In a pinch, the producer can also act as assistant director and take care of the slate and the overall on-set management. However, this is best taken care of by another crew member who also acts as the assistant camera operator and takes care of all of the camera information, handles tape changes, assists with tricky camera movement and focus-pulling and generally is the camera operator's right arm.

Audio is another part of the production that must have at least two crew members, to ensure the quality of the sound recording. Today's cameras record very high-quality audio, so many small crews record the audio directly through their cameras, using external microphones. (Never use the camera microphone if you can help it, among other issues, the camera mic picks up the noise of the camera.)

However, just because you are recording the audio to your camera, don't think that the camera operator should be responsible for the audio as well as the video. Have a crew member monitor the audio with headsets and look over the camera operator's shoulder to monitor the camera's meters, if you can see them.

If you are shooting HDV, you may want to use a dual system with a separate Flash drive audio recorder. HDV cameras do not record the quality audio you will get with MiniDV cameras, because of the space on the tape needed for the video signal. If you use a dual system (camera and audio recorder), use your camera mic to record a scratch audio track you can later use to sync with the audio from the Flash recorder. (To learn more abut dual audio recording, see our Audio column in this issu…