Now that you have your script and storyboard, your equipment and gear, your locations and subjects and a realistic budget, you are ready to start shooting. So what are some of the things to think about while you are shooting.

First you need to figure out if you are shooting alone or with help from someone. We will assume you are by yourself to make it harder, but if you have help, just distribute the tasks. The main things we will focus on are camera control, audio control, light control, human control, footage considerations, safety (personal and equipment).

keep reading after the page break

preproduction of a movie

Camera? Check! Concept? Check! Video editing software that does not require a degree in nuclear physics to figure out? Check!

It seems that an HD camera and a laptop are the only tools you need in order to make a home movie these days. However, even for a home movie, there are degrees of quality and effectiveness. In other words, just because you plan on editing your movie on the 16 hours of flight-time and the 8 hours of layovers back to North America does not mean that your home movie should look…well, home-made. There are three basic stages to movie-making that all professionals follow and all amateurs should follow. This post will focus on the first.

Find out more after the jump.

Photo credit: jeltovski from morguefile.com

I have never felt so stupid as the time I met an old college friend for dinner. We got all caught up on friends and family and then began a round of social critique. The University we attended had a large population of a particular ethnic identity, who tends to allow their women/men to befriend people beyond “their own,” but will hardly tolerate dating or marriage. So, here I go complaining about how this group needs to open up and how they think we’re not good enough, only to watch a grimace develop in my direction. It turns out she was very much part of that group. Yes, I could taste my knee that day and I could hardly wish harder for a way to edit speech. Of course, we can’t edit speech.

But, while we wait for the time-travel widget on our iphones, I have good news: you CAN edit your writing before it is published. Wait, don’t roll your eyes just yet. The key phrase for writers is just after the jump.