I'm not exactly a seasoned indy vet, but two things I discover a lot in post (and never seem to remember during production) are the importance of slating takes (both in and out if possible) and leaving lots of roll-out--ten seconds at least. If it's a wide or establishing shot, plenty of roll-in doesn't hurt either. A lot of the time it requires some struggling with the actors to stay in character after they deliver their last line, but it can be a real life-saver in editing to have some usable footage at the end of the take.

Oh, and take the time to rehearse scenes with actors beforehand. If you don't have time, MAKE time.

My two cents. Of course, I'm just as guilty of breaking these rules as anyone else. But helps to at least know what you SHOULD be doing, so you can make a judgment call about how much time you're willing to sacrifice in post.

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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my vodcast on iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=96931870
and my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com

(1) Actors are constantly drinking water. Get bottles of the stuff and make sure you have enough. Additionally the bottles they have at Costco and most bulk wharehouses are nicely priced but actually bigger than what you want. You'll find half finished bottles everywhere as they get put down and people forget whos was whos and then grab another so it is best to grab the smaller size bottles even if you pay more per ounce.

(2) Have a cell phone and every actors phonenumber with you. I made the mistake of giving the actors my phone number and directions, etc and expecting them to call me if they had any trouble finding the location. Despite all the info I was never called and a big fiasco occured that could easily have been avoided if I'd had the numbers on me. You are running the show, you are responsible, you should have the ability to call them and see what is up and if everything is all right.

(3) Be nice. Be patient. Getting angry will rarely help anything and it might tarnish your reputation and get folks to storm off which just makes the matter worse. Instead see if you can help.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Yeah, good advice so far. Just expect the unexpected and take everything with good humour and positivity; as the producer or director you're the leader of a little army of people who look to you for guidance, you need their respect by doing a great job, and you need to keep them positive and excited no matter what happens, if you can acheive that then it doesn't matter what else you've overlooked you'll get over it.

Insurance is a bit of an impossible dream when starting out, it's very expensive for media companies and even moreso in the US because of the "sueing culture", I get charged more on my UK insurance because I deal with a lot of US companies. Longer term you basically need "public liability" which covers you in case you drop a light on the member of the public and they sue you for medical expenses. "Employee liability" covers your employees and freelancers in the same way, these are both basically legal requirements in the UK and I expect in the US as well, there are millions of other insurances when you get to distribution stage like errors and omissions, but on a small indie short going to a few festivals you really don't need it. As for the liabilities which I doubt you could afford make sure you run a safe set; don't have cables and shit all over the floor, run things off batteries, have minimal crew, avoid very public places with lots of people, don't have stunts or hang off of high buildings etc. etc.

Steve Piper
Coffee Films
www.coffeefilms.com
www.myspace.com/coffeefilms

I don't have employer liability, but public liability and $10k of equipment insurance costs me about 200 pounds a year.

That's pretty good, who's your insurer?

Steve Piper
Coffee Films
www.coffeefilms.com
www.myspace.com/coffeefilms

Some weirdly-named company in Devon :). AAduki I think, I'd have to look on the insurance forms to get the exact spelling...