Creative, Budget, Crew, Schedule: How can a director balance them all well?

At the end of the day, whether you’re making a high school video project with your friends on a Saturday or you’re directing a 5-day multi-million dollar commercial campaign, you’re always going to face some dilemmas.

We live in a finite world, and the rules apply on set. You have finite money, finite time, finite light, finite opportunities, finite energy.

In a recent (+ogether) cohort session, one of our directors asked:

The other directors in the group were very quick to normalize this dilemma, and to empathize with the challenge that exists in finding this precarious balance.

Know yourself

One of the other directors in the group began to inquire more about the asking director’s personality and natural behavior: Are you more passive, collaborative, aggressive, etc?

This is a great place for all of us to start. There is always going to be a measure of “yourself” that determines a bit of how you might individually approach a problem or challenge on set. Perhaps your strength is collaboration, and when you face a tough decision or problem, you open it up to your crew to help deliberate and ideate together. Perhaps you are incredibly decisive and narrow in your vision, so when you encounter a fork in the road its not hard for you to know which direction to take and to communicate that clearly to your crew.

Whatever your strength is, its good to identify it. Conversely, this will help you identify some of your weaknesses or blindspots. If you’re extremely collaborative, you may need to watch out for the risk of losing your vision or your voice on set. If you’re decisive and clear, you may need to be more open to compromise and ensure your asks and goals are realistic and achievable.

The better you know yourself and the goal of the project, the better you can approach your pre-production process with the right room in the right places to help cover your own blind spots.

Determine and define expectations

One director talked about the importance of setting clear expectations with your crew from the outset. If it’s going to be a long day, let them know that. If you move effectively and you can shorten the day, let them know that. Minimize the amount of surprises for your crew, and you’ll protect their attitudes and their trust.

Must, Good, and Wish

Another director opened up about her process in approaching her narrative work with clarity on needs. During her pre-production process, she moves through her shot list and very clearly identifies must, good, and wish. 

Although this concept isn’t anything groundbreaking, taking time to really clearly define these things will give you an anchor and reference point when you arrive to a decisive moment on set and there are 20 people looking at you and you need to fight for a shot or move on.

Make sure people are comfortable

One of the directors in the group spoke passionately about the importance in remembering that, for every shoot, there will only be 1, 2, maybe 3 people on set who really care about the project. For everyone else, they are there to do a job. It’s important to normalize this, and remember it when you are thinking about the needs and values of your crew on set.

At the least, this director prioritizes finding ways to make sure his crew is comfortable. If it’s a small budget, prioritizing getting good crafty and a good lunch. If it’s going to be cold, renting some heaters for the crew to stay warm between takes. If the day is going long, make sure there is a third meal and ample time for your crew to rest before you button up to finish the day.

He stressed that, for him, he would rather actually go over budget to ensure that his collaborators and crew have a good experience on the shoot than to do the opposite. He wants to make sure he can protect these relationships to bring on to the next project.

Learn from your mistakes, celebrate your successes

Make it a regular practice to spend some time reflecting in the days or weeks after you finish a shoot.

What went well that you want to repeat or remember? What was a response to a challenging moment you want to honor for yourself?

Conversely, what areas were shown to need improvement in your production process? Where were you not clear enough? Where did you get stuck?

The greatest opportunities we have to learn are our days on set, and they don’t come around all that often. Make sure you give yourself the gift of learning from each opportunity you have.