Microbudget Movies:
Crew

With microbudget movies (or many other types of movies for that matter) you don’t really need a terribly large crew to get the job done. In fact, the larger the crew the more difficult it is to get anything done because so much information has to be passed along to so many different people. You’re probably not going to have the luxury of hundreds of specialists but most Hollywood directors would kill for the chance to work with a lean, efficient, multi-talented crew of dedicated individuals. This is where you can shine.

You don’t want to think too much in terms of “departments” like the Grip Department or Wardrobe Department, you want to think in terms of “tasks” that need to be performed and the fewest number of people you can get away with and still perform them at a high level of proficiency. Do not worry about appearances. If you can get the job done with a handful of people then do it.

The two technical areas of greatest importance for a microbudget movie are obviously camera and sound. If you’re shooting video you’ll probably be recording the sound straight to the camera so you’ll need someone behind the lens and preferably someone to hold the microphone on a boom pole. With those two jobs covered you can shoot a professional quality feature film. Of course that also means that you’re either going to work those two people to death if they have to set up and move lights, apply makeup and do every other possible task that might pop up or you’re going to have to call on other people, like the actors for assistance.

You may have a core group of crew members who are there all of the time and then recruit other people to help out on shooting days where the technical requirements of the script demand a more complicated setup. As mentioned in the Pre-Production section, shooting outdoors (in sunlight of course) can alleviate the burden of a large lighting rig but you still may want someone to hold a reflector to bounce some of that sunlight where you want it to go.

The trick is to find the optimal number of people required for your kind of shoot. If you don’t have enough people you run the risk of wasting too much time as everyone has to “multi-task” beyond their endurance (or skill) level. If you have too many people the whole process can bog down as you try to get everyone on the same page and you also end up with some very bored people who are basically just standing around all day doing nothing and probably not get paid for it. This is a recipe for disaster. Volunteers should be kept busy without being run into the ground.

As with the actors it’s not a good idea to lie to people or make promises you can’t keep. Everyone should know what they’re getting into. Better to have someone turn you down at the start as opposed to quitting in the middle of the shoot, or worse, walking off the set in the middle of a shooting day.

Case Study: Crew