57. Ten Simple Steps To Become Director

I often advice people to watch all kinds of films. A grade, b grade or c grade or any film. I feel that if a man could get out of his house, leave his comfort zone to convince and collect a group of people, raise enough capital to pay them, direct his movie ; then he deserves a viewing at least. 

Direction is an easy job, yet direction is not an easy job. That Oxymoronic statement develops only because of the state of mind of an individual. I have never been fortunate enough to sit in a production house, gotten a script, assigned a project and direct a film within my comfort zone. Though I do feel fortunate that I never got that otherwise I wouldn't have understood what it takes to make a film and feel good about it.
People think that film direction is about directing the film, which sounds obvious but it is not. In my personal experience it is more than that. It is about human management, dealing with problems, taking wise decisions, standing for your convictions, trying to motivate everyone, dealing with financial issue, tackling artist tantrums and yet maintaining your creativity. There are three process in film making : pre-production, shooting, post production, the fourth dimension is releasing the film where director does not have much to do except advice the producer, unless director and producer are the same guy. 

Director is the leader who directs where everyone has to go. He is the man on set who is hired to take decisions. It is an established fact that the most important and highly paid job in the world is not that requires hard work, but which requires a man to take decision. Director has to take decision, sometimes against his liking and sometimes even when he doesn't know what decision to take. Director is undoubtedly the most important man of the film, the whole film will go haywire.

 

1.     Preparation is the key, don't leave anything on destiny.

 I have met so many coming-out pseudo film makers who tell me they don’t prepare much before going on shoots and prefer to be spontaneous on their sets.
Myriad books on film making, Ted talks, interviews of great directors will be more than enough to convince you that most of the time when the Film directors reach on sets they are unprepared. They would tell you that there have been times when no preparation works and one has to take drastic and instant decisions. Well, they lie. They just say it to be modest and want to sound intelligent. Truth is, they are always prepared though I accept that sometimes the preparation they do is just mentally. A confused man with no idea about his craft and no knowledge about his job cannot take those instant radical decisions. Preparation is a must. However the process of mental preparations is not an easy one and cannot be learned, it only comes with time and experience. If it requires, don't be ashamed to put things on paper. Don't be over confident. This little hard work goes a long way. It is a matter of common sense that if you know what you are going to do, you will do it better because you will then have now more options of doing it, which you have already considered beforehand as a part of preparation. Getting on set and hanging confused around everybody, now that gives a bad impression to other people, they lose respect for you and most importantly, you waste a lot of time and money of producer and the result, can be easily predicted to be really bad.  

2.     Try writing your own script.

 Sometimes back, I was directing a music video for a friend of mine who is a music director. He composed the music of the song we were shooting. During shoot, I realized that he was more creative and advice were on the track when it came to this music video, I felt like I wasn’t directing the music video, instead was merely helping him technically. After pondering on that fact for some time, I realized that the only reason for it would be that while working on that song he must have generated visuals and treatment about it, which I didn't. It was difficult for me to visualize them and I worked on whatever he was guiding me. Same happens with the script. You cannot properly visualize another's script as it will take you a long time to understand the intricacies about the characters ad circumstances. Write your own script because then you will be in more command of your script and in case any need arises the make some changes to script, you can easily do instead of calling writer back to write it down. In case you have to shoot someone else's script, try detach yourself from the writer as much as possible and try to conceive story from your own point of view. Any film has to be one person's sole point o view otherwise it will all be mixed up and audience will be confused. But if you learn to write your scripts, there will be no stopping you.  

3.     You must know everything.
 
Yes, jack of all trades and master of none actually works for direction, direction in fact is all about that. Of course that includes expertise in direction, but then again direction is all about knowing everything and command over every area of film making. But is that necessary? Isn't editor be doing his job and cameraman his. Yes they will be doing their job. But you will have to explain them what you need exactly. You cannot just guess on set what you need and expect them to come with results. The better you will explain them, the closer they will get to your vision of shot. If you can tell them your vision in technical terms, then all the better. Now they know exactly what you want and so they will create it. Communication is tedious process on sets so it's better to use the language people understand, and to make them understand you need to have at least some knowledge of their field.

 4.     Take fast and quick decisions.

 One of the quality of good director that I can bet my entire earnings on is this, the quality to take fast and quick decisions. I have seen everyone praising the Director who takes  decisions in snap. It shows confidence and command of director on his art. It shows clarity of mind and leadership. No amount of preparation will prepare you for some of the quick decisions you have to take on set. What is the easiest way to take fast and quick decisions? Let me answer you this question with little bit of physics and a little bit of philosophy. For every decision you have to make, there will be two outcomes, right or wrong. Whatever decision you are going to take cannot be reversed. Whatever decision you are going to take will have equal probability of getting passed or failed. If it fails, people will criticize you and if it passes they will praise you. So irrespective of the decision you take, above said things will happen. So don't worry, pick your favorite one you feel will be right. Of course I am talking about the cases when taking decision is difficult as all options have equal amounts of pros and cons. Go with the flow and don't ever regret taking a wrong decision. Flush it as soon it is over and move on. Don't give yourself or others time to ponder over it. Whatever people are going to say at your back will always remain at the back so don't worry about it.

 5.     Learn to be hard, strict and give orders.
 
Lots of directors whom I have met take pride in saying that they never talk rudely to anyone or shout at anyone on set. Trust me, no one takes a smiling man seriously on job. Out of the set, if you want to be a nice person, smile, charity whatever good deed you feel great about, do, but on set you need to maintain a serious temperament. I know many people won't agree to my method of working on set. But I have observed and experienced it myself while working on my set that people are as serious as you are and they work better when they are in awe of you. I agree that you don't have to shout at them, or be rude to them but they must always know their place and their job on set. Being a director, one is celebrity on set Everyone tries to seek attention of director as he is most important person on set, but if you are too friendly with someone, at some point they will cross the boundaries to gain more entry into your personal sphere and show others how close they are to you. Refrain from any personal talks on set. Talk less and remain aloof. After the shoot or in lunch be whatever you want to be, but on set, be firm and serious. People respect a man who respects his job so as not to crack jokes all the time when working.

  6.     Set an example for others.

 This is very important thing to do on set. Most people working on set are working for money as their passion has died year long after a tedious struggle and they know that working in films is the only thing they know so they will keep doing it and there is no concept of promotion in film making business. To get the most out of them, set an example for them. There will be times when you will ask someone to do something and they will reply that it can't be done. Get up from your chair and do it yourself, not only it will embarrass the guy who said it can't be done without even trying it, it will also convey to team members that how dedicated you are for your project, which help others boost their confidence in your work. There is a little catch on this side. Be prepared to do what you ask others to do for you. There are times when actors say that can you show them once how a particular scene needs to be done and you cannot say no to them. Set examples for others to follow. For example, a very small thing like throwing garbage in dustbin instead of here and there randomly, changes the whole environment of the set. Talking positive and ready to take risks gives you an edge which makes you an admirable man on set. When you are admired, people are ready to do anything for you. They forget about their pays and shifts, but want to deliver the best. Everyone like challenges. Use that personality trait of people to motivate them. Directors job is not just to direct the scene but to carry the whole crew forward and make them work for him in the very best possible way they can.  

7.     Always be calm. Never panic.
 
No matter what you do and how much precaution you take, there will always some problems that will arise on set. You cannot stop the problems but you can always change your attitude towards them. In case of problems, the general tendency of everyone involved with the film is of panic and at that point someone has to show the sane thinking and it helps you, if that man is you. No problem is end of the world. Every problem has a solution, even if the solution involves avoiding and ignoring the problem altogether. Courage s contagious like you must have seen in films where after hero thrust first punch on villains and his goons, the public standing nearby starting fighting too. Act as leader who knows what he is doing and one who is undeterred, unstoppable at any cost and the world will walk with you. The simple method to remain calm at the time of problem, major problem is not to say anything. Go outside smoke a cigarette. Don't talk to anyone, it will make it worse as they will plant their own thinking in your mind. You need as much space in your mind as possible for solution. Solve the problem in that spare time of smoking cigarette. If you still can't solve the problem, pretend that you have solved it but won't reveal it. Truth be told, most of the problems are not even problems, they are just simple events magnified by brain to be shaped into a major problem. Given time, most problems gets solved on their own. If the problem is unsolvable and you know it, then it's better not to waste time on it as you already know that you can do nothing about it, so continuing with work is the best option. Don't fret about inevitable things. If sun is rising from east, not west, what is the use of worrying about it as you cannot change it.  

8.     Try not to hire friends unless they are talented.
 
The biggest mistake any new film maker does is that they try to hire their friends for the job. If you are making a low budget independent film, then it is crucial to hire your friends as they won't ask for money. In case of a proper feature film, I don't think you must take risk with your project and future by hiring your friend. Don't hire friend even though he is good. Friends tend to bring  certain competition on set and hence friendship is ruined. Unless you have terrific understanding with your friend such that it treats you like your designation, never hire him. It's difficult to shout at friend when he does wrong on set and also you will be blamed for his mistakes as he is your friend. Also never hire friends for the job where you have to order them around even if they are comfortable about it. They won't for long. If your friend is in the top league, there is no question you should not hire him, reason - he is at the top for a reason, it' not a fluke. You will respect him and he will always respect you professionally that way.

   9.     Accept mistakes. Be humble.

People are more intelligent than we give them credit for. If you commit a mistake, accept it,. Everyone knows what you have done. Don't make too much noise about it. If you try to justify it or cover it, no one will buy it no matter how sane you will sound to yourself, to them you will always be a culprit. Accepting the mistake also elevates the respect level as no one does that. It's a sign of greatness as all great people used to accept their mistakes. But remember, accept mistakes only when they are harmful or caught up in the act. There is definitely no need to be too great by accepting mistakes in which people didn't know you were involved. Accepting to some mistakes damage reputations sometimes. So it's better to blatantly refuse the commitment of mistake. Like they say, if you lie again and again, it will take time, but people will eventually believe you. But that's just too practical thing, that won't go down the throat of moralistic people. There are rules and there are laws and one must always use them wisely.

  10.  Maintain the hierarchy. 

There are things that Britishers have left for us and we must respect few of those things. One of that is hierarchy system. Equality was not on God's mind when he created this world. I learned this lesson while working on a film. It changed my whole perception. You must be knowing that rich people are rich for a reason, intelligent people are intelligent for a reason and similarly poor people are poor for a reason. No matter how much literature and films portray all poor to be honest, grateful and nice people, not all of them are like that. I hated when I used to see there were three sections of food for people - A for HODS , B for assistants and C for workers. I would wonder after so many years of independence and America's civil war, how come we still have such discrimination. That discrimination exists because poor people tends to often forget their boundaries very easily and they need to be reminded that. They won't respect you if they are allowed to sit next to you. They try to friendly way too fast. I befriended a spotboy once and he started bantering me on having romantic relationship with one of my colleagues whom I used to consider as sister. That taught me a lesson. Have friendship with someone lower in hierarchy than you but always remind him of his position or you will regret later. More than that maintaining hierarchy helps coordinate the work easily.