There are some great tips on this list for budding filmmakers on a budget, whether you're in school or college, dipping your toe in the filmmaking waters for the first time, or just looking to help a friend out with a video. However, there's one tip that stands out to me, even if it sounds useless at face value: Be creative.
Telling someone to "be creative" can feel akin to telling someone to "be intelligent" or "be tall", but it's a skill that can be trained. Moreover, if you go into a shoot with creativity as one of your primary objectives, rejecting anything that isn't interesting and unique, you will find that creativity can be called upon. When I started photographing products commercially, I had very little money and the brands were small and without much budget. If I wanted to keep as much of that small budget as possible, I needed to get creative. It can take more time, that's one of the trade-offs, but you'll be surprised at what you can do.
