A director's "Bible"

Melvin Harris

Melvin Harris

Black Flag Member
I am experimenting with creating an all encompassing book of everything I need to make a job happen- shooting script with notes, beats, and boards, lighting diagrams, camera moves, just everything I need to remember. I tend to be very right brained and forget about the smaller (and sometimes most important) parts in my chase for the whole. The book organizes me and allows me to allocate resources efficiently while still getting coverage and directing performances like I should. It also helps me communicate with the departments about sh*t that I either forget or that I really don't care about like the position of the sun during an indoor warehouse shoot with no windows because in truth it can become very important.

Now my questions, do you all have a bible? What do you work from? and How do you get everything done and still fully support the actors and direct genuine performances if you don't? I mean, I am reasonably intelligent, but God help me, there are some things that I just lose track of in the fray- and those things count....

Thoughts?
 
I really like sides. If you're not already familiar, "sides" are miniaturized versions of the pages, shots, and call sheet for the day. You could always add lighting diagrams to that but that's really paperwork best left to your DP and his lighting crew. So that way you've always got the relevant information in your back pocket. Of course that means having a good production team, or at least a good producer.

If you're a one-man band then maybe it makes sense to have a huge book for your whole feature. But it doesn't make sense to be a one-man band.
 
For every film of mine, I create a small binder with the poster as a cover. It contains the script, shot list, equipment needs, prop list, storyboards, shooting schedule, cast contact information, cast release forms and the local pizza place phone number! That's all I need. I'm one of those 'one-man-bands'. It also acts a great scrapbook when I'm done.

It's a great help to me and I refer to it throughout the shoot and the edit.
 
Nah, I'm good with sides but I need something more. Being scatterbrained, I absolutely love to go places with my actors but being a micro means that for every decision I make to "go there" I have to make a concession for having taken that trip. Ironically, my actors "love" me for it because they get to stretch out and do things they might not have had the opportunity to do if we had a budget with investors, but my AD hates it. I know I need to change it up and become a little more structured but truthfully, and this is crazy, I am no longer interested in getting funding.* However, if I one day decide to stretch out and do things "Hollywood", I need more structure to keep me on task, on budget, and making a movie that is my vision (dear lord, I sound like a d*ck, :huh:), but on schedule.
 
*After years of getting (buying) cameras, and lights, and sound packages,and dollies, and jibs, and tripods, three edit stations with Final Cut Studio, Sony Vegas, and Adobe Production Prem. CS4, Protools, Nuendo, the Autodesk suite, and building relationships with editors, sound engineers, composers, locations, actors, craft services, and crew including a budding cinematographer- what would I pay someone else for? I am 30, completely broke, with horrible credit, but I can do anything that I can imagine right now with people I can trust (and I would rather pay them), so...
 
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ZazaCast said:
For every film of mine, I create a small binder with the poster as a cover. It contains the script, shot list, equipment needs, prop list, storyboards, shooting schedule, cast contact information, cast release forms and the local pizza place phone number! That's all I need. I'm one of those 'one-man-bands'. It also acts a great scrapbook when I'm done.

It's a great help to me and I refer to it throughout the shoot and the edit.
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This is exactly what I'm talking about- but on your script, do you have beats and wants, and in depth stuff like that, or just your shooting script?
 
Yes... MY version of the script (sorry should have said that) has so many notes, it barely resembles a script! I add extra space after just about every line of dialogue for direction notes... then I leave room to one side (side bar) where I can make shooting notes, add ideas I might have about lighting or keep track of takes, etc...
 
Not at all... the script comes first. Once that's locked, I generate a shot list and tweak the format of the script to make room for my handwritten notes.
 
Does this method allow you more time to spend with the actors and still get the shots to that every thing "falls together" to quote you from the Whippoorwill thread. I am asking all of these questions because I have read a lot of posts in Directing but have found very little about the actual craft. This is golden for me. (And I'm still trying to build your slider but its a 4 to 6 week wait for the parts)
 
Everything goes into my macbook or my binder. The binder will have the screenplay with a million notes. Then in my back pocket I have index cards full of shots (shot list) or sketches I have done along the way. Index cards are extremely helpful to me. I jump back and forth between everything then look to my lovely assistant, my Wife, for anything I might be forgetting. Right now I am in the process of working Evernote into my process. This way I can have it with me and pull it up just about anywhere on any machine with a net connection. I am already starting to see the value of using Evernote for location scouting. Take a snapshot, write up some notes, upload it to evernote and move on to the next spot. Then it is alll sitting there waiting for you when you get home. Evernote.com in case you didn't know. I can see its value in casting as well.

On my macbook I have a gazillion stickies at any moment. It's all combined together as a single process. Just whatever works for you. I make sure to write down everything I have learned on a shoot for later review which I have found is a valuable tool.
 
pharpsied said:
Does this method allow you more time to spend with the actors and still get the shots to that every thing "falls together" to quote you from the Whippoorwill thread. I am asking all of these questions because I have read a lot of posts in Directing but have found very little about the actual craft. This is golden for me. (And I'm still trying to build your slider but its a 4 to 6 week wait for the parts)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it allows me more time.... but really thinking through everything ahead of time and then having the notes to remind you does give you a leg-up.
I usually work with the actors to get what I wanted to begin with, then once I know I have that, I might give them a few takes to ad-lib and see if we might be able to catch some magic.
 
Gohanto said:
I'm not sure how to read this. You're saying you work with a crew and want to pay them? Or that you don't want to pay a crew?
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Ok, I work with a crew and we work well together. Money in Houston has all kinds of strings attached because the community is so small. Only a few can get it and the newcomers have to go through it to "break in" which is ludicrous on principle. People here charge anywhere from 250 an hour to 1500 for a Final Cut station. Why pay them when I have certified Apple people around me already who are making nothing editing horrible rap videos so they can break in, c'mon.

So, I am now working to find ways to pay them instead of the others. Strangely, the money that we are generating is coming from presales and orders and small educational seminars and consultations that we do on the audio side (I have been a composer and producer for a decade and have used industry standard apps since 1997) and not from traditional investors, plus I have a full time job so I can sustain myself.

The cool thing about it is that because we are self reliant in a lot of ways we can pay each other even if it's only a $100 job. I also "rent" out stations so they can do other jobs and get paid from those, too (I don't charge them, but professionalism dictates that a certain decorum is kept; they also keep all of what they make, I don't want anything from them except the ability to keep working). We can come together, make something awesome, and not worry about cash up front because we are all honing our craft and working toward bigger and bigger paydays on our own. Plus, we train and educate each other and that helps on solo endeavors... its a very bohemian tech collective type of thing, but we are loyal to one another and collaborate on every production. We got the idea from some posts Zak Forsman had here.
 
Nitsuj said:
Right now I am in the process of working Evernote into my process. This way I can have it with me and pull it up just about anywhere on any machine with a net connection. I am already starting to see the value of using Evernote for location scouting. Take a snapshot, write up some notes, upload it to evernote and move on to the next spot. Then it is alll sitting there waiting for you when you get home. Evernote.com in case you didn't know. I can see its value in casting as well.
Click to expand...

Is evernote iphone compatible?
 
ZazaCast said:
I wouldn't say it allows me more time.... but really thinking through everything ahead of time and then having the notes to remind you does give you a leg-up.
I usually work with the actors to get what I wanted to begin with, then once I know I have that, I might give them a few takes to ad-lib and see if we might be able to catch some magic.
Click to expand...

I started a thread before about time. Where do you find yourself using yours during the shoot, in the takes, and as a director and not just a one man band?
 
Well, there's nothing evil about "paying your dues". Lots of people do it, and it's a system that works. In fact, most industries have this. That's why you don't see very many 24 year old CEOs.

And as much as I like working with friends, there's a great benefit from working with true professionals. Just because someone knows FCP does not make them an editor, just like someone who can flip a light switch is not a DP. Now, I know nothing of the crew you refer to and if you're happy with the end results, that's all that really matters.

I just ask that you not undervalue professionals simply because you don't have the budget to use them.


Back to your question though...
Something you might find interesting is Coppola's book on "The Godfather". He tore out ever page of the novel, and taped it to a larger 8.5"x11" sheet of paper in a binder, and then wrote notes all over the pages. Important props, interesting lines, character beats, ect...
This is a true director's binder imho, as it outlined the important IDEAS that he needed to capture on the set. And that's what you need to focus on. (Example: A shot you plan might be pivotal to the film during pre-production, but then the camera crane breaks on the set and you need to find a new way to shoot the same idea).

Shots lists, blocking diagrams, props lists, ect... are all helpful, but be careful not to start getting overly technical and just focus on what's important to the story.
 
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