Round 2- General Tips for succeeding in the 48HFP (before the game begins)

Second post in a continuing series-

GENERAL TIPS FOR SUCCEEDING WITH YOUR TEAM before the madness begins:
- Pre-production is KEY. You can never have too many locations or music pieces released. Don’t be afraid of asking the impossible. People have shot in Reagan International Airport and Raven Stadium without having amazing connections. Be nice, be persistent and be upfront (as in you have no money, so don’t even ask).

- If you have CDs from small label artists, have you thought about finding a musician who could score the piece for you? Who cares if you don’t have recording equipment for stuff like that, you have a boom mic and a video camera don’t you? Record onto that! Music scored for your particular film adds SO much to the film it’s not funny. Really.

- Try to work with people who have no egos.

- Try to work with no more than 10ish crew members. More will drive you crazy and becomes a logistical nightmare (well, unless you’re only shooting at one location).

- You can’t have too much equipment. Stuff breaks. Shit happens.

- You can’t have enough batteries. Of all kinds. Especially those stupid 9 volt ones.

- Go through the genres. Decide which ones make you shake like a leaf. Decide on your genre accepting process. (You will draw a genre out of hat and then be given opportunity to consult with your team, after which you can keep your genre and leave OR take the evil wild card.)

- Test your editing system and your output method. Your output method SHOULD NOT BE DVD. Give them a tape. You’re allowed to hand in 2 tapes. It’s actually a good idea to do so in case something is screwed up on one of them.

- Have PAs with cars. PAs with cars are your HEROES.