So as I'm writing this, there's 7 days left till production on my short, Tea Break, goes ahead. Below are a few bullet points on what you need to be doing in the last few days of production on a short.

• Make sure the cast are happy. Have rehearsals if neccesssary, so on the day time is spent polishing and defining the performances.
• Is the kit ready? Make sure you have absolutley everything you need. Kit hire companys are able to hire out equipment at short notice incase you forget anything. Do you have enough cards? If not, make sure you bring a hard drive to offload footage on set.
• Make sure all costumes are in place. Low budget shorts often ask the actors to wear their own clothes, and that's what I'll be doing. If you are bringing costumes, get the measurements right!
• You should have your locations ready now. Are the people you are liasing with aware of what exactly you're doing? Someone may have agreed to filming, but do they know there'll be 15-20 people there? Is there electricity available? People can assume it'll just be you with a camera, so you explain fully what you'll be doing on the day.
• Have petty cash ready. You don't want a situation where the crew are scraping money for some AA batteries.
• Food! People need to eat. Have meals ready, and stuff to snack on. Bourbons and custard creams can be as vital as the camera. I'm joking, custard creams are optional.
• Are you absoutley happy with your script? Don't regret not changing that final line of dialogue.
• Transport - how is your crew going to get to the shoot? I have a dilemma for my short, as we're shooting early in Stoke. Weighing up whether it's worth people travelling to Stoke on the day or staying over the night before.
• Finally, any last minute nerves that it all might go wrong? Talk everything through with your assistant director. They are there on the day to solve any logistical problems, so you can concentrate on the actors.

If it should go fine on the day, it'll probably will. Just like the bourbons, the day will go very quickly so make sure you enjoy yourself.