Tips
and Tricks
"Yeah, when making a film YOUR SHOT LIST IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!! When I went into my first day of three for The Night Hag, I didn’t have a shot list. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted and thought that was fine. Every single bit of footage from that first night got scrapped and we ended up shooting the rest of the film in two days WITH A SHOT LIST."
- Ryan M
"Creating a detailed shot list is very important. It helps you stay organised on set and it gives your crew a better idea of what the film is going to look like (especially if you don’t have a storyboard)."
- Stefana
Vicui Story Board by Stefana
Shot List by Stefana
2 - Plan, plan and contingency plan!
1 - Shot Lists
"You need to plan well before filming, especially if you’re going into a location you have never been to before. Knowing where I was going to film in the Netherlands took a lot of planning, as I had to research if it was legal to film and if it would fit into the style of documentary I was trying to make."
- David
"Not everything goes to plan as was the case with the coronavirus pandemic, it’s good to have a backup to fall back on. IIf such a thing as lockdown was to occur again, at least you could resort to Plan B and still make something."
- Ryan D
"Always have a contingency project because you don’t know what will happen."
- Daniel
Planner Gannt Chart by Amy
"2020 has proven that even the most carefully though out plans can be ruined, so always make sure you have plenty of contingencies in place just in case."
- Madaleine
"Time Management would certainly be the biggest lesson that I learned, or nearly learned, from this project. Give tasks more time than you think necessary, and plan for things going off track and taking longer in practice than anticipated."
- Eoghan
3 - Take care of yourself
"If you find that you are struggling with your mental health, talk to someone, seek the appropriate help and do not suffer in silence. You will feel better by opening up and it will also enable you to manage the project easier with less stress."
- Chris
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Here are some helpful sources on mental health.
BreathingSpace
Call: 0800 83 85 87
Click the arrow below to take you to their site
Samaritans
Call: 116 123
Click the arrow below to take you to their site
NHS
Click the arrow below for a list of NHS contact points.
Think Positive
Email: thinkpositive@nus-scotland.org.uk
Click the arrow below to take you to their site
4 - If you want it go get it
"Don't rely too heavily on the promises of others! I used real people's stories in my film. I asked on one of my Facebook groups and got at least 20 people saying they would send me audio. In the end I got two audio files! I had to work with it and I thought it still worked out pretty well."
- Bethany
"The main thing I took from this was just how proactive you need to be in projects, the interviews won’t just appear, you need to go and get them."
- Gage
"When needing something, such as research, from others don't just message once. Set a clear timeframe stating when you would like to hear back by. If someone hasn't responded close to that deadline, send them a follow up message. Don't open with 'sorry to be a pain' either; there's no reason to be sorry for wanting a response, even if it's a no."
- Amy
"It’s key to always be organised when you’re the host of a podcast so you don’t get flustered on air. Make sure your notes are in order. I’d recommend just writing bullet points as you will come across more natural instead of writing a script and reading it word for word."
- Scott
5 - Be authentic to connect
"Even the projects you hate can make an impact. I'm not a big fan of An Ode to Aphrodite and feel like I could do 100x better but I've had some really sweet comments from my FB groups saying that they connected with the stories deeply. I think that makes my dissatisfaction of the film worth it."
- Bethany
Sourced from UnSplash via Wix
6 - Teamwork makes the dream work
"Make sure you have a wide range of contacts you can reach out to for advice, as having a more experienced perspective can help you look at things in a different way."
- Madaleine
"Always have a strong team. Although I made my HND project alone on set, I was never truly working alone. From my producer to fellow content creators, I always had a team of people to bounce ideas off and to have a critical dialogue with. So always have a strong team behind you."
- Daniel