HomestarRunner, Strong Bad's "Dangeresque" movies are full of these. Slip-ups include Coach Z saying, "Okay, how was that?" right after speaking a line woodenly, to the blatantly obvious use of [[ButtMonkey Strong Sad]] as a stunt double.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', Gumball and Darwin try to re-film a library DVD that they lost ("Alligators on a Train") and do an awful job at it.

You decide to make your own movie, so you do whatever you can to get a video camera, some of your friends to be the actors, and props to make the movie more believable. However, your movie project hits a few snags in the filming process, so {{Hilarity Ensues}}; the actors forget their lines or screw up their parts, props are always falling over at inopportune times, the equipment is clearly visible while filming, etc. It turns out that making a movie isn't as easy as it looks at all.

Expect to see loads and loads of {{Special Effects Failure}}, though the final product often ends up {{So Bad Its Good}}.

Compare: {{Troubled Production}}, the larger-scale professional version of this. Contrast: {{School Play}}.
----
!'''Examples'''

[[AC: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* The first (airing order) episode of ''{{The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya}}'' shows the results of this, while an arc in season two shows the process, as does the second {{Light Novel}}.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''SonOfRambow:'' A couple of kids remake ''FirstBlood''.
* In ''Super 8'', the characters try to make a movie near a train station. Which then explodes.
* More or less the plot of ''BeKindRewind''
* ''RaidersOfTheLostArk: The Adaptation'' was one of these. A bunch of teenagers took about a decade of summers to hack together a nearly shot-by-shot remake of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. They had to make five or six giant boulders and nearly burned down the house where they filmed. On the other hand, the final film is a {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}} for everyone involved.

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* In ''{{FoxTrot}}'', Jason's attempt to make a stop motion version of {{Jurassic Park}} called ''Mesozoic Park'' (which he claimed was a more accurate title as the Mesozoic Era included all of the dinosaurs featured in the film) was a disaster and left him with about thirty seconds of film. His later attempt to film his own version of {{King Kong}} met with similar failure.

[[AC: {{Live-Action TV}}]]
* An episode of ''GreenAcres'' had the entire city of Hooterville believing that a famous movie director was coming to their town, so they made their own movie to show to him. However, the movie that they made was so bad that the director was forced to burn up the film, under the orders of his boss.
* ''{{Community}}'' has a variant in which the characters attempt to film a commercial, with several characters treating it as an actual [[{{Serious Business}} film shooting]] and things go horribly wrong.
** In another episode, Abed's movie about Jesus, which is actually a movie about himself making a movie about himself making a movie about Jesus... ends not well.
* ''{{Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia}}'' - After Dee tells the characters that she scored a part in a {{M Night Shyamalan}} movie, Mac and Charlie attempt to write a script. The script turns out horrible and {{M Night Shyamalan}} doesn't show up anyways.
* The entire plot of ''{{Action}}'' is Peter Dragon's attempt to make the film "Beverly Hills Gun Club". Said film is plagued by such problems as a drug-addicted star who demands a bigger codpiece, a director who drowns, a lead actress who suddenly puts on weight just before shooting (leading to an emergency liposuction), and so on.
* ''{{My Name Is Earl}}'': One of the people on Earl's list is a young man who is dying and wants to make a movie wherein he's the star. Earl becomes the producer.

[[AC:{{Web Animation}}]]
* [[{{Homestar Runner}} Strong Bad's]] "Dangeresque" movies are full of these. Slip-ups include Coach Z saying, "Okay, how was that?" right after speaking a line woodenly, to the blatantly obvious use of [[ButtMonkey Strong Sad]] as a stunt double.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* The ''{{Arthur}}'' episode "Arthur Makes a Movie" involved Arthur and friends trying to make their own [[{{James Bond}} James]] [[{{No Celebrities Were Harmed}} Hound]] movie, but everything kept going wrong, due to the incompetence of Muffy using her new video camera.
* An episode of ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' had [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick make their own ''Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy'' movie, mainly due to the fact that they thought the new one that was coming out was a fake [[spoiler:because of the actors who were replacing the real Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in the title roles]].
* ''{{The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron}}'': A big-time director is coming to Retroville and holds a contest to find a script to make a movie out of. Jimmy scientifically constructs a script by analyzing and replicating from all of the greatest films in history. His script is chosen and he and his friends are put into the movie. Unfortunately it was a trap designed by one of Jimmy's enemies trying to kill him.
* ''{{Fairly OddParents}}'': Timmy Turner once tried to make a movie to win a film festival to impress his crush, but using nothing but his close friends and a handheld camera, the results were pitiful. So he ended up using his fairies' magic to film at exotic locations with professional actors with real special effects.
* There was a ''{{Ren and Stimpy}}'' episode where Stimpy was making a cartoon.
* On one episode of ''{{Tiny Toon Adventures}}'', the writers quit and Buster, Babs and the others end up having to do the show themselves.
* In ''{{Rockos Modern Life}}'', Ralph Bighead, creator of ''[[{{Show Within a Show}} The Fatheads]]'', lets Rocko and friends do their own cartoon show for him, hoping that the results are so awful that Ralph will be let out of his contract. The result, "Wacky Deli", is as bad as Ralph hoped, but ends up being a runaway hit anyway.
* On ''{{The Simpsons}}'', Springfield decides to have a film festival in order to boost tourism, and several townsfolk make movies themselves. In particular, Mr. Burns has "the Mexican non-union equivalent" of {{Steven Spielberg}} make a movie [[{{Based on a Great Big Lie}} based on his life]]; at one point after he helps some villagers and tries to go {{Riding into the Sunset}} his foot gets caught in the stirrup of his horse and he's dragged away.
-->"We did twenty takes, and ''that'' was the best one."
* On ''{{The Amazing World of Gumball}}'', Gumball and Darwin try to re-film a library DVD that they lost ("Alligators on a Train") and do an awful job at it.

[[AC: {{Real Life}}]]
* ''{{Manos The Hands of Fate}}''

Compare: {{Troubled Production}}. Contrast: {{School Play}}

You decide to make your own movie, so you do whatever you can to get a video camera, some of your friends to be the actors, and props to make the movie more sufficient. However, your movie project hits a few snags in the filming process, so {{Hilarity Ensues}}; the actors forget their lines or screw up their parts, props are always falling over at inopportune times, the equipment is clearly visible while filming, etc. It turns out that making a movie isn't as easy as it looks at all.

* The first (airing order) episode of {{The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya}} shows the results of this, while an arc in season two shows the process, as does the second {{Light Novel}}.

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* {{Son Of Rambow}}: a couple of kids remake {{First Blood}}.

* More or less the plot of {{Be Kind Rewind}}
* ''"Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation"'' was one of these. A bunch of teenagers took about a decade of summers to hack together a nearly shot-by-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark. They had to make five or six giant boulders and nearly burned down the house where they filmed. On the other hand, the final film is a {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}} for everyone involved.

[[AC: {{Newspaper Comics}}]]
* In {{Fox Trot}}, Jason's attempt to make a stop motion version of {{Jurassic Park}} called ''Mesozoic Park'' (which he claimed was a more accurate title as the Mesozoic Era included all of the dinosaurs featured in the film) was a disaster and left him with about thirty seconds of film. His later attempt to film his own version of {{King Kong}} met with similar failure.

* An episode of {{Green Acres}} had the entire city of Hooterville believing that a famous movie director was coming to their town, so they made their own movie to show to him. However, the movie that they made was so bad that the director was forced to burn up the film, under the orders of his boss.
* {{Community}} has a variant in which the characters attempt to film a commercial, with several characters treating it as an actual [[{{Serious Business}} film shooting]] and things go horribly wrong.

* {{Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia}} - After Dee tells the characters that she scored a part in a {{M Night Shyamalan}} movie, Mac and Charlie attempt to write a script. The script turns out horrible and {{M Night Shyamalan}} doesn't show up anyways.
* The entire plot of {{Action}} is Peter Dragon's attempt to make the film "Beverly Hills Gun Club." Said film is plagued by such problems as a drug-addicted star who demands a bigger codpiece, a director who drowns, a lead actress who suddenly puts on weight just before shooting (leading to an emergency liposuction), and so on.
* {{My Name Is Earl}}: One of the people on Earl's list is a young man who is dying and wants to make a movie wherein he's the star. Earl becomes the producer.

[[AC: {{Web Animation}}]]
* [[{{Homestar Runner}} Strong Bad's]] "Dangeresque" movies are full of these. Slip-ups include Coach Z saying "okay, how was that?" right after speaking a line woodenly, to the blatantly obvious use of [[{{Butt Monkey}} Strong Sad]] as a stunt double.

[[AC: {{Western Animation}}]]
* The {{Arthur}} episode "Arthur Makes A Movie" involved Arthur and friends trying to make their own [[{{James Bond}} James]] [[{{No Celebrities Were Harmed}} Hound]] movie, but everything kept going wrong, due to the incompetence of Muffy using her new video camera.
* An episode of {{Spongebob Squarepants}} had Spongebob and Patrick make their own Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie, mainly due to the fact that they thought the new one that was coming out was a fake [[spoiler: because of the actors that were replacing the real Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in the title roles]].
* {{The Adventures Of Jimmy Neutron}}: A big time director is coming to Retroville and holds a contest to find a script to make a movie out of. Jimmy scientifically constructs a script by analyzing and replicating from all of the greatest films in history. His script is chosen and he and his friends are put into the movie. Unfortunately it was a trap designed by one of Jimmy's enemies trying to kill him.
* {{Fairly Oddparents}}: Timmy Turner once tried to make a movie to win a film festival to impress his crush, but using nothing but his close friends and a handheld camera, the results were pitiful. So he ended up using his fairies' magic to film at exotic locations with professional actors with real special effects.
* There was a {{Ren And Stimpy}} episode where Stimpy was making a cartoon.
* On one episode of {{Tiny Toon Adventures}}, the writers quit and Buster, Babs and the others end up having to do the show themselves.
* In {{Rockos Modern Life}}, Ralph Bighead, creator of [[{{Show Within A Show}} The Fatheads]], lets Rocko and friends do their own cartoon show for him, hoping that the results are so awful he'll be let out of his contract. The result, "Wacky Deli", is as bad as he hoped, but ends up being a runaway hit anyway.
* On {{The Simpsons}}, Springfield decides to have a film festival in order to boost tourism, and several townsfolk make movies themselves. In particular Mr. Burns has "the Mexican non-union equivalent" of {{Steven Spielberg}} make a movie [[{{Based On A Great Big Lie}} based on his life]]; at one point after he helps some villagers and tries to go {{Riding Into The Sunset}} his foot gets caught in the stirrup of his horse and he's dragged away.

* On {{The Amazing World Of Gumball}}, Gumball and Darwin try to re-film a library DVD that they lost ("Alligators on a Train") and do an awful job at it.

* {{Manos The Hands Of Fate}}