The Upcoming Film Director: Baby Steps

My three Ps: passion, patience, and perseverance. You have to do this if you’ve got to be a filmmaker.

- Robert Wise

In filmmaking, there are many individuals and departments involved in bringing motion pictures, short films and even music videos to life. Every single one of these individuals is instrumental in the execution of these projects; however, the one who holds the vision, and acts as a leader to the group is the director.

On a movie set the director is god. But similar to a baby, a director must first crawl before he can walk, and maybe one day potentially fly. Yes “fly!”. There are some directors who have acquired this ability, and therefore should not be considered as mere mortals. An obvious example would be Steven Spielberg. This man directed Jaws and the Indiana Jones movies. I certainly do not have to mention Schindler’s List for you to get my point. Another director that I consider to posses this gift of flight is James Cameron. A man whom after directing worldwide juggernauts such as: Titanic, Terminator 2, & Avatar, has earned himself a godly status in the filmmaking business. Anyway, we are not here to talk about gods or immortals, but rather to explore the reality that upcoming directors are faced with, and also some of the challenges that they encounter.

Firstly, the only ability an upcoming director is perceived to possess is his title. Regardless of how talented this director may be; he would have to prove himself worthy to his crew members. I got to understand this principle a little more in a book about leadership by John Maxwell in which he states the five levels of leadership. This doesn’t necessarily mean that crew members will not take instructions or follow the directions of the director, but their sole motivation would be monetary. Secondly, even when money doesn’t play a major role, there is always a lack of commitment and respect towards the director’s vision. It could be a lack of confidence, or the absence of motivation, but the director’s ability to deal with these “internal” issues will determine the success of the production; not financially per se, but rather in terms of execution.

As a director, I have encountered some of these factors; however, since I am still in the crawling phase in the grand scheme of things, I have decided to share some thoughts of a director currently getting his own cape designed (What I’m essentially saying is that   he is close to reaching the level of flight). His name is David Fincher, director of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Social Network, and one of my personal favorites The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. David shares some of his experiences when starting out as a director. He recalls filming a music video with a cinematographer who also happened to be a close friend of his at the time. During filming, he turned to his cinematographer and instructs him to use a 40mm lens for a particular shot. The cinematographer’s response to him was, “Really? You really want to use a 40?”– A remark that left him speechless. This would go on to teach him a life long lesson; friendship can be a huge distraction, and a potential liability. In most cases on a production, friends tend to picture you as the same goofy person that you may be in real life instead of focusing on bringing your vision to life. They don’t quite respect your decisions or see you as commander in chief. This could quickly spread round like a virus if not dealt with immediately. But then again respect is earned not given.

It takes little baby steps to reach a level whereby one could get whatever they ask for without receiving comments like “really?” But until then enjoy your little baby steps; they will take you a long way.  

Pain is temporary, film is forever!
- John Milius