Strictly Personal

Republished with my permission.

• Emotionally hard scenes take longer. They just do. Schedule a lot of time to relax and to sink in the surroundings. So if an emotional scene is half hour to shoot, double it. Don’t rush these scenes in terms of schedule.
• Get help! Get help with anything and everything way before you can shoot.
• Though the actors do not like it, letting the camera roll while they interact is wonderful. They look natural.
• Surprisingly, the lack of extra’s was not that big of a problem. Don’t worry yourself silly about such things. If you don’t have everything, focus on cutaways. Build little pieces.
• Pacing is not present when directing. I create it in my editing. Not good.
• Get sound whenever you can, even if the scene is silent.
• Not enough attention to foreground. When you do, it is beautiful.
• With Crew and Actors: get people that are excited. Don’t demand their commitment because they will surely break it. If they are excited, that is important. People stuck because they were excited. Not because of commitments. This might change when you pay them but as of right now, get people who are excited. They will commit. Don’t ask for it, if you have to, then they will surely disappoint.
• The actual improv’s were good but they did not transfer well on the day of the shoot. Maybe it is best kept for day of the shoot.
• With directing actors, don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Not everything has to be new. Convince through sheer repetition. Actually describe key plot points even if it is obvious.
• I am confused when they ask me a question? Whether to answer fully or have them investigate, no way came out on top.
• You should have asked Steve about possibly changing his hair color, his current look was perfect.
• Not enough cutaways were prepared prior to shoot. Don’t wait for editing or even at the day of the shoot. The best cutaways were the ones that were prepared in advance.
• If you are not prepared, you come into work afraid, feeling like a idiot, apologetic, in a haze. If you are not prepared in some aspect, get over it quickly. State that you are not prepared, tell people you need help. That makes them aggressive in trying to help you which is good.
• Try as hard as you can to create longer shots, even if the scene does not need it. Easier to cut it down than elongating it with slow mo.
• Do not hide behind the camera. Even there is a little break in the shooting. Set the camera down and talk to the actors. They prefer talking without the camera in your hands. They probably think they have more time to discuss and thus are more relaxed.
• There is no perfect casting. You have to develop the role for the actor as you develop them for the role. Some sweet spot in the middle is what you are looking for.
• Spend some time rehearsing the blocking ON LOCATION. That will make it easier for you to describe to the actors what has to take place. Do not make it too written in stone. The purpose of doing this is for you to feel the place, where the camera can best capture the scene and, most importantly, if it makes sense (logically & emotionally).
• The scene where Rosie spills water on her arms, it took several takes over many days to capture it right. Because I had not thought the scene out completely. In my head, the blocking worked but on set Nikki was frustrated. Because of the problems with the blocking, she doubted the scene and I am sure wished the scene was cut. And by luck, the pot happened to blow, it was captured on camera and we reblocked the scene around that. It worked! But it was luck, you lucky bastard.
• With actors, make them comfortable so they take chances. But be careful to 1) indicate you know what the hell is going on 2) this is your film and 3) keep enough of the nervous energy because that helps as well.
• Plan time for the actors to eat and be somewhat lazy. Because, otherwise they will make it on their own.
• With shorts, keep your ideas (especially visual ideas) streamlined. Shorts are a different animal, they want to do a lot in little amounts of time with little variations.
• Know that “suspension of disbelief” exists. All through the shoot and editing, you and others will doubt whether something is believable. It DOES! I mean you cannot do anything but as long the film makes its own logical sense, people believe it. They want the mental exercise. Alternate universe logic applies.
• Get married or get a girlfriend/boyfriend. Because you are going to need them.