Often we as independent filmmakers feel that we need a big crew in order to produce a film that looks and feels professional. I find however, that on many types of independent films (specifically those with limited budgets) working with a smaller crew can be optimal, which is why even established directors that have access to large budgets still sometimes opt to work with smaller crews. Large crews introduce more headaches and problems when there aren’t enough bodies on set to manage everybody, and ultimately the vision and messaging in the film itself runs the risk of getting watered down. Watch today’s instalment of ‘Tip Of The Day’ for more on this.
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2 Comments
Liam
atHey man,
Perhaps you could do a short piece about starting to work with small crews? That’s kind of where I am right now as I mostly work alone but am starting to need to collaborate with people and have help otherwise I end up running around like a lunatic. The last music video I did I basically filled every role on set, I even bought the coffee and biscuits for the actors on the way there. So might be useful to those like me who are just getting into the world where they need help and can’t go it alone.
Unless you’ve already done that and I haven’t read it! Ha
All the best
Liam
Noam Kroll
atHey Liam! I did a piece a while ago on this topic, but I will definitely revisit it at some point soon. I am making a feature film with a very small crew and will be documenting it here in the near future, so hopefully that helps as well.
Here’s the original article I wrote for now: http://noamkroll.com/how-to-shoot-a-film-with-a-skeleton-crew/