Where you guys ever intimidated when you started out?

Ironman

Ironman

Active member
Hi all

We all start somewhere but when you were new to the game, did you fear your lack of terminology when on set and are directing professionals who've been doing it for years?

In another words, is it natural for one to be self conscience and weary the first time directing professionals?
 
Definitely, of course! On my first music video shoot I didn't really know anything, I just had a creative vision for the piece itself and really needed help from the DP to bring that to life. I didn't know how to direct that part of it at all, I just described what I wanted to see and had to lean on him heavily to get it done. On the second music video, I was still learning as I went but I produced it myself and understood how to get the elements together I needed and worked with a lot of talented, professional crew, who were able to give me just what I wanted. I still felt like a n00b because the only one with less on-set experience was one of my PAs ;) But you can't be too intimidated, just have a good nature and good humor about it, you know you're new and you're doing your best, everyone has to go through that.

I always come back to when I walked into the dojang the first few times, a young guy in excellent physical shape, used to being able to do long hikes, lift a lot of weight, leg press 1,000+ pounds, and a certain degree of cockiness about my physical conditioning in general. ...And that went right out the window when I put on that white belt and couldn't do even basic things that people either 20 years younger or 20 years older could do just fine ;) I felt like an idiot, and I looked like one too I'm sure. It was pretty humbling, but I knew if I worked hard I'd be able to get good just take it one step at a time and don't focus on things that seem impossible to do that you can't even imagine, you focus on the next step and how to take that, and keep doing it. Some of the older students offered great encouragement, and said, "One day, you'll be better than me, just keep at it." I worked really hard, went to 8 classes a week (3 private), and 13 months later I had my black belt and could pretty much beat any of the other people at or below my level in sparring, people who had been there 3-4 years even. It just took a lot of humility and hard work and never giving up even when you think you suck and you should throw in the towel, haha.

Filmmaking is the same, you can't start out with all of the answers, or all of the confidence, you have to fake it until you learn what you need. But never let inexperience stop you from believing in your vision. So what if I didn't know the difference between a stinger and a lunch box? The grips and electrics did, and they're the ones who had to deal with the lighting anyway, so you pick up as much as you can as fast as you can. Trust your vision, and if you show both passion and humility people will want to help you! It's one thing if you act cocky like you know it all and everyone knows you're a n00b, but if you show an honest desire to learn everything you can, treat everyone with respect, and have passion and confidence in your vision, everyone else will think, ok, this guy may be new but he believes in what he's doing and I want to help him realize that vision.

I think to some extent everyone is going to keep going through this process until you are directing big studio films. I mean, it's never over, you think you're finally there and you know that you have a clear vision, the knowledge to pull it off, you're a professional, etc., but it's always something new when you're moving up. Like sure, you've done music videos and corporate work, but you've never done a professional short, so there you are again feeling like you have to prove yourself. Ok sure you've done an award-winning short and tons of smaller work, been on shoots plenty of times, and really know your stuff, heck you even wrote the screenplay for this feature, but you've never directed a feature so you're a n00b still. Then I imagine even after that, well yeah you did an indie feature, but this is a bigger budget film like you've never done before! Oh sure you've done a big budget indie film, but that's indie, this is a studio film, you haven't really proved yourself until you've done a studio film. Eh, sure you did one studio film, but this is a big budget studio film with real expectations not like your last smaller studio film! Alright, you directed a big budget studio film and it was a hit, welcome to the club, kid ;)

That's basically the idea, haha, you're always going up that ladder and you'll always feel a bit more pressure and like you have to keep proving yourself. My 1st A.D. on the last feature told me, "If the crew thinks you're an idiot who doesn't know what you're doing, you'll lose them fast, and I'll tell you if they think you're a moron." I just kind of laughed and said, yup, you're right, well hopefully that doesn't happen! The key is never to seem overwhelmed, always be in control, always know what you want, and adapt fast to any situation. Show that you're the person for the job because you can be decisive, right or wrong. I made a lot of snap decisions on my first feature, not all of them were the right move necessarily, but given the time I had in the shoot schedule I felt I made the best calls for the time. Sometimes you have to appear extremely certain of yourself, even though in your mind you're asking yourself, "Are you OUT of your mind?! This is crazy!" If you know you have little time, and another entire scene to film, and each scene was meant to take 3 hours but this one took 4.5, and now you're stuck with 1.5, just a third of the time, for the next scene that is the same number of script pages, you have to know when to say, "That's it, great, moving on!" You get some looks, really? Just two takes and we're moving on? "Yes, moving on, I'm happy, let's setup for the next scene." Better to get the next scene and have it be good than have this one be great and the next one be terrible. I'll take two good scenes over a great one and a terrible one -- maybe I can elevate them both in editing through careful trimming, great music, top notch sound effects, or something else that works I had never even thought about.

I hate to say that, because it sounds like compromising (and it is), but I've often laughed at the challenges we face as indie directors. The odds are completely stacked against you so that only the most talented, resourceful, lucky, and dedicated will be able to pull it off. You don't have A-listers and B-list supporters, most likely, you are lucky to have a C-lister or two and some promising up-and-comers. You don't have 60 days or 90 days to shoot, you got 12 or 15 maybe 18 if you're lucky. You don't have a fully union crew with ridiculous experience and more people on set than you even know their names, you have the bare minimum you need to make your movie. And your location isn't so amazing that boring camera work and mundane acting can slide because the audience is still ooo-ing and ah-ing over the oceanside mansion. You can't throw in some car explosions and Transformers to distract from your meh plot. You aren't just worried about directing, you are also trying to assist on several other jobs that appear not to be going so well because you couldn't afford to hire more experienced people to do them, so you feel yourself covering for elements that may doom your movie. You may be the writer too, and have to rewrite a scene in 10 minutes because there's simply no way to do it as scripted under the time and location restrains you have. Basically it's a miracle if you can pull it all off and come up with something professional, entertaining, and hopefully magical at the end of the day.

But you still have to find a way to have some fun amidst all of the chaos and realize -- you're directing a movie!
 
Of course there was some intimidation involved. However, I had spent a lot of time learning in other capacities before I took the reigns as a director myself.

I had been a grip, boom op, PA, AD, and supporting actor many times prior to doing my own project. I learned each time I was on a set so that I'd take away not only the intimidation but also to eliminate mistakes from having so little experience.

I have to say I got to learn the good, the bad, and the UGLY of filmmaking while having a role that was not as critical to the outcome. It was my good fortune (and sometimes bad fortune) of working on projects that I wasn't ultimately responsible for the outcome on.

It showed me ways that I wanted to lead, and ways that I wanted to avoid in behavior on a set.

It all comes back to common sense approaches but it obviously helped to learn the ropes before I stepped into the director position or producer position.

And I'm still green in many ways...I've always worked on smaller budgeted projects, etc. I've never had the crew of 100 awaiting my next move...that would be extremely intimidating :)

-M
 
No matter how good you get you should still feel a bit of butterflies and such. That feeling should never leave you or you've become too comfortable and are simply going through the motions. Keep challenging yourself and you should still feel exhilarated by the shoot. I like to get scared and then celebrate afterwards. I still laugh at my first ever directing shoot. A friend and I are 1 hour from starting our first ever shoot and we have people showing up and we don't know what the hell we are doing. We got our hands on an Eclair NPR 16 mm camera...and we can't afford to do test shots. We have a few rolls of film and we don't even know which side of the film goes where in the camera. Imagine that. We have 20 people showing up and we can't even load the camera. We looked at each other and laughed until we almost wet ourselves. Luckily we found a lab open and he told us to breath on the film and we would know which side is the emulsion side. I only know one thing...it didn't kill me! I've been laughing ever since. Plan as well as you can and then go for it...and laugh. If you have professionals on set let them do their job and remember to communicate what you are after. They don't want you to micro-manage them. You are leading and giving them an environment to work in that allows them to do their thing.
 
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5 years in as a Creative Director/Director and I'm still struggling with a lot of terminology.

Learn as much as you can, but don't worry too much about what words you should be using, there are people on your team who are paid to know the science of their craft.

Your job is to be the visionary. So do that with 110% confidence!

Every new game means a new challenge - it's a good thing to be a bit nervous going into your project - makes you more careful and meticulous!

Best job ever!
 
Wilbur Eddings said:
Best job ever!
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I think that title goes to Steve Williams (Tiger Woods caddy)...

Caddies are paid on the basis of how well their player performs:
a base salary of $1,000 a week plus 5% of the tournament purse, 7% of a top 10 and 10% for a victory.
 
ZazaCast said:
I think that title goes to Steve Williams (Tiger Woods caddy)...

Caddies are paid on the basis of how well their player performs:
a base salary of $1,000 a week plus 5% of the tournament purse, 7% of a top 10 and 10% for a victory.
Click to expand...

My first thought was "No argument there" but then my ego animal reared it's head and roared a mighty roar!

Golf is the most frustrating, anger inducing, sunburning, pointless activity ever created by man. (Obviously I suck at it.)
Steve Williams can keep his money, I'd rather be a boom swinger on a crappy reality show!

Bah, even the thought of Golf has me irritated.

Although; I do think every person who is in love with their particular field should consider it the best job in the world.

I'm off to eat some caramel donuts!
 
A set can be a very intimidating place for a first timer, for sure. It may seem as if people are speaking a different language sometimes.

My advice to you is to surround yourself with the best crew you can afford. Most of all do not skimp on a good AD and don't be ashamed to ask him questions.
 
Ironman said:
Hi all

We all start somewhere but when you were new to the game, did you fear your lack of terminology when on set and are directing professionals who've been doing it for years?

In another words, is it natural for one to be self conscience and weary the first time directing professionals?
Click to expand...

on my first short, nope, not at all. i was completely honest with the cast and crew that this was my first time. they respected me for that. however, i knew enough to know what i was doing because i wasn't biting off more than i could chew, i kept it simple the first time around, but had a ton of stuff to learn that could only be picked up by experience and working with people who were more experienced than me. however, i'd been writing for six or seven years prior to getting into directing, so the main thing that kept everyone interested and motivated was the concept and story we were doing. by the time it was time to direct professionals or people with way more experience than me, it was not that big of a deal because i had already made a majority of my mistakes on my own time and experimenting.

filmmaking is a craft, you'll never stop learning and creating new ways to tell a story. i think the only thing that can intimidate me at this point is doing a much bigger budgeted project aimed for theatrical release, say a $1-$3 mill budget on somebody else's dime which is what i'm working toward now in terms of getting funding. when that time comes i'll look at it as a challenege, not something to be afraid of.
 
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Yes. My first true short where I dealt with real professionals I just wrapped last week and that first day was quite intimidating. I prepared extensively and studied the script daily so I felt confident in my skills; however the biggest obstacle I felt was establishing myself (I'm only 23) amongst seasoned professionals who have numerous credentials under their belts. In the end, however, I believe a mutual respect was created when the actors/crew saw I knew what I was talking about and in turn instilled my faith in them to handle their specialties appropriately.
 
Sniper1154 said:
... however the biggest obstacle I felt was establishing myself (I'm only 23) amongst seasoned professionals who have numerous credentials under their belts. .
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While i'm not able to speak directly on the subject of directing (poor word choice), everyone has been in those very shoes at the beginning of their adult life. Good on you that you muscled through with your head up. Never let your fear of how others perceive you color your decisions (easy to say, I know.)
 
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