Am I not bossy enough as director?

H

harmonica44

For my first real short film, I don't have a real pro crew, so I use my friends to step in. Sometimes they get a little overcreative though. My one friend does things with the camera, that she shouldn't. Such as zooming, but that can cause change in exposure while shooting. Or the camera will shake too much in the takes. If I tell her that we should redo it she will sometimes get defensive saying I worry to much, and that sometimes things like exposure changing and shaky cam, can come off as stylistic. The mic is also shown in some takes, and the no one behind the camera said anything. Maybe it's just not noticeable on the DSLR screen. So now I will have to do some photoshopping.

Sometimes the friends listening in on the sound, will not tell me if they hear anything unwanted either, and by the time I play it back, and find out, it's too late and we have to redub with the actors now. Should I just get bossier like some say on here, to try to get them to not get overzealous with it? They are working for food only, so I don't want to drive anyone either. But how do I get them to do what I say, and not change any setting, and actually monitor what's being recorded?
 
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Well without having someone behind the camera, and having to keep it still leads to all sorts of problems. One is you have to twice as many shots since you cannot move the camera, and the actors will go out of frame. This leads to needing more time to shoot, so you won't even get the scene finished in time most likely. I guess I just figure what's the point, if it's not going to turn out to a good standard cause the necessity's aren't there. But next time I will hire under contract, and hope that helps.
 
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When I am directing a film where I know that there is a chance a crew member may drop out the day before (or miss his ride simply because his father thought he was in the shower still :/ ) I try to over crew slightly. If they happen to all come make one role into two, or actually bring out the clapper board (I pretty much always end up just getting the actor to clap) or do something along these lines
 
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I guess so, I just don't want to shoot a bunch of footage that doesn't turn out to be usable, because he or she wasn't there. One scene that DP did not show up, so I had to put the camera down in one place and leave it there for each shot, while I held the boom. Would you still do a shoot if you couldn't be behind the camera, and had to do something else, like sound? The con being that you got no camera movement in your scene at all, which makes your production look cheaper.
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Well without having someone behind the camera, and having to keep it still leads to all sorts of problems. One is you have to twice as many shots since you cannot move the camera, and the actors will go out of frame. This leads to needing more time to shoot, so you won't even get the scene finished in time most likely. I guess I just figure what's the point, if it's not going to turn out to a good standard cause the necessity's aren't there. But next time I will hire under contract, and hope that helps.
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This reminds me of a quote (paraphrased), while I don't remember who said it, it suits this situation. "Don't wish that life was easier, wish that we were better."

That Modern Day Myth guy has similar issues too. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Do you trust your key people? If not, have a backup. If you do and they let you down, maybe you need to rethink what it takes for you to trust people. Maybe you need to work on your communication skills. Maybe you need to work on your skills needed to attract better talent. Maybe improving/learning people management skills is the answer.

I suspect until you discover and overcome some underlining issue, you're going to continue to have the same issue, time and time again. Most people look at blaming others. Successful people quite often ask, "What could I have done to ensure this didn't happen and what can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future?"

Think about it.
 
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Okay thanks. I have thought that maybe it's something I am doing. Maybe I need to hire a schmoozer. By that I mean someone who can schmooze people into working with me, and giving me locations. Just a thought, but who knows if that's the answer. I could probably use some better management skills though.
 
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I have thought that maybe it's something I am doing. Maybe I need to hire a schmoozer. By that I mean someone who can schmooze people into working with me, and giving me locations. Just a thought, but who knows if that's the answer. I could probably use some better management skills though.
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It's all part of gaining experience really. For instance, I cannot schmooze people but I can sell to people. I've done sales training to gain that ability. It wasn't something that I could ever do without that training.

I've also learned over time that how you deal with people and how you treat them can influence how they work for you. Fairness comes into play, professionalism, whether you act like a boss or act like a friend. Communicating to people about both your goals and theirs. How strict you are can also be a factor. How organized you are, whether they feel they can let you down and get away with it and so on.

When you work more on a professional level, it changes a little, but all those factors can still effect how a team glues together.

My style is to find a crew, (paying special attention to roles where I'm weak) replace those I don't work well with (whether it be due to my issues or theirs) and find win/win situations and build relationships with those who I highly value for my team and who I want to work with again in the future. My style isn't necessarily going to work for you, might not even solve your problem and isn't going to be the best style for everyone, it's just the way I prefer.

Edit: Knightly is very much right, confidence is also important.
 
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I realize this is an old post, and I haven't read anything beyond the first page, but I did want to lay down some of my thoughts and experiences.

Not sure how old you are, which can make a significant difference.

When I was first starting out I didn't really have any crew, one or two people at most. I ran the camera myself (which from what your issues largely are) I would do. It's very possible (sometimes on small productions easier) just to run it yourself. Get the shots you need. As I've gotten more experience, what I've found is I've found friends who don't know much about film, but are in awe of the past work I've done, and want a chance to work with me, and they'll do what I tell them because they just want that on set experience. Even friends from film class were somewhat that way, because of past work I'd produced. And literally, for about 6 years, up until 2011, I did almost everything myself from scripting to shooting/lighting to all things post - because I wanted it done right and well. One thing I decided early on is I wasn't going to be at the mercy of people less motivated or on a different page than myself.

That said - over the past 2 years I've had an opportunity to work with some professional dramatic actors who have worked on larger productions, and when they make suggestions or have issues with the way I'm setting up a scene, I take note and pay attention - and have learned a lot of really valuable better ways to do things and have wound up telling a better story.

So my philosophy is you've got to run your crew a little bit - they're your crew and unless you are stuck and want advice - that's not their job - but work with your actors (within logical peramiters) They're the other large creative force. And establish expectations BEFORE getting on set.
 
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I may be biased, as I came into directing originally as an actor for many years.

What I've found is that as a director, some relationships are more important than others.

ACTORS: your relationship with your actors are the most important asset on set. If you are on great terms with them and everyone on set senses that your actors fully trust you as a director, your crew will fall in line even if they hate you or resent you. Conversely, the moment the actors bail is the moment everyone else bails, even if they think you're a great person.

DP: even the most chill DP will have moments of passive-aggressiveness towards you as a director. Get used to it. If you go in with the mentality that DPs almost always feel that they know more than the director, you won't take it as personally when they become temperamental - that's just the nature of the relationship. Actors are your mistresses, but the DP is your wife. Some DPs love the technical aspects and are content with just that; those who aspire to more but continue to work as DPs tend to be afraid of what you've done as a director: being confident enough to take control of a project, and being capable/confident in working creatively with actors.

PRODUCERS: pick your battles. If you don't, they will tune you out. Say yes to them, and then ignore their suggestions if you can (read: minimize arguments and disagreements and conflict).

EVERYONE ELSE: try as much as possible to never lose your temper even if you want to. You set the ultimate example on set. The moment you lose control of your emotions is the moment others are given permission to do so, and it usually ends up with people yelling at each other - not productive. Everyone's task no matter what their actual job title is, is simple: to solve problems, because there's going to be way more than you ever anticipated. Solve problems. And the only way to do that is if people are civil to one another.

I don't believe in being "bossy" -- in this day and age (not just filmmaking, but any group activity) -- it's a collaborative process. The director is a leader, but not some God-like auteur who lords over everyone else.
 
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We use Sir and Ma'am with everybody on set. Visit a military installation sometime... they have the difficult task of having soldiers come and go through there and have to jump right into work without getting the time to figure out the social situation of the base they're moving onto. The atmosphere of respect and the uniformity of culture between bases makes the social transition unnecessary and gets them on with their work. We do the same thing on our sets. Sir/Ma'am. "Giving the finger" - raising a pointer finger as a "hold on for one second" gesture that stays directed at the next person in line to talk to you... it lets you finish the previous conversation completely before shifting your attention (especially the director, who is pulled in a million directions) away from that conversation. Walk never run. Smiles always (unless the scene doesn't want it on set). The 1st AD has more say over the daily schedule than the Director or producer... they rule the clock, we jump when they say we jump. If we want more time for a shot/scene, we get to give up time from another and the master schedule is altered by them. Thank you after time check is called out -- everytime!
 
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