Light

I would recommend not use hard light when filming on digital; try and reflect or bounce light. To do this, try and get hold of any large surfaces that are reflective, as the young filmmaker will probably not be able to afford polystyrene boards (Which I used on my film). Also I would recommend using a filter such as a Black Promist Tiffen filter to diffuse the light, and soften the harder lights down so they integrate better with other colors.

Sound

I would say that nothing beats a good shot-gun microphone. They range from a typical camcorder grade all the way up to professional models that retail for around £600. If you were to take a typical shot-gun that comes as a camcorder accessory, you would be able to record very satisfactory sound, but you would need to ensure the microphone did not connect to your camera, as the internals of the machinery can be recorded. I would recommend getting a roller kit/roller extension stick from Woolworths/B&Q for £4.99, and take the head off. Then you are left with an extendable poll which you can use as a boom-mic. Just attach the shot-gun mic carefully to the front.

If you are going to be recording your sound seperately, you really must use a clapper boars. This way, you can sync up the sound and video by matching the 'clap' at the beginning of a scene. Young filmmakers may want to record sound straight to a DAT machine or a laptop computer. this is particularly useful for non-linear editing as one can then drag and drop the sound bite and then sync up wit hthe video using the clapper method. You may noy even need to record the sound seperatey, however. You can take the feed from your boom-mic and plug in directly into the back of your camera. The problem with this method is that most consumer-grade digital cameras have auto-gain sound, so large shifts in volume (buses driving past, etc) will really affect the sound.

Selling a movie

Make sure you go to as many film festivals as possible and register your film. It doesn't cost much to have it play in a small video booth. Then you can start trying to talk people into viewing it. Don't be scared to talk to top executives from Paramount, or any other big studio. They are really a very nice bunch of people and if they can't view your film off the bat, maybe they can arrange a time to have a viewing. The key is not to be afraid to talk to other people in the industry about your movie - festivals are great places to make contacts.

Grabbing people's attention

When you write out your press pack (for funding proposals/festival submissions,etc) , you must be straight to the point. don't write any more than 8 lines of text; when your film appears on a busy person's desk, 8 lines is probably all they'll have time to read. In terms of Genres, I think Horror/Action works very well and its not particularly hard to do. I saw a large grossing film recently called Jeepers Creepers, and I sat there thinking: 'I could have shot this'. Whatever, your film must be way out there. If you write a script that 'examines the social implications of blah blah blah' people may well fall asleep when you describe your idea. Whereas if it catches their attention, no matter how out there it is, then you at least you stand a chance of taking the project further.