Lesson #4. The Sun Is A Cruel & Evil Bastard

I know. The Sun makes the wind blow and the crops grow. It is a source of life for all on this planet. However, as a lighting source for film shoots, it’s a first-rate bastard. For starters, it keeps moving. It allows clouds and aircraft to come between it and your shoot. All part of its plan to make life more challenging for filmmakers.

The Sun seems to be at its cruelest and most evil nature in the northern climates. It kicks off a much greater variation of light in those parts of the world than it does in, say, southern California or Arizona. In fact, people in those parts of the world might not even notice the Sun's diabolical scheme.

Yes, indeed. The Sun is clearly a cruel and evil bastard for inflicting such challenges on us. Personally, I say it's best to respond to this treachery against all filmmakers by circumventing its diabolical scheme. Shoot inside as much as possible.

Well, okay, perhaps I am being a bit on the melodramatic side. The Sun and clouds aren't really conspiring against the art of filmmaking. I know this, I really do. Still, it's not a bad idea to only shoot outside only when necessary. Life simply has enough stress in it as is. There's no need to add more challenges to it.

Lesson #5.The Little Things

Things go wrong. In life. On a movie set. They simply go wrong. You can call it Murphy's Law or whatever you might like, but it's still the truth.

In fact, I've often theorized that Mr. Murphy wrote his infamous law on the set of an indie film.

There’s no way you can prevent every conceivable cosmic miscue so it's a good idea to bring along a few things that can help you save yourself in a cinematic emergency.

Fishing line is great for holding things up or together – plus it’s strong and practically invisible.

Safety pins are also great things to have in a pinch, as is duct tape. Many a mishap can be solved, or at least temporarily patched with nothing but fishing line, safety pins and duct tape.

Lesson #6.Brother, Can You Spare A Camera?

A colleague of mine was filming a scene in India using a 16-mm camera, back before digital was worth working with. His camera jammed and he needed to film the arrival of a certain VIP. With no changing bag or film tent nearby, he managed to find a shaded area under a tree where he could rip out the jammed film stock and salvage enough of his roll to get the shot that he needed.

From that point forward, he made a point of carrying a spare camera and film with him on every shoot. While that may not always be practical at every budget level, I do think that for every piece of crucial equipment you should at least have an idea of what you would do if it died on you. Know where you can get a rented one when you find yourself in a serious jam.

On to the next Lesson Learned