How to be an Effective Director

For most professions, you can make a strong argument for and against micro-management; but when it comes to film, an effective director is not a micro-manager.  He or she should not and can not get too absorbed by any one of their responsibilities on set, or else all other elements will be in danger of drifting from the director's vision.  This is one of the most important lessons I've learned on the job.

It can be a hard habit to break for an independent director.  Not too long ago, even though Nick and I had an experienced AD on set, I kept running out of the video village to chase down and re-arrange the background actors.  I didn't even notice what I was doing until Trina reminded me: "Use your AD!" -- "Whoops!  You're right!"

A director is responsible for so much at the same time -- in real time -- bound to a schedule that sprints but never exhales -- responsible for things like,

1. Making sure all elements of production are consistent with his or her overall vision -- acting, lighting, camera movement, set design, sound elements, costume, SPFX;
2. Contextualizing shots and performance in real time;
3. Extracting believable performances from the actors;
4. Quality control;
5. Strong creative guidance;
6. Captain the set and motivate the crew;

All this while paying close attention to what Martin Scorsese describes as "knowing exactly what you want and being able to change it according to the circumstances, or taking advantage of something more interesting. [...] Being able to know what is essential, what you absolutely can not change, mustn't change, and what you can be more flexible on."

It's a minor miracle any movie gets made, but for a movie to be made well, a director must focus clearly on all aspects, made possible only by a crew that can be trusted with the details -- a script supervisor, 1st AD, DP, Production Designer, Costume Designer, great actors (not to mention a magnificent UPM making it all possible).

The trap is getting absorbed in a single issue because any one of these components is lacking or completely missing.  It's a perpetuating problem.  Thought given to that continuity problem that a script supervisor should be concentrating on, is a thought that could have been some amazing visual that will never be improvised.  Focus on an actress that needs extensive coaching on set, is focus distracted from other actors who need less coaching but coaching nonetheless. -- The difference between a mediocre scene and good scene, a good film, and an inspired film are overlooked mistakes and details, and great ideas that never had a chance to be imagined.

Use the resources you've got and do pre-production right to avoid these distractions.  Take the time to find the right crew, crew you can trust to focus on the details, while you focus on the bigger picture.  Hire actors you can be confident in; collaborators who aren't just there to do exactly what you say (but will do what you say if you ask nicely).  As Clint Eastwood says, 95% of his job is simply picking the right actor -- I'm sure the same goes for his crew.

Low budget independent filmmakers often take pride in wearing all the hats.  They see AD and script supervisors as luxuries.  Why not just work a little harder and save on budget?  But until you fully utilize these roles, until you trust your crew; you'll bend over backwards, but you won't fulfill your full potential as a director or make your film the best film that it can be.

-- Charles Rhoads