When I jumped on a plane in 2007 and moved to LA in a flash, I had a job as a camera PA. I was fired up. I was excited, and I couldn’t wait to be a part of my first “Hollywood” production. I was especially excited to see the director in action, as I had only been making my own “One Man Band” films for the last eight years, and although I had watched tons of Behind the Scenes Featurettes, I was still convinced the Director did everything.
On the job, I was disappointed. For the first half of day one I was trying to figure out who the director was. No one was talking to the actors. I didn’t ever see a blocking rehearsal. Pretty quickly I got bumped up and started pulling focus, putting me in the action right next to the camera, and never once did someone come touch the thing, minus my friend who was the DP. I did very quickly become familiar with the Assistant Director though. A very shouty guy, who was anxious to hurry us along.
My dream of what a director was started to fade. I had these iconic images of Steven Spielberg standing next to a Panavision Camera pointing, or laying on his chest with a viewfinder, getting into the action fueling my imagination. I was starting to think the director was a mystery figure behind the curtain, using different crew members to do his bidding. Eventually the director became more apparent on the production, but it was usually in a frantic or panicked way, when we were falling behind schedule, or I eventually failed to get a shot in focus that was a one take situation.
When I got the opportunity to direct a few months later in film school, I promised I would do things differently. I was going to throw the party that everyone wanted to be at. I quickly knew how important it was to “Set the Tone” - to be a presence. There seems to be this big illusion about what a film set is. Don’t get me wrong, it is an action packed, amazing experience, but it often is faced paced and said to be something like war.
Despite all the department and various crew members, I always put the responsibility on the director. Being a director myself I put the responsibility on myself. Every day I show up early, map out my shots, greet each crew member, and make sure people know what’s about to go down. I have noticed over the years that people want to be passionately involved in your production. You have to invite them in to that experience. You need to be the one that believes in every choice you are making and constantly keeping the day alive. People feed off that energy.
If you create a tone that is professional, intentional and collaborative the cast and crew are going to respond. If people believe that you want to make this movie with everything you have, even if it’s terrible, they will get behind you. I have a great respect for the AD department, the Production Manager, and all of my crew members, but I don’t want to blame anyone else when things aren’t going right on set. Be the biggest cheerleader for your production. Films aren’t easy to make. Emotions run high. Be the person that people can depend on.