What is the minimum crew needed for a short film?

[Alex O]

What is the minimum crew needed to shoot a low-budget short, along the lines of Blair Witch Project or something else with minimum production values.

Can I get away with three people? One for camera, one for sound, and one for lights? Or is this unrealistic?

How many did you use for your latest film?

[DAD]

Alex, one person can shoot a film. It's not fun or easy and it won't look as good as when you have a crew, but it can be done. 3 people, camera, light, sound, is a good place to start. And the director can usually double as camera/DP. You might even be able to drop the sound guy if you are shooting single system sound (direct into the camera). A sound guy is only really needed if you are going to have multiple mic sources and you need it to be mixed for double system sound or direct to camera.

A good crew size for location work on a hit and run indy is between 5 to 10 people. The last feature I worked on as AD had a crew of about 20 people and a cast of 14 speaking rolls and 20 extras. We shot it in three days over a weekend on DVCam. It got crowded REAL fast in the house we were working in. I would have preferred a smaller crew but it wasn't something I had control over.

[Alex O]

Would you really rely on the camera's mike for sound? I can understand how one-man high school production might have to, but would anyone else?

I've read a number of times that poor sound is one, if not the, most common problem for low-budget films, and that you should always use a separate mike if you want it to be watchable.

[DAD]

I'm not saying use the camera mic ... When you record to the camera sound track you should always use an external mic. I have a shotgun and 4 lav mics that I use. I'm going to be picking up a second shotgun shortly. When we shot the feature we recorded to the camera track but we used 4 wireless mics, one boom mic and a 4 channel mixer that took 2 wireless and the boom and mixed it down for input into the camera. Second system sound records to an external device such as a DAT recorder or a MiniDisc recorder. A DAT is the best way to record as you can actually keep your various mic channels seperate s that all the mic channels are available for editing seperately.

Only a VERY novice person would record using the camera mic. Although when I was in school and shooting with the XL1 we got some pretty good results from the on camera mic. Since the mixers the school had only worked half the time we ended up using camera mics a lot. LOL The DAT machines they had worked even less than half the time.

[hollowhead]

You should NOT worry about how many people are making the film, you should only be concerned with getting the film off the ground and complete. You only need people you really need eg characters or camera.
Sometimes i shoot on my own, i just set the tripod up and start rolling and i put myself in the movie.

[MrWelldone]

Minimum is one.