Sometimes, though, DiY filmmakers are so concerned about what is going to be shot and how, that they forget to think about how the shoot is going to actually run. On a big-budget production, there are people who have specific jobs to do – and even people who just manage this sort of thing – but you’ve only got a handful of people.

The worst thing to do would be to just have everyone doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. A production need a division of labor, but how are you going to divide the work of 30 people into the size of your crew? We’ve broken it down below to show you how to divide things up to keep a DiY production moving smoothly on the day of the shoot.

Note: We are bringing you these positions today courtesy of these awful stock photos of a woman at a laptop.

1. The Person in Charge of the Story

This is probably you.

Someone needs to be tasked with rising above the technical side and seeing the story. This doesn’t mean they don’t worry about how things look at all, but their main focus is the performance of the actors and how the performances are going to cut together and work on screen.

While the technical elements are being set up for the next shot, the person in charge of the story is working with the actors on their lines, working on blocking, and generally worrying about things like continuity and whether or not your lead is looking at the camera.

2. The Person in Charge of the Way Things Look

The lighting, the camera placement, the exposure – the list goes on and on. There are so many things to take into consideration when setting up a shot. So many things that your production will suffer if someone’s job isn’t solely to make sure the shot looks great.

Many times, the DiY production combines the jobs of the story person and the visual person, but the key to a smooth production is diving those jobs as much as possible. If you are doing both, your actors are getting cold while you are adjusting the focus, and nothing is getting done while you work with the actors. In the end, the production suffers.

3. The Person Who Moves Things Along

Worrying about the day’s schedule isn’t something you want to be doing when working with actors or working with the shot. Someone else needs to be on top of that, and this is the third position that is needed to make a production successful.

This person needs to know what needs to be shot, where it needs to be shot, and when it needs to be shot. They need to oversee that with a strong hand and preferably a loud voice to match. Not for yelling, but for herding everyone in place to get their own jobs done and ready.

There is obviously going to be some down time associated with this job, so in that down time, this person should help the person in charge of making things look good.

4. The Person Worrying About Audio

Encore!

Audio is half the experience of a film, so make sure you treat it with respect and get someone who only has to worry about how a shot sounds. The benefits can go a long way to making a production feel like it has a studio behind it.

Next time you are out on a DiY shoot, try this: get everyone together and designate four people for these positions. Clearly explain each one to them, so everyone knows what each other’s job entails. The day may still have some chaos in it, but no matter what happens, you’ve got a group of four to cover it.

Here are some more tips for a smooth production day:

Don’t Make it Too Complicated

People can get prettying worked up with who does who, and who gets to be called what. Yes, a big production is going to have one guy who’s job it is to get the actress her 12 grapes at 15 minutes past the hour every hour, but you’ve got a handful of people. Keep it simple, keep it clear, but don’t be too rigid.

Remember Why You’re There

Everyone who showed up is there because they are interested in being a part of the production – they are not looking to get bossed around or belittled. Michael Bay can act like an asshole, but you can’t, because your crew can walk away. Keep your cool, and don’t get a big head.

Give the Extra People Jobs as Well

There are not always going to be four people on your shoot. If there are more, make sure to give them clear jobs from the start. Any management book will tell you that people that have clear objectives will perform better, and you can’t expect too much out of a crew member who shows up and is told to just “help out”.

As a Last Resort, Combine Jobs

Not everyone has four people (including themselves) on a shoot, so it’s okay to combine jobs if necessary. A four person crew may be the ideal, but less than that can still work.

I hope those tips help a production or two out there! Tell us about your DiY productions experiences in the comments.

Many people on a shoot automatically reach for duct tape in these situations. It’s a household item that is available at practically every general purpose store, and it’s cheap. But pull out a roll of duct tape in front of a pro and they’ll be horrified. Why? Duct tape is the worst thing you can use on a film shoot, and there is a better alternative: gaffers tape.

Why not use duct tape?

We shouldn’t just dismiss duct tape right away because it’s available and common, so let’s talk about why duct tape is a bad idea for shoots.

First of all, duct tape’s pressure sensitive adhesive leaves goop – everywhere – and since its made to stick it and leave it, it can be very difficult to remove. Try taping some cables down with duct tape and come back an hour later – your cables will have a charming thin sticky surface that is great for ruining them.

Maybe the worst use of duct tape for a production is that situation where you need to stick something to a wall or another part of your location, and when you remove the tape later, it takes a piece of the location with it. It’s always important to treat your locations with respect and leave them the way you found them, and taking some paint off a wall isn’t going to put the location owners on your good side.

Meet Gaffers Tape

Gaffers tape is a cloth tape with a different type of pressure sensitive adhesive that allows it to come off clean, eliminating the problems of duct tape above. You can tape down cables with no fear. Gaffers tape also has some other useful aspects:

1. Different sizes. Gaffers tape comes in different widths from very narrow (called “spike” tape) to wide tape which is useful for taping down larger groups of wires. For general purposes though, you can get gaffers tape that is roughly the size of duct tape for your shoot.
2. Different colors. From fluorescent pink to blue to black to white, gaffers tape comes in all sorts of colors for all different kinds of uses. I recently went to shoot on a location that was very brown so I got some brown gaffers tape in case any of it showed up on screen. Worked like a charm.
3. You can write on it. White gaffers tape and a sharpie makes for some extremely easy and fast labels for just about anything. Audio engineers often use it to mark inputs on boards that may change often.

Maybe the best part of gaffers tape is that you can scoff at duct tape users and brandish around your sweet roll of the real deal. While girls are not impressed by it (in my experience) you can still impress yourself.

Bottom line: for any shoot, big or small, gaffers tape is a wise investment. It’s certainly more expensive than plain duct tape, but it’s an essential tool for any production bag.