Radio-controlled is just askin’ for trouble, though.

If you’re going to use a puppet or build a model to be manipulated with strings or wires, make the strings removable at the model or puppet, so that if you’re doing a shot that doesn’t need this or that wire, you can physically remove it.

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“Hey, who is that guy?!”

Have your background extras dress and appear as generic as possible. This includes clothing, hair, whatever. If you notice them, they’re doing it wrong.

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You could always use a film camera, too.

If you want your video to look like film, one of the most effective choices you can make is to light it like film.

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Target: Good boundaries!

If you want to get a little experience under your belt, browsing online classifieds (such as Craigslist, Mandy, etc.) can help you find productions in your area that are crewing or casting. Usually, they pay little or nothing, but if you’re just starting to learn, this sort of experience can be invaluable.

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And if you’re winning at Powerball, you can hire people to make movies.

You know those stories about a filmmaker who maxed out every credit card and spent all their savings and retirement in a mad gamble at success? In those stories, just as this debt is about to rebound back, the gamble pays off, the movie is wildly successful, and everything turns out great?

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Plus, it adds adventure to your life!

Find those people who — when presented with a problem — ask “How can we make this work so we can keep moving forward?” Those are great people to have on set. Cultivate those connections.

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And check for humming technicians, too.

If you’re getting a hum in your sound, replace your cables with shielded cables, or new cables, or at least don’t run them next to or across power cables. Make sure they’re properly grounded.

Certain tasks should never be randomly assigned.

If you have a pyrotechnical device, never leave the arming key in the firing system if you have to walk away from it… NO EXCEPTIONS. And yes, you have an arming key, the removal of which will make the effect impossible to trigger. Of course you do.

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Really, Beware of Thunder!

Before you plan a shoot, record the ambient sound from the location and go somewhere else and really listen to it. Make sure you aren’t missing something that’s going to bedevil you later, such as an elevator, nearby crowd noises, crashing sounds from across the street, whatever. It’s usually easier to find a new location than to clean up crap audio.

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Nobody likes a Chatty-Cathy

Storytelling and dialogue are not the same thing. If no one gets the story, it’s not because there isn’t enough dialogue — it’s because the story doesn’t make sense. In fact, if you think you might need more dialogue, you probably need less.

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Study the Secrets!

A great source of quickie tutorials is the B&H site: BHPhotoVideo.com.

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Nobody Wins Anyway

Don’t fight. Seriously. Yes, there will be disagreements. Yes, there will be frustrations. Yes, there will be setbacks. That is normal. But please, don’t fight about it. There’s no need to yell or shout or scream or whinge on.

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Who needs a working brain?!

You know those little adapters that let you plug a three-prong plug into a two-hole socket? Don’t use those.

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Stop mumbling!

There are a lot of things you can fix in editing, but crappy line delivery isn’t one of them.

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But never allow a brogue delivery!

If you’re actors want to try a variation of a line, get the scripted line first, and then let them try their variations (assuming you have the time, of course).

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Unless you’re in the middle of the Giggle Loop™.

It’s not necessary that you weep at your sad scenes and laugh at your comic scenes, but if you don’t with some consistency, maybe you might want to think about rewriting them.

Sometimes all of the above.

For certain types of shots, recognize when more is better and communicate that to your crew. For example, more gore, more blood, more vomit, more air coming out of the wind machine.

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And it’s rarely in HD.

You might think having a setpiece that consists of video monitors tracking action all over a location is a cool thing, and in a lot of ways it can be, but think of each one of those video feeds as a completely separate short movie you have to make before you make the movie.

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…assuming you have a trailer.

The night before a shoot, check all costumes, props, locations, actors, gear, food, and crew. make sure everything’s ready. Make sure batteries are charging, tapes are striping*, etc.

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Your mom always loves your work.

It’s okay to run a script by a buddy or two, but don’t go overboard.

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