Before production, to finance the complex visual sets and shots for the film, producer Eric Watson and director Darren Aronofsky begged every friend, relative or acquaintance for donations of $100 each. Eventually, they accumulated an estimated $60,000 for their production budget.[9]
The film was shot on an Aaton XTR Prod Camera, which shoots with 16mm film, with a Bolex H16 Camera used for most of the handheld shots that the crew broke and had to fix.[3] A Canon 16mm camera package was also used.[10] Lenses were from Angenieux. The film was shot on black and white reversal film stock; Aronofsky aimed for high-contrast shots to give Pi a more "technically raw and spontaneous" look.[11]
Pi was produced with a low budget (production cost is reported to be $60,927), with the crew being paid $200 a day and actors being paid $75 a day.[3] To save money, various cost-cutting techniques were used, including using only the actors' clothes and thrift store purchases as costumes, and shooting all of the subway and outdoor city scenes illegally to get around paying expensive permits.[12] To get vehicles for the film, Aronofsky says he "probably" rented a station wagon belonging to the film's consulting producer, and claims to have hailed a cab and paid the driver $100 to keep his car there for a scene that was later cut, rather than renting out an additional vehicle.[3]
For the main set, which was Max Cohen's apartment, Scott Franklin's father allowed the production to use a warehouse he owned in Bushwick, Brooklyn. While the crew was able to shoot in the warehouse for free, they did have to pay the electricity bill, which increased dramatically during filming. A back room was cleared out and used as a sound stage,[13] where Max's Euclid supercomputer was built and the majority of the film was shot.
Finishing the film was more costly than shooting it. The post-budget was $68,183, most of which went into post-production sound, film and lab work, and film editing. Throughout the filming, fifty-three thousand feet of 16mm film was shot, amounting to about 23 hours over 28 days.[13]
The film was sent to be developed in Bono Labs in Arlington, Virginia, which was the only one to develop black and white reversal stock. Consequently, the crew only received dailies after a week of sending the footage in. Raw stock cost $5,414 and developing it cost $18,000. During post-production, most of the budget went toward the negative cut, which was a match back from an AVID cut list. Clint Mansell created the score on his equipment, for which he was paid a deferred fee.
The production cost was $60,927, with post-production costing an additional $68,183. Along with other expenses, including insurance, the film cost $134,815.[3]
