Low-budget filmmaking tip #164
Try to avoid making a movie that takes place in a cramped location, such as a bathroom stall. If you must, then build a bathroom stall in your garage, with removable walls. You’ll be a lot happier if you do it this way, as will be your crew and your cast. Don’t be seduced by the idea that it’s easy to write.
(thank you Ryan K. Johnson for this tip!)
One of the shorts we’re planning to do for our upcoming web series all takes place in a tiny little coffin-like box. We definitely plan to build removable walls. Trying to shoot inside such a tiny thing would be stupid!
(not that we don’t do stupid stuff on occasion…)
Low-budget filmmaking tip #125
Everybody working lights should get a pair of gloves. Even a cheap-o dollar-store pair of gloves is better than nothing. Lights can get very hot and you don’t want second-degree burns becoming a “badge of honor” on your sets. Spring for gloves.
The light structures also get hot. That includes shutters, bodies, and sometimes even the C-stands. Even if a light is off, it’s associated hardware will remain hot for quite a while afterward.
Low-budget filmmaking tip #75
Dress your set. Walls have pictures, tables have things on them, shelves are sometimes in disarray. If you want to dress a lab, take some pictures in a real lab. If you want a carnie’s office, go visit a circus and buy someone coffee in exchange for an interview and a couple reference pictures. Make it real.