Superheroes

• A little creativity conjures an every-day superhero.Jupiterimages/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  Superhero films continue to grow in popularity, and a little inventiveness can go a long way. If your story is less comic book and more graphic novel -- that is, it's based more in reality than in four-color print -- give your hero a vigilante spin. T-shirt, gloves, sport pants, work boots or colorful tennis shoes and a simple, dollar store mask arms your character with everything he needs to brood by day and pummel by night.
  
  

Westerns

• The right hat and scarf can make a cowboy.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  While pulling off a Western without Main Street and a dozen horses or two may be tricky, aspiring filmmakers can pull off a "lone gunman" or "fugitive on the run" story, if the local landscape is compatible (open fields, sprawling ranch, or desert, for example). Outfit your cowboys with a dirty white button-down shirt, scruffy khakis and a vest. Purchase these items cheaply (for less than $10 at time of publication) at a local thrift store. And a search on an auction site found worn boots for less than $10 and a cowboy hat for $1.
  
  

Mobsters

• Mobsters are all about crisp clothes.Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  If you're planning to make a mobster flick, chances are your cast can to provide the costumes for you. The trick to pulling off the right mob look is in the handling of the clothes. Have your cast provide you with the clothes before the shoot and have each suit and shirt cleaned and pressed. Polish everyone's shoes. Use brass brads (the kind you use to bind your screenplays) for cufflinks. Cut up an old white sheet to make handkerchiefs for every pocket. The trick is to make everyone look crisp and clean -- even if the actual wardrobe is only worth $40 and not $4,000.
  
  

Biblical Times

• If your story is set 2,000 or so years ago, dressing your players for the period is a cinch. Round up all the extra sheets you can and learn to tie a toga knot. If the sheets are older, even better. Worn sheets will provide more of a lived in look than newer ones. To provide variety, dye a portion of the sheets various shades of brown. Use these as sashes and belts. You could also investing in rope, cut in shorter lengths, to provide belts. Sandals can be purchased at local thrift stores or online. Or your cast can go without.
  
  

Zombie Apocalypse

• Zombie culture includes ripped clothes, fake blood and attitude.Christopher Robbins/Digital Vision/Getty Images
  
  Zombie films offer one of the more painless costumes to create, outside modern day clothing. Simply find clothing you plan to donate or throw away; cut, rip and tear the clothing to provide the appropriate gruesomeness, and have your undead cast suit up. The real trick to creating the right effect, however, is how bloody you make the clothing: the (fake) bloodier, the better. Whip up a batch of non-stain fake blood by mixing corn syrup with washable red paint and washable blue paint (the blue darkens the red).