The 40 Ft. Trailers or a Paint Tray?

It's always good to have a budget for the big trailers full of gear, with an 8+8 crew.  Equipment and man power to do your and the Gaffer's bidding.  But I sometimes feel we need to step back from this paradigm, we need to get back to our roots - shooting on no budget projects with little or no gear.  It really stretches your creativity, your improvisational skills to create a look out of nothing.  It also reminds me of why I got into this crazy business in the first place, the spirit and enthusiasm of the crew members (mostly younger, less experienced) is infectious and I invariably have a great time.  My first music video was no budget,  I donated the film stock, borrowed a camera, probably had maybe 3 beat up mole lights.  We shot with a lot of available light, had a construction foam insulation board for our exterior reflector.  Our final day of shooting we were in a loft.  The small lighting package was maxed to it's limit, but I still needed some light on the key opposite side of our actresses' face.  The foam board had been left at the last exterior location.  In desperation, I grabbed a roller paint tray that had dried white paint, left over from some construction project and held it just out side of the frame.  It gave a beautiful, soft light off of the key, just enough to bring the exposure to where I wanted it.  That shot's still on my reel.  We can be creative with a lot, or with a little.  I wouldn't want to use a paint tray on all of my shoots, but experiences like that keep us humble and we appreciate the larger budget projects with a different perspective.

I'd like to hear your thoughts or experiences regarding on how you keep it real, keep your perspective - treadway45@gmail.com  @456split   

If you'd like to know more about this project, or what I do
http://www.stephentreadway.com