In film, everything the viewer sees needs to be arranged inside the frame. This creates meaningful relationships between the subjects. The points is to achieve a balanced, aesthetically pleasing, unified, harmonious whole. Don't put your subject in the middle.
However, for the most part, under the Federal regulations (and most states including California), a crew member on a film or other similar type production should never be categorized as an independent contractor – they are really “employees” and are subject to federal and state withholding (from their paychecks) as ...
The Basic Agreement (BA) covers projects shot on film made under an agreement with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). This contract applies to Directors, Assistant Directors and Unit Production Managers working in film and television.
Most actor contracts are between two and three pages long. The typical term for an actor contract is a certain a number of months after the film or play premieres, although some go on indefinitely. Term lengths can vary greatly! The typical term for an agent or manager contract for actors is about 12 to 18 months.