Mental Issues

L

leaftors

Well-known member
How do you guys deal with anxiety / stress /sadness before and after a shoot?

For example, things can go wrong and not go the way as planned. You may be racing time which leads to a case where communicating straight to the point comes first and manners come second. You may lose your cool on set because things just aren't going as planned.

You've completed the shoot while compromising some shots. At the end of the day you feel like ****. Has anyone else experienced this? How do you guys deal with ''post shoot trauma.''
 
when the cheque clears the trauma goes away..........

seriously, filmaking is full of compromises and sh## happens. every film i have been on things have gone wrong even when they are planned to death, thats life
what matters is how you get around the problems.......plan a, plan b, plan c.
temper tantrums are common, the important thing is to leave your temper on the set have your dummy spit then walk away from it...had a few of those myself...
after weeks working with people you build up close friendships and they are the things i miss.
moving on to the next job helps..

cheers

ps. remember the old adage........"gone with the wind" in the morning......."soap opera" in the afternoon. always have the schedule drawn up by a pessimist not an
optimist.
 
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leaftors said:
How do you guys deal with ''post shoot trauma.''
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If you are getting that stressed out maybe you should consider doing another line of work.
Stuff happens all the times, you just do the best you can with what you have to work with.
 
How long have you been doing this for? Do you just make your own movies or do you work on other peoples movies at all?

Honestly, you're just making a movie and there will always be a next time. It's pretty counter intuitive, but the more stressed out and rushed you get, the more you have to slow down. Just play it cool, you'll do a better job in the end.
 
I think theres kind of an unwritten rule on-set: What happens on-set, stays on-set. People explode, go on rants, shout at each other every now and again - but you expect that due to the circumstances and difficulties of making a film. If an AD shouts at me, I move on. Nothing personal.
 
I find that part of my job is managing expectations of clients, director, and crew within the limitations of the circumstance and budget.

People look to the DP. If you lose your cool, you lose the set. The crew is your responsibility, a they will look to you for guidance. I find it important to try to head off problems, and be extremely timely with issues as they come up. Waiting will make matters worse. IF something catastrophic happens, its part of your job to come up with solutions.

Dont let it stress you out, just do the best you possibly can for every situation you are presented.
 
I know what you're talking about but I haven't had that in a while because I've been shooting for long enough to adapt to any situation, provided I prepped my gear correctly (not bringing some crucial piece of equipment often being the cause of such mishaps in the first place). And I've been shooting for long enough that I'm paranoid about prepping my gear.

Almost anything outside of not having cards/batteries can be fixed with a funky angle/location or some neato light set-up, especially if you're shooting a music video. If you're shooting a narrative on limited budget and thus time it gets trickier but a few years of practicing adaptive skills on shorter form stuff will serve you well.

Just practice.
 
I know here you're coming from, I used to get a little stressed at times myself.
Nowadays I just figure (and let everyone know) as long as I'M the one that presses the little red button, we're gonna wait till I SAY it's ready, or I SAY we have enough, or I say I'M happy with that shot.

In the end, you're the one that's responsible for what you do and what goes into the cam is the ONLY THING that matters at that time.
 
TimurCivan said:
I find that part of my job is managing expectations of clients, director, and crew within the limitations of the circumstance and budget.

People look to the DP. If you lose your cool, you lose the set. The crew is your responsibility, a they will look to you for guidance. I find it important to try to head off problems, and be extremely timely with issues as they come up. Waiting will make matters worse. IF something catastrophic happens, its part of your job to come up with solutions.

Dont let it stress you out, just do the best you possibly can for every situation you are presented.
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I agree with this 110%.

Most of the crew does report to or is working for the DP, and the DP is the one tasked with transferring this expensive, airy vision to celluloid or hard drive. So much relies on his or her concentration, awareness, and skill. I love it. While the Director, AD, and Producer are barking at each other, I'm sitting by the camera preparing a solution or playing coach and pepping up the rest of the team, making a joke or two.

The DP is at the crux of so many issues - budgetary, schedule/time, visual/creative, technical-practical, political, and union when it applies - that he or she truly has to think of everything. That's obviously going to cause stress, but more practice, working as often as possible, studying people and getting to know the ones I work with often, and a positive outlook for each shoot has helped me drastically. I love my job and wouldn't trade it for the world, no matter how stressful a set may become.
 
ian dart said:
always have the schedule drawn up by a pessimist not an
optimist.
Click to expand...

This is vital especially if you're the nervous type. Feeling rushed will make you flustered & more prone to mistakes or just letting stuff go in the name of just getting it done. In the moment when things are going wrong, getting something/anything on the card makes you feel better but you will almost always regret that in post. Something as simple as schedule can kill a project, here's an example:

- shooting a short for free to do something different and have some fun
- good friend is directing, both he and I have experience in production but not in the area of narrative
- we set the schedule about two weeks before the shoot weekend allowing lots of time between scenes to strike, setup, block. leaves long hours, shooting at odd times, but we feel it's the only way to make it all fit within a weekend
- producer with little practical production experience decides he wants a different schedule, doesn't like some of the hours, disregards our advice
- shooting: audio issues, actors needing more takes than usual, no time for fine tuning setups & refining the lighting/blocking

not saying our original schedule would have made this short a festival winner but an over optimistic schedule seriously hurt it
 
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My rule of thumb is: "The world is not going to end, and no one is going to die because of it."

I take a more relaxed approach to film making, not that I am not serious about it. Its a mentality of 'do the best I absolutely can, but recognize there are some things I just cannot change'. Any shoots, as important as they are to you, are just a shoot.

And Jordan is right, if the DP or the Director looses it on set, it sets the tone for the rest of the crew. They are they captain and XO of the ship, and the rest of the cast/crew rely on them to do their own jobs. You set the example. It's a lot of responsibility, but you wanted to be in that position.
 
I had a shoot day where I had created a very optimistic schedule. That night, exhausted, my only thought was , "well, I got my ass handed to me today..."

ANYthing difficult in life - short of, say, losing a child - is an opportunity to become smarter, better, stronger - and to show people what you're truly made of. If everything was a breeze, it would be tough to sort of "evolve" emotionally and as a technician or artist. The worst sh*t you've gone through - ten years down the road you'll think "that sucked, but if it hadn't happened, I would never have learned (fill in the blank)..."

the key is to try to recognize what the gift is while the crap is raining down, and focus on it now, not weeks/months/years later. Yeah, you take your lumps and it feels bad, but focusing on the positive - which is often how you make up for your part of a mistake or a rough day - is the best way to strangle some good out of it.

This, of course, applies to every single facet of life, not just a shooting day...
 
Just had such a day today, between exploding lights, camera ops bailing out at the last second, presenters taking 10 takes to get thier lines right and having to stand up on a sprained ankle for 12 hours operating the camera, Tuesday has definately not been a happy time... I find heavy drinking at the end of the day usually remedies the stress and numbs the anxiety that comes with the though that in 8 hours time you'll be waking up and going through the whole fuc*ing process again.can someone who's been in the game for a while please tell me, does this line of work become less stressfull as time goes on? as at this rate ill be due for a heart attack before I hit 30!
 
DP is a tough job. You have to appropriately help create the collaborative vision of the director. You must find a technical way to achieve that vision using the limited means the producer gives you (usually very limited) and then you must set the pace of the set. If a director and actors takes 2 hours to get a master shot right, but you took an extra 15 minutes to light it... they (producer) will likely remember your 15mins.

You are also in charge of the crew, which can lead to a whole new set of political and stressful responsibilities. You are a technician, a creative, and a leader. The AD will always push you for time, and even when you are on time, they will then look to you to make up lost time that others have wasted. The actor showed up late? Well just cut the next setup time in half. Whoopty do.

As much as I enjoy lighting, camera composition and other aspects of the job... one of my greatest likes about cinematography is problem solving. I like the pressure to solve problems and finding ways to use unconventional tools or methods to achieve something great.

It's not an easy job, although sometimes much more so than others. At the end of the day, if you want to be a professional cinematographer... you need to be able to take the pressure. There are many jobs like this, Military Officers, Financial Investors, Doctors, etc. These people have to make very big decisions that can potentially lead to huge reward or huge consequences. Be prepared to have a very unconventional family life (being away from home often, late/long hours, etc).

Being a real DP means devoting yourself to the craft. It's a hard job and a wonderful job. If you can't take the heat, you best leave the kitchen.

There is a big reason why big-time DP's are often the confidant to the director and the right hand man in the realm of production. It is a huge responsibility that only the truly passionate, talented, and insane can endure. If you want to be home by 5pm every day to have dinner with the wifey and play catch with junior, this is the wrong job for you. If you want a job that doesn't constantly test your resolve, leadership and creative abilities, DP is probably not the job for you. If working 14 hour days for days in a row sounds too much, again, not for you.

I think every person on a film set works damn hard. It's a brutal industry compared to most office jobs... that said, the director, line producer, 1st AD and cinematographer shoulder a heavy burden of responsibility, and thus deserve my utmost respect.
 
hi josh,
sometimes filmmaking just sucks.......a lot of the time it is the best job in the world.....you have to take the bad with the good.
it is important to have a reliable and knowledgable crew around you to take the pressure off.
i tend to do corp jobs and short films now and if the producers want any light bigger than a blondie i insist on a paid best boy. its a part of my working conditions.
i also have a "lights out at 12 hours" policy, which is not negotiable.....
the last feature i worked on we did 12 hour days, six days a week for five weeks.........i will never do that again.....i am much to old for that sh##
try to keep a positive attitude on set......you would be suprised how much it helps morale......so does alcohol after wrap.....
not sure what more i can tell you..make up a set of working conditions for yourself and present them to the producers when you contacted for a job.
the first thing i send out is my working conditions, which are to be agreed to before i will book the job. it really takes the stress away as it is in writing
and upfront from the start.
cheers mate
 
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