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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

What 3-4 key crew positions would you hire for your micro-budget feature?

What 3-4 key crew positions would you hire for your micro-budget feature?

  • Line Producer/UPM

    Votes: 2 6.1%

  • 1st AD

    Votes: 7 21.2%

  • Scripty

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 1st AC

    Votes: 6 18.2%

  • Gaffer

    Votes: 2 6.1%

  • Key Grip

    Votes: 1 3.0%

  • Sound Mixer

    Votes: 7 21.2%

  • Boom Op

    Votes: 2 6.1%

  • Production Designer

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Total voters
    33
Carey Lee Coffey

Carey Lee Coffey

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Okay, let's assume you're producing, directing, shooting and editing a micro-budget feature that you've written; it's mostly dialogue and takes place in one location.

You only have enough money in the budget to hire 3-4 professional on-set crew positions, besides yourself - which would give you 5 professionals on set. The rest of the crew will have to be recent film school grads.

Which 3-4 professionals would you hire?
 
Last edited:
- Director/Director of Photography
- Assistant Camera/Grip
- Sound
- Gaffer/Grip
- Grip
 
Carey Lee Coffey said:
I'm thinking (In order of necessity)

Sound Mixer
Boom Op
1st AC
1st AD
Click to expand...

Not sure why AD is even necessary on a small shoot the director or producer should handle that job.
Gaffer and Production Designer/Art Director is most important.

All other positions can easily
be filled with high quality film students...yes even sound and A.C.
But isn't really an important issue.As most small films don't work out not because of bad
sound..or bad acting..or even a bad script. Mostly it's the weakness in the overall conecpt
of the film not being able to sustain the audience for over an hour.
 
Steve Das said:
Not sure why AD is even necessary on a small shoot the director or producer should handle that job.
Gaffer and Production Designer/Art Director is most important.

All other positions can easily
be filled with high quality film students...yes even sound and A.C.
But isn't really an important issue.As most small films don't work out not because of bad
sound..or bad acting..or even a bad script. Mostly it's the weakness in the overall conecpt
of the film not being able to sustain the audience for over an hour.
Click to expand...

I think having an AD would be nice if the Producer/Director/DP is one guy, he's got a very full plate.

I don't know if I would trust film grads to handle the sound dept.

I feel more comfortable allowing the film grads to handle the gaffer/grip positions, assuming the DP takes the lead and is essentially Gaffer number 1, with the film grad assisting as gaffer 2.

I'm on the fence about having a 1st AC that is fresh out of film school. A pro AC is so valuable.

The production designer is indispensable, but what if all the production design is done in preproduction? Remember, it's one location.
 
For me I'd go with

Sound Mixer
First AC
Gaffer / Grip
Production Design.

I think the 2 main things that give a film a good look that you do on set are good lighting and good production design. Being a DP myself I wouldn't need to hire one, so I would spend additional money on a production designer.
Being that sound is equally if not more so important than picture I would definitely hire a sound mixer. A film student you get to help can be a boom op, its not that difficult.
A good AC can really make huge differences on set, and besides this, if you get a film student to do it you'd risk having a great take ruined by not being sharp.
Good Gaffer and a Grip would round out my 5.
 
Speaking from experience and in no particular order...

  • PM/AD
  • Sound Mixer/Boom*
  • 1st A.C. (Focus Puller)*
  • Production Designer/Wardrobe
*Critical that they're pros.


A gaffer would be ideal, but it depends on your lighting package and setups.
 
Last edited:
Sound - Assuming you're shooting so your images are covered. Without good sound and picture whats the point off the rest.
AC / Focus puller if you need one. Same reason.
Gaffer or Grip - You can set lighting if you know what you want but if you need bigger lights or rigging it becomes a safety issue and thats not something to leave to newbies.
Line Producer or AD - in small production many hats are worn but you basically need someone to tell newbies what to do and where to go so you can be focused on shooting / directing. Food/water/blah
 
Jim Hoffman said:
Sound - Assuming you're shooting so your images are covered. Without good sound and picture whats the point off the rest.
AC / Focus puller if you need one. Same reason.
Gaffer or Grip - You can set lighting if you know what you want but if you need bigger lights or rigging it becomes a safety issue and thats not something to leave to newbies.
Line Producer or AD - in small production many hats are worn but you basically need someone to tell newbies what to do and where to go so you can be focused on shooting / directing. Food/water/blah
Click to expand...


Without knowing more about the project I agree with these, although I'd say the AD is a necessity.
 
Carey Lee Coffey said:
Okay, let's assume you're producing, directing, shooting and editing a micro-budget feature that you've written; it's mostly dialogue and takes place in one location.

You only have enough money in the budget to hire 3-4 professional on-set crew positions, besides yourself - which would give you 5 professionals on set. The rest of the crew will have to be recent film school grads.

Which 3-4 professionals would you hire?
Click to expand...

Line Producer- to handle all of the logistics/questions etc- so that the DP/Director can focus on their job
Sound Mixer- for professional audio
Gaffer-for expertise and efficiency of a pro
1st AC-if I wasn't confident of pulling focus myself-or Grip depending on the set etc

Since the production is all in one location-I would do the Production Design beforehand and ensure there was a written schedule of scenes, shotlists and props/wardrobe required for each scene -and then hand the responsibility to a school grad.

What about Make-up?
 
I think you get into a situation where you hire the person more than the position. Every person will have a unique set of overlaps in their knowledge, skill and experience. Speak more deeply with each candidate and assemble a team that can and will work well together and get everything done.
 
I'll assume you have done the Directing/DP/Camera Operator thing before and can pull this off (no easy task).

Ideally, you would have hired professionals in all of the key positions. Sound Mixer, Gaffer, Key Grip, Production Designer, Hair/Makeup, etc. And then figure the other positions out from there. But it sounds like this is a contained production with a single location.

I would prioritize based on what are the most important aspects to your film. You mentioned this is mostly dialogue scenes. Right there that tells me that you need to put a big emphasis on the sound department. That's my first hire. An experienced, professional sound mixer. They might be able to recruit a boom operator willing to work for lower rate.

What is the look of the film? Is the location lighting simple, complex? What size lighting package will you have? If the answer is the lighting will be complex and the lighting package is large, then a professional gaffer would be important here.

With a lot of dialogue, it might be in your best interest to have a script supervisor, someone with experience who knows what to look for, how to take proper notes that help out editorial, etc.

Sounds like production design will happen in preproduction. Assuming that the set won't need things done on the fly, with a keen eye on details, maybe you can get by without this as a key position.

A skilled AC is critical in my opinion. Aside from pulling focus, they can make sure gear is prepped properly, lenses are in order, oversee camera settings, etc. For a feature, I would not want to skimp on this position.

If you are handling the producing, directing and DP roles then you are going to want someone you can trust to handle the other going ons of the set. Perhaps a PM/1st AD type. If you start to get pulled away from your main tasks, the results will start to suffer. It takes experience to be a good 1st AD or PM.

So, based on what I can gather from your description of the project, here is what I think you need.

The Professionals (i.e. people with more than a couple of years of experience)
- Sound Mixer
- 1st AC
- Script Supervisor
- 1st AD/PM

Then, you can hopefully find eager talent in other departments that don't have as much experience but are on their way up.
- Hair/Makeup
- Gaffer (again assuming the lighting is not complex)
- 2nd AC
- DIT
- Production Design/Art Department (assuming you really can nail this in prepro)
- Boom Op
- Key Grip (if you have a lot of camera moves make sure this position is filled by someone that has skill in camera movement)
- Wardrobe (watch out for wardrobe continuity)

Hopefully it all goes well for you. Features are tough, even with a full crew of professionals. However, there is also something to be said for a small crew that is made up of very savvy people. So really depends on what kind of team you can put together. Look forward to seeing your results and how you pulled them off.
 
Brandon J.F. said:
Speaking from experience and in no particular order...

  • PM/AD
  • Sound Mixer/Boom*
  • 1st A.C. (Focus Puller)*
  • Production Designer/Wardrobe
*Critical that they're pros.


A gaffer would be ideal, but it depends on your lighting package and setups.
Click to expand...

This would be my choice. Also, you say you are shooting in one location. You might think about hiring a great gaffer for a day of two to get lighting established and teach the students something they could repeat.

And Steve S might be right about pushing all production design/wardrobe into preproduction and having Scripty on set, though a really good student might work here. You will absolutely need an AD/UPM/Line Producer type. Three hats is enough for you to wear.
 
Terry VerHaar said:
I think you get into a situation where you hire the person more than the position. Every person will have a unique set of overlaps in their knowledge, skill and experience. Speak more deeply with each candidate and assemble a team that can and will work well together and get everything done.
Click to expand...

I agree whole-heartedly.

I only want a data wrangler and a couple of gopher/roustabouts to do the heavy lifting.
 
just about everyone needs to be gripping things and the director will have to be script supervising...
three things necessary:
image + sound = data

dp/grip
sound/grip
data/grip
 
One other thought... You really should have enough media (picture and sound) to get through the whole day without having to dump data and format. You really don't want to deal with this when you have such a small crew. Dump the data and backup after you wrap for the day.

I would also suggest you work in off days that you can use to rough cut scenes. That way you can make sure you get what you need. Especially for more complicated scenes. Even after a full day I would often go home after we wrap and log and rough cut everything we shot. I would keep these rough cuts on my iPad too for reference on set.

One other thing that's helpful is storing snapshots (from your r3ds) on your iPad that you can use as continuity references on set. Lighting, wardrobe, set dressing, etc. You can also setup a shared Dropbox folder that your Production Designer can access too.
 
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