When i was shooting my first batch of shorts i only had one angle for each shot, so when it came time to edit, I was stuck with what I had. Coverage is all about 
getting the master shot that is rather wide, but has all the action. Then move into a medium shot, then into a close-up. throw in some two shots and an establishing shot or two of the location. The odds are you probably won't use a lot of it, but the point is you'll have the choice not to. some of my best shots have come from this method.

On the other hand, don't waste your time shooting things you know won't make it into the final cut. this could be a new line of dialogue by an enthusiastic actor, an angle dreamt up by your sound guy or something random that happens on the location. it goes back to the vision of the film. know the direction you're going with it, and 
what would be appropriate. I'm not saying to totally disregard these spontaneous suggestions (because they occasionally do work) but if you're like me, you have zero budget and you're working against the clock. shoot to edit.

I guess I'm in a unique position as a writer, director, camera operator and editor, where I can see how all the pieces fit together. If you're an editor, get involved in the 
writing process (and I don't mean helping them with their third draft, but simply find out what the writer had in mind visually when s/he wrote it). After all, it all came from their imagination. Next, find out what a director has to go through. they have a lot to deal with, and sometimes because of time and money, creative solutions 
have to be found. It's the vision with that spark of inspiration plus a little luck is what gets these things shot at all.

A few words about the shoot. 

When you have an over-the-shoulder shot, where two people are having a conversation, shoot it in such a way that you can't see the other person's mouth (the one with their back to the camera). This makes it easy to overdub their lines. Watch any show, even news interviews, and you'll notice this. 

Tripods are your friends. I shot everything handheld for years until I discovered the 
joy of the tripod. It just makes everything more pro. If you're going to shoot handheld, make sure you have a justifiable reason, other than 'it looks cool'. and never mix the two, because when you go to put two shots together, and one is steady while the other shakes, it will look like total crap and you will be mad. 

Finally, always remember to shoot with the sun at your back. Nothing is worse than 
trying to match a dark and light shot. cheat it if you have to. I've shot an over-the-shoulder with the sun behind me, then switched the actors and shuffled down to get a different background, and voila, both are lit properly and no one knows the difference.

For help with lighting, get a piece of white foamcore and use it to bounce light back 
into the actor's face.  Acceptable lighting and sound can make all the difference when you sit down to edit. You want everything to flow and not have the edit draw attention to itself. insist on quality source material.

Editing Tips

When it comes to the edit, the first thing you should do is watch all the footage with the director, an actor of two, maybe the writer and/or producer. This is invaluable because it shows you what shots or bits get the best reception. They will say things like "that was the best take/a great shot" and you know simply to use those ones. 

Also, this is a time of reflection for the cast and crew, and by being there, you can see what kind of tone they are going for. As an editor, it's your job to take all this work by all these people and make them look good, so it's a good idea to see where they're coming from.

Next is the log and capture. Go through the tapes, logging everything you need for the script, those "favorite" shots, and a few shots that catch your fancy. Get a good selection where you can play a bit. I usually get as many wide shots as I can, a few mediums and a select group of close-ups. Once they're all logged, hit 'batch capture' and go watch The Simpsons for a while.

When that's done, I go through every shot and trim the fat. Then I slap it all down as a quick and dirty assemble edit - you might want to do this in scenes if your film is anything over twenty minutes or so. I once had a twenty minute assemble edit for a three minute piece. This is a great way to see where you stand. Also, you can tell 
immediately what shots need to go. go through it a few times and take out the garbage. This will trim down the running time significantly.

A good tip here is to arrange your clips in bins (or folders) depending what scene they're with, all within a 'capture' folder. A little housecleaning goes a long way. also have a folder for audio, graphics and imported footage.

Kill The Babies

The next step is to tackle the scenes themselves. but remember, a film is a whole thing, so bounce around and trim here, cut there, etc. A key rule here is to NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH A SHOT. You have to know when to 'kill your babies' as they say.  There are so many perfect shots I've had to get rid of because they were hurting the entire scene/movie. Be ruthless. It's your job to edit. so edit.

A big problem with a lot of no-budget films is that they aren't ruthless enough. If you wrestled it down to ten minutes, cut it down to six, or even four, it could be a lot better. I know there's a lot of good stuff in there, even stuff the director or actor is in love with. These people will not be happy that you cut their favorite bits. but you know what? You're the editor and they are not. If it's a huge issue, then please, try to find a compromise, but if they want to keep it in out of vanity, then choppity-chop-chop. 

When you've wrestled the movie down to a manageable rough cut, get some 
other pairs of eyes in there. Find a second opinion that could find some things you might have missed. Because at the end of the day, although your are editing it, the film belongs to more people than just you. You must be ruthless, but also open to compromise.

Keep fiddling - a nip here, a tuck there. You might even try moving scenes around. With today's non-linear editing software, you can easily achieve this by duplicating sequences and rearranging them. This happened to me once, when i brought in the co-director who had a great idea to insert one scene into a longer one to break it 
up. I had been following the script too close to consider this, but his fresh perspective saw the possibilities and as a result, made the film that much better. 

I have also hacked out entire sequences that were bogging down the film. Editing is all about flow, momentum and telling the story. If you can replace a bad line reading with a reaction, go for it. and remember to show, don't tell.

FYI - I'd highly recommend a book to get you started. It's called "Editing Techniques with Final Cut Pro" by Michael Wohl and it's changed how I shoot and edit. It's a great resource, even if you don't use FCP. 

Click here for more info about  Editing Techniques with Final Cut Pro .

Check out Craig's movies at www.mise-en-chien.com and All Day Breakfast