In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes a micro-budget filmmaker can make is acquiring or writing a screenplay before knowing what props and locations they have access to. You'd be surprised at how many great locations and cool stuff you may already have available to you (or members of your production team) and without paying a dime. Think about it. Let's say you have a friend that works at an auto wrecking yard. You'd have the perfect connection for putting together an action flick with crashes & explosions. Know someone who runs a hamburger stand? What a perfect backdrop for a teenage love story or comedy. Know someone with a gun collection, etc.? You get the idea. If you had written the script before taking inventory, you could end up scrambling to find props & locations that fit. Yes, you might take the safe route and aquire a screenplay that's claustrophobic or very small in scope (all takes place in one room) but that's how films end up looking cheap.
After you've written the rough draft based on what you generally have to work with, it's time to fine tune the screenplay. The Producer, Director, & Writer should spend a day or two at each of the locations, taking notes. This way you can tailor the script to what is actually there. It doesn't do you any good to write "She runs out the back door" if there isn't one, right? By taking this approach, you can save alot of time not having to dress sets much, if at all. It also prevents last minute re-writes on location. Most importantly, it helps make sure everything that's there is used to its best advantage.
I used the above method writing the final draft of my latest feature, BLOOD REAPER. The producer, Mike Steward, made a deal to have cast & crew stay in cabins near Yosemite while shooting his horror story about river rafters being pursued by a legendary killer. Mike & I spent a day scouting out what kind of colorful locations were in the immediate area. It was a day well spent. We located a walk-in cave, an old rundown shack, nice, clear spots along the river, and even a funky campsite. All of them were written into the script. I even included scenes around the cabins we stayed at. The result is we have a production that looks like we spent alot more then we did.
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