What would you do if....

K

kittykatro

Active member
....let's say you are an young and unexperienced director making his first feature film, and the director of photography who is older - a veteran, and knows most of the actors and is very familiar with all the aspects of film-making just takes over the shooting and mocks you in front of the actors and tells you to shut up so he basically ends up directing the film...
What would you do in this situation?
 
you leave that situation pronto :))))
The DP is an asshole - let him go direct it.
It's like acting - everyone thinks they can direct.
YOu know the joke about mother theresa and directing?
 
john threat said:
Who is paying for the film? You or the DP or someone else?
Click to expand...

The state is paying for the film....
I was reading in a book about how they made films during the communist regime in my country and at one particular film it was stated that the DP basically took over the filming and the director ended up just sitting in a corner and watching...
Apparently these kind of situations still happen today, especially with older DPs - in university they were taught not only cinematography but also acting, directing,etc. - so very often they would end up in conflict with the director on artistic grounds.
And you couldn't fire them because you weren't working for a private company - all was controlled by the state.


kevin baggott said:
you leave that situation pronto :))))
The DP is an asshole - let him go direct it.
It's like acting - everyone thinks they can direct.
YOu know the joke about mother theresa and directing?
Click to expand...

LOL....As I said it was during the communist regime...You couldn't just leave - the consequences would have been very harsh - you would probably be sent to work in a coal mine or something...
 
kittykatro said:
....let's say you are an young and unexperienced director making his first feature film, and the director of photography who is older - a veteran, and knows most of the actors and is very familiar with all the aspects of film-making just takes over the shooting and mocks you in front of the actors and tells you to shut up so he basically ends up directing the film...
What would you do in this situation?
Click to expand...

Tell the actors its a wrap, pull the plug on the power, and have a big yelling match with the DP, especially on the topic of The Worker's Paradise is Lost and Socialist Realism is Dead... Nothing like fireworks on a set to get things going.
 
OK....but what if the DP yells harder than anyone else on the set?

Imagine a person who is extroverted,loud,expansive, who puts furious passion in even the most
insignificant things.
A person who could beat you in any debate not by his arguments but by simply shouting and
gesticulating - and most people would assume that he is the one who's right because he is so
passionate.
He thinks he is the best in his field and doesn't support criticism at all. When talking he slams
his fist repeatedly on the table shouting:
"All of them, I mean all of them are a bunch of idiots! IDIOTS!!!! The only reason I'm still a DP and not a director
is because they conspired against me!!! I thaught all the major directors in this country
everything they know! EVERYTHING! And this is how they pay me back -they don't even say hello to
me when we meet on the street!"
He thinks other people talk about him behind his back so he warns everyone on the set:" I know
everything that moves here. I have ears and eyes everywhere!"
He bothers the actors by talking with them at length about his neighbours, relatives and other
people mentioning how all of them are idiots...
He brings albums from home with pictures of him and the places where he traveled and shows them
to all the people from the set bragging about all sorts of adventures.
He absolutely loves to talk about him all the time but if you mention one of your personal problems he cuts you short.
Once, a 23year old kid who worked on the set confessed to him that he is still a virgin and asked
him what to do...He replied -"Please, I don't want to know!I don't want to hear! Never talk to me
about things like that"...Then he went and told anyone on the set that the kid is still a
virgin...
Now, how would you handle a person like this?
 
If it was my set (as in I was the producer) I'd fire them.

If we were both working for a third party (producer) I'd go to them and tell them they had to get this guy under control or I quit.
 
kittykatro said:
He absolutely loves to talk about him all the time but if you mention one of your personal problems he cuts you short.
Once, a 23year old kid who worked on the set confessed to him that he is still a virgin and asked
him what to do...He replied -"Please, I don't want to know!I don't want to hear! Never talk to me
about things like that"...Then he went and told anyone on the set that the kid is still a
virgin...
Now, how would you handle a person like this?
Click to expand...

I would write everything down and maybe even film it all that is happening and make a film about that! That film might do better than the film you are currently doing.

PS: Dude is a Sociopath. be careful! Since you dont have the power to fire him or lobby for him to be removed, you might have to remove yourself to save your credit and let him direct it. Dude has issues.
 
Kill him and put the body in a closet. Then find the only actor wearing a red shirt and put the murder weapon in his gym bag. Since we all know the guy in the red shirt is going to die after the next scene anyway, the cops can have him and the movie progresses as normal.
 
Doesn't matter if I am totally incompetent and he knows 1000 times more than me. He can either let me do my job or one of us is gone. Being without a gig is better than the assault charge I would get from punching his lights out after about a day of the described behavior.

Suggest to me, totally fine. Give me the benefit of his knowledge, much appreciated. Act like a douche, somethings gonna give in a big hurry.
 
Part of being a professional is understanding, and respecting the hierarchy of the set. There's nothing wrong with a Dp pulling the director to the side and saying hey, I think this type of shot would be more beneficial to the story. And explain why. The director might agree or might not. It sounds to me like it's run very unprofessional. I can't imagine taking up valuable time to discuss someone's sex life, or lack there of. Seems ludicrous to me. I think your only option is to make an announcement to the cast and crew that you will be moving on and will be no longer directing the film. You will become more frustrated with each passing day.
 
To a certain extent it depends on how good a director you are. There's never cause for mocking or insulting (especially in front of others) but as far as the DP simply taking over the set... Well, I've worked for many directors who didn't know what they were doing and they almost always ended up acquiescing to me on their own (DP's are often far more experienced than directors). I've also worked for directors who really knew what they were doing and I wouldn't dream of encroaching on their territory. Depends.
 
kittykatro said:
OK....but what if the DP yells harder than anyone else on the set?

Imagine a person who is extroverted,loud,expansive, who puts furious passion in even the most
insignificant things.
A person who could beat you in any debate not by his arguments but by simply shouting and
gesticulating - and most people would assume that he is the one who's right because he is so
passionate.
He thinks he is the best in his field and doesn't support criticism at all. When talking he slams
his fist repeatedly on the table shouting:
"All of them, I mean all of them are a bunch of idiots! IDIOTS!!!! The only reason I'm still a DP and not a director
is because they conspired against me!!! I thaught all the major directors in this country
everything they know! EVERYTHING! And this is how they pay me back -they don't even say hello to
me when we meet on the street!"
He thinks other people talk about him behind his back so he warns everyone on the set:" I know
everything that moves here. I have ears and eyes everywhere!"
He bothers the actors by talking with them at length about his neighbours, relatives and other
people mentioning how all of them are idiots...
He brings albums from home with pictures of him and the places where he traveled and shows them
to all the people from the set bragging about all sorts of adventures.
He absolutely loves to talk about him all the time but if you mention one of your personal problems he cuts you short.
Once, a 23year old kid who worked on the set confessed to him that he is still a virgin and asked
him what to do...He replied -"Please, I don't want to know!I don't want to hear! Never talk to me
about things like that"...Then he went and told anyone on the set that the kid is still a
virgin...
Now, how would you handle a person like this?
Click to expand...

Throw out whatever you planned on filming and film him instead. Sounds entertaining.
 
kittykatro said:
Imagine a person who is extroverted,loud,expansive, who puts furious passion in even the most
insignificant things.
A person who could beat you in any debate not by his arguments but by simply shouting and
gesticulating - and most people would assume that he is the one who's right because he is so
passionate.
Click to expand...

If I understand correctly, this is a completely hypothetical situation and not one you're personally involved in. But in the case of working with someone who dominates conversations, dealing with them is actually quite simple: when they get loud and angry, you get quiet and smile. Watch The Godfather a few times: the most powerful man in the room says nothing at all.

-JMT
 
Michael Traven said:
But in the case of working with someone who dominates conversations, dealing with them is actually quite simple: when they get loud and angry, you get quiet and smile.
Click to expand...

Uh-huh... but what do you do when you can't get rid of them, when they babble on and on for hours?
When they tell you about the latest conspiracy books they've read and speak without tiring about zionist Jews, freemasons, reptilians,etc.

Once, he was telling some people how he saw in his youth a documentary - Mondo Cane, I think - now this is actually a pseudo-documentary with staged scenes ment to shock the audience - execution scenes, hunting scenes,animal cruelty,etc.
He was shouting and flailing his hands:
"...and then...these people went to a restaurant and they ate some monkey brain! MONKEY BRAIN!!!!!! Do you understand????!!!! They cut this monkey's skull while it was still alive and with a spoon they took the brain and eat it! EAT IT! And the monkey was screaming!!!! ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
The people were very impressed and in awe while he screamed imitating the monkey....
I intervened:" Yeah...it's actually not real....There were lots of fake documentaries like this in the '60s and '70s just to shock the audience. Pretty much all was staged..."
He looked at me blinking nervously:
"HUH!!!???????It wasn't a film, it was a documentary!!!!!! DO-CU-MEN-TA-RY!!!!!! Do you understand????!!!! And I saw it with my own eyes!!!!!!MY OWN EYES!!!!!! In...the.....CINEMA!!!!!!!"
I didn't know what else to say......
 
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