What does Poor Man’s Process mean?
Poor Man’s Process is a low-cost filmmaking technique used to simulate the appearance of a moving vehicle in a scene without actually driving a car or using expensive process trailer equipment. In poor man’s process, the vehicle is stationary while crew members rock it manually, fans blow air through the windows, and lighting effects simulate the passing of streetlights or traffic. The technique is widely used in lower-budget productions and television to create the convincing illusion of a car in motion.
Example:The director used poor man’s process for the long dialogue scene in the car — the vehicle was parked on stage while crew members rocked it gently, a fan blew through the open window, and a lighting operator ran a flickering effect to simulate passing streetlights.
Example: The child actor’s first experience of poor man’s process was disorienting — she was seated in a stationary car while crew members around her created the illusion of movement, and her acting coach had prepared her to simply focus on her scene partner and ignore the technical activity around her.
Did you know?
The opposite of poor man’s process is the ‘process trailer’ — a specialized flatbed truck that carries a vehicle on its platform while cameras mount on the truck to film actors inside the moving car. Process trailers are expensive to operate and require significant logistics, making poor man’s process the practical choice for productions where extensive car scenes are needed on a budget.
