The good news is that a green screen can be made very cheaply. For about $40 you can make your own.

First, gather your materials. You’ll need four pieces of PVC pipe (about ten feet in length each, just to be on the safe side), four end caps, four pipe tees, a saw, two ninety-degree elbows, glue, about five yards of green fabric, two pipe connectors, and six clamps.

Determine the height that you want your green screen to be. Get two PVC pipes and cut them to this height.

Then, cut them both in half and add a pipe connector in the center of each one. (This may seem like a redundant step, but it’s to make your screen transportable.)

Obtain another PVC pipe. Cut it into two equal lengths, about four inches shorter than your green cloth. Cut your last pipe into four parts, all the same length, to make the screen’s stand. Put two of them together with one of your pipe tees, and then put the other two together the same way so you’ll have two pairs. Place the end caps on the open ends to seal them shut.

With the PVC pipe you’ve got leftover, cut two sections out to use as spacers. These should be about six inches in length. Add these to the pipe tees.

Glue the couplers to to one section of the pipe, and put all of your pieces together to make the screen frame. Add the green fabric by using the clamps to attach it to the sides and top of the frame. Stretch it across tightly to ensure no wrinkles result on screen, and you’re ready to use it.

When you’re finished, you can easily disassemble the screen and move it to your next location.

Increase Your Space: If you’ve got a limited set but need a much bigger area, try this. Have your actor walk (or run, depending on what you’re filming) toward you, and simply repeat the clip over and over again. If you need variations, mark the spot he or she started in and film it again, editing the clips together afterward.

Fake Weather: Instead of getting your equipment all wet, use a hose with a spray-nozzle to make rain. Rent a snow machine for icy scenes, and use a large fan to create a windy day.

Stab Someone: Keep your actors safe with this fake-stabbing technique. With the assailant/murderer/stabber standing further away from the camera, have him or her “stab” the air behind his or her “victim.” Have the victim act as if he or she has actually been stabbed, of course. Cut to a close-up to the victim’s face, then add the sword under his or her arm, as if it has really been impaled there. Commence direction as you want the scene to play out–the victim to fall, the assailant to remove the sword–and simply edit the film when it’s finished to flow smoothly.

Monster-Making: If you can’t afford a monster costume (they usually look pretty unrealistic anyway, unless specially made for your film), buy some liquid latex. For under fifty bucks you can create scar tissue, fat, scary faces, wrinkles and whatever you need for your monster–or even for characters who just need new looks for the roles they are playing.

Here are some very simple and very cheap ways to complete the special effects you’re after.Fake Blood: Mix clear corn syrup, red food coloring, and a little bit of milk (so it’s not transparent)–and voila! Your own fake blood, at your fingertips, without having spent any. Add some purple food coloring if you wish for a darker effect.

Head-On Collision: Rather than making your actors run straight into a vehicle or other object, use this trick: Using a steady hand, film the actor slowly moving toward the object with a wide shot. Move your camera very slowly behind the object, and as the actor slowly continues to move forward, move the camera to the side of the object. Have your actor (still moving slowly) bump his head against the tree and pull back very quickly, as if he or she had hit it very hard. When you’re finished, simply edit the whole scene by speeding it up.

Exploding Objects: Rather than blowing up expensive equipment (or being put on a wanted list for making bombs), try this technique. Using a normal shot, tilt your camera at an angle. Have your actors (or just people hanging around your set) throw a bunch of trash into the frame to make it look like something has blown up. Use a smoke machine  to add credibility to the falling debris. When you’re finished, add sound effects.

Here are some more tips for keeping your script simple during writing or editing.Limit your scenes. Whether you liked it or not, Twilight was a very successful movie–at least among the teen girl demographic. The entire movie, however, took place in only a few scenes. The Shawshank Redemption, an award-winning film, takes place in a prison for nearly the entire film. The more scenes you use, the more money you are likely to need.

Skip fancy costumes. It’s one thing to have period dresses or a cop uniform; it’s quite another to require lots of monster makeup, fur, scales or antennas. Then there’s the problem of looking real when you have to budget these items down and buy cheap costumes or makeup. Instead, keep an element of mystery in your film by not allowing the monsters to be fully seen; films such as Signs and Cloverfield proved that you can scare an audience just as well with what they can’t see. Help scare them with their own imaginations through the tension you create in your directing.

Keep high-tech equipment to a minimum. Sci-fi scenes can be ruined with rocket ships or medical equipment that look like they were made with tinfoil. If you can’t come by something real–or a decent enough copy–cheaply, you might want to cut it out entirely, show only a part of it, or simply have characters mention it in dialogue. If your scientist is conducting an experiment, you could even simply show his back as he does his work.

There are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to sidestep high-budget effects and intricate scenes without skimming on plot. Here are some things you can do when creating or adapting your script.

Don’t blow anything up. You certainly don’t want to risk not doing it right and then simply not having the blown-up item for the rest of your film! Instead, use CGI effects if you can create them on your own; if not, simply have characters refer to something being blown up in dialogue. This sounds very cheap (which is the point!) but you can create great effects with trembling characters who describe scenes in detail.

Skip the car chases. You can use character dialogue for this, too. You obviously can’t be breaking speed limits on the road, and you likely don’t have extra cars to tear up, either. Simply have your character talk about the chase, or if you have access to a junkyard, assemble a “car wreck” for the post-chase scene.

Keep the special effects to a minimum. Using signs as an example again, we know a successful movie can be made without a lot of space travel, elaborate costumes, or big effects. In fact, if newer movies such as Knowing or Push relied more on plot and direction rather than effects alone, they would likely garner more critical praise. Draw out tension with your audience through your directing and you won’t need such high-budget effects.