*Directing and DP'ing @ The Same Time

I guess directing and photographing depends on you and your style. I shoot everything Herzog style: mostly hand-held, using available lighting, quick and dirty. A lot of other filmmakers seem to be really fixated with lighting and color correction and the look that they don't seem to think of the performances, or the script. Then again, I go for that rough around the edges, guerilla look. I'm not really concearned with the "polished" look. Or maybe I'm just a pretentious artist. I just don't think general audiences will be saying "Well they should have shot this with a higher F-Stop and moved the key light closer, or used more color balance." It just depends on your style.
 
In my experience, there are two kinds of directors: 1.) Technical based (lighting, visuals, camera movement, etc.) and 2.) Performance based (acting is king). It's very rare to find someone able to pull off both and have the film be the better for it.
I'm a writer first, actor second, and thirdly a technical cat. For me, I need to have that connection with my actors, have them trust me to guide them in their performance (hard to establish that when I'm behind the camera). Many actors are terrified of the camera...it's unnatural and a constant reminder that this is an illusion. Some are better at tuning it out than others, but it (and lights, cables, etc) are always gonna be there to distract. I need my actors to have the sensation that there is at least one person/aspect in the process that is 'live/real' to keep them organic. I dunno, maybe this is why Eastwood and other 'actor's directors' get such good performances out of their actors with fewer takes.
That being said, I'm a perfectionist who hates delegating for fear that someone will screw up MY movie (geez...who brought the jerk?). That's why I have someone else just watching the monitor for technical stuff (boom pole in frame, lighting making you look fat, etc.) I HATE down time on the set, but the beauty of shooting digital is that you can rewind that puppy on the spot and see for your self how everything came together, watching technical aspects if you concentrated on performance and vice versa.
I'ma agree with those that said to talk to and trust your DP ahead of time and storyboard with camera movements etc ahead of time.

-Mischief
 
Good answers,

Its very obvious that deciding wether or not to Direct and DP at the same time varies based on:

01) the size of the production (budget, time, number of employees/volunteers)
02) the experience level of your cast
03) the experience level of your crew
04) the number of crew working on set and production office
05) personal relationship with cast
06) personal relationship with crew
07) complexity of the project
08) time spent on pre-production
09) self confidence that you can achieve it
10) and a whole lot of other things that will make this list endless

I would like to rephrase one of the first questions: Can some who have done both, illustrate with their own experience about a specific project, what he/she loved about it and what could he/she have done better or will do different next time?
 
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