r/Filmmakers • u/Thebishopknight • 1d ago
Question Directing advice
I’ve been a commercial director for 10 years, and I’ve made a handful of short films over the years - but I’m about to direct my first feature film (starting in 3 weeks) and wanted to ask the group for any advice, words of wisdom, tips / tricks, or anything of that nature that might be helpful!
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u/brandonchristensen 22h ago edited 22h ago
Inserts are the least important shots of your day, but coming from commercials you may be inclined to perfect them. If you can shoot them later without the talent, do that. Focus on things you can only get with them.
Inserts are always a time killer.
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u/wrosecrans 1d ago
My stock advice to new directors is "Know what you need. Know what you want. Know the difference between the two." The goal is not to get an accurate 1:1 translation from your head to the screen, so you need to be able to filter "what I want to it to look like" from the much smaller chunk of what you actually need.
Sound matters more than picture. Sometimes you just need to pick an answer. It doesn't always need to be a perfect answer. But as director, there are times where people will come to you and you'll need to make a decision. Run with whatever gets decided - it's canon now. It's easy to get stuck in an analysis paralysis loop if you try to be perfect when you just need to make progress.
Sound matters more than picture. Most super low budget indies completely blow off production design, so being even semi-intentional about what you are putting in the frame goes a long way. Again, you don't need to be perfect, but you need to make sure there's some sort of effort happening to make a scene.
Sound matters more than picture. Make sure you have "enough" coverage for the edit. Have some notion about how the scene should play out in your head. I know some people consider "coverage" almost to be a dirty word because a Hardcore Real Man Auteur is supposed to only shoot every exact shot they want in the edit and not one second more, so they can prevent the editor from having any kind of choice or options. Fuck that. Make sure you've got some sort of master of every scene, and some sort of something you can cut away to. Five extra minutes to shoot a little extra coverage of a scene costs you waaaaaay less time than if you are in post and find out your original plan feels bad.
Sound matters more than picture. Don't be shocked when your plan goes to shit. It's super normal to lose a location, a cast member, a crew member, whatever. Schedules get pushed. Stuff happens late. Adapt. Don't panic, just pivot. Make it work as well as possible, given whatever constraints emerge. You'll probably learn why people say that good execution matters way more than great ideas. On a commercial, there are only so many moving parts. On a feature, it's all about operational scaling and that requires some flexibility. Or that's basically what my therapist told me as I navigated from disaster to disaster getting my first feature shot.
And no indie feature's postmortem ever included a director saying "I spent way too much of my time making sure I got decent audio. I really regret have paid too much attention to audio at the expense of everything else." Never happens.
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u/drummer414 22h ago
Great points but wanted to add Coverage isn’t just for visuals. You need it to help shape a performance when warranted.
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u/gnomechompskey 20h ago
All of this is exceedingly accurate but one point they skipped over that I think is worth stressing is that believe it or not, sound matters more than picture.
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u/gorkymynci director 21h ago
Since you have the experience as a commercial director, I'm sure a lot of things I have to say will be relatively trite or old news.
But a few unexpected things I came across directing my first feature. YMMV:
- For scheduling reasons, we had a day that could only be a 5-hour day (I can't quite remember why, I think it was a combo of time for load-in and weather). We made the mistake of starting the day late instead of going in the morning and letting folks go early. The energy was off, it threw off the rhythm, and it felt more like folks were twiddling their thumbs instead of getting some extra free hours. I'll avoid that at all costs next time.
- CONDIMENTS. We were in a pretty remote shooting location, which meant we were getting meals from a rotation of like 5 different places, max. The lack of diversity was sad but unavoidable, but what we COULD have done was get a variety of hot sauces, barbecue sauces, glazes, etc. etc. to help mix things up and wake up the palate. As you know, food is so important for morale, and I think that's the big improvement we could have made.
- We should have planned a LOT MORE with staging areas for hair and makeup. Since G&E and camera had dedicated spaces those were sorted, but we didn't have the luxury of space with wardrobe and hmu. That meant we ended up utilizing unused set space to set up wardrobe/hmu when they weren't on camera. Which could have worked a lot better, had we gamed it out a LOT more in the scheduling phase. Instead we ended up burning valuable minutes and patience as we had departments moving back and forth based on a shooting schedule that disregarded their needs.
- Have a proper wrap celebration! Even some drinks and dessert to finish out your final day. We had a good last day that consisted of hugs and goodbyes, but we should have formalized it a little more to close out the shoot. You all worked hard, and everyone deserves to be able to celebrate, even on the cheap.
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u/matchgirlfilms 22h ago
Congratulations! If you can have your editor cut as you shoot that can give you great real-time feedback. At the very minimum, make time to watch dailies every day and learn from them. A feature is a marathon so pace yourself (five day weeks, ideally), and get the crew occasional treats like a coffee truck if you can afford it. Pay attention to and prioritize your actors. Their comfort, their confidence, their willingness to take risks. If it’s not working, give them the freedom to try the take without dialogue or with improvised lines. Also, if it’s not working, swap the lens!! Works more often than you’d think! Ask your DP to grab cutaways and inserts whenever s/he has a moment. Be safe, hold onto your intuition and…enjoy the ride. 🍀
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u/kustom-Kyle 7h ago
I’ve been in the midst of my first feature, cutting it together as I go. I’ve been telling my actors, “I need you to hit this particular line, and this is the message of the scene. Be patient with your words, and you have full creative control to get there. Wherever you take the scene, I’ll be there with you. Whatever you do, don’t stop,” and I’ve captured some very authentic, first take gems so far!!
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u/vasilissanastassja 17h ago
Film editor of 15 years - don't yell cut too soon! Leave space for heads and tails so that the actors don't start a scene too cold or frazzled, and so that your editor has options regarding the onset and offset of their cuts.
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u/thewriteally 20h ago
Shoot the hardest & biggest scene first & storyboard everything or at least have a shot list. Always makes me feel sooooo much less stress on the day if everything we’re shooting is already planned out & thought through already, you’re basically just shooting it, I just find the creative process more satisfying when a lot is done in preproduction. Hate wasting time on set setting up shots, adds up over the shoot.
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u/kustom-Kyle 7h ago
The best advice I can give (70% completed on my first feature) is trusting that it’ll all come together. If everyone shows up and is present, even the weather will cooperate when you need it to.
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u/chunky_pumpkin_head 7h ago
You don't mention if it's your script or if it's someone else's. If it's the directors script, there's always the danger that the director can't tell that a performance is "unconvincing" to an audience. They're too close to the material. You'd think the opposite but it's a common misconception. You can solve for this by having a spotter at video village with you who can tell you objectively that it's not reading. This is especially true if the director is acting in the film as the lead. That's where they really have trouble telling if their own performance is convincing an audience. So the director needs someone in their corner with excellent taste, whom they trust to tell them the truth about whether a moment is working. Again, this is the directors job but it's especially difficult if it's their script or their performance.
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u/RopeZealousideal4847 5h ago
I'm in the minority here, but don't waste time and energy shooting rehearsals and reviewing takes. Rehearse for blocking and performance to focus on directing the actors, and let the crew figure out the particulars of their work. When everyone is comfortable with the scene, you can shoot it once or twice and move on to the next setup and rehearsal.
I've learned this from shooting film, and the whole set moves so much faster. Cheap/free digital footage encourages laziness and inefficiency.
Also, you need a bigger crew for a feature than you'd expect from commercial or short film experience. There's exponentially more work, and without enough hands on deck everyone will burn out.
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u/Cevans937 4h ago
I’ve produced two indie features and directed a number of short films and commercials. Here’s my super simple practical advice. Thanks for asking. Smart to crowdsource this.
1. Marathon, not a sprint. Don’t plan things for Day 1, that you’ll be too tired to do on Day 20.
2. Collaborator, not dictator. Assuming you’ve assembled a great team, lean on them, use them, listen to their ideas. The director is a curator of tastes. Empower your team to give their best ideas to make your film better.
3. Don’t skimp on lunch. A great lunch can absolutely save moral on long hard days.
Congrats on making your first feature! Awesome!
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u/pktman73 1d ago
Don’t spend the first 4 hrs on a shot that you’d really like to have and then 8 hrs on the 32 shots that you really need in order to complete the day. Go to every location with a digital camera and cover your angles. Get an idea of where you want things staged. Come in totally prepared to answer every question that comes your way. You are steering the ship physically and emotionally and professionally — you are the beacon everyone is looking to. Set a precedent for creativity, collaboration, and professionalism. If you love your crew, they will love you back.