Three Movies in Three Weeks: A Multitude of Sins Part 2

In which I make many phone calls, and a movie.

Once I'd decided to go with the script I had, I started making phone calls (producing consists almost entirely of phone calls). I wouldn't be using a crew, but I had some actresses in mind and I had to check their availability, and I had to make sure Codename Bronco was down to put his truck in my movie since that would have broken it.

Much scheduling later, I was ready to shoot. I had decided to start with the scenes of just Vaughn and his friend in his friend's apartment, which were relatively simple and would let Vaughn get comfortable with the process.

My first surprise on what was arguably my first day as a director was that being a director was, in many ways, a technical job. On a film set, the film "technical departments" refer to the camera, sound, grip and electric departments - the people responsible for handling the equipment used to make the movie. Then there's the creative departments - art direction, props, hair, makeup and waredrobe.

Aside from movie stars, directors have the most rareified position on a film set. They are ultimately in charge of everything, and it's their creative vision that ends up on screen, and blah blah blah.

Thing is, the main responsibility of a director is to know what shots he needs to get in order to tell a story. I'd argue that this is a technical requirement. At least, it operates by a system of rules that can be learned and require organized thinking.

I don't know, maybe this is a weak argument, or a pointless one. What I'm saying is that directing took a different type of thinking than the type I had expected. Like many of the other crew positions I've learned in the past, I felt like I could pick up the basics quickly, and I would be able to master the rest with enough time.

Once we started shooting, I immediately began to regret not bringing in a DP. I should have known from the directing I'd done in school, but I really needed to have someone else to explain things to.

As it was, I would change my mind half way through a shot as to what I was trying to get, and then I'd get confused as to what I had. I also didn't get to watch the actors' performances since I was so focused on the framing of the shot.

A lot of the time that I said I got something and let's move on or I didn't and do it again, I felt like I was guessing. A director needs to make firm decisions or people start to lose confidence in him - I've seen it on lots of sets, with first-time directors especially.

There were a few spots where I'd overlooked things that first day, and doing things so off the cuff really brought home the need to do my homework next time (story boards, location scouting, shot list, etc.).

That said, I think I represented myself pretty well during the shoot. My most desperate time was when our first location in the park was snowed out; I was working with four actors (two is ideal); we were in a restaurant that was poorly lit and that I'd never seen before; the people at the bar wouldn't shut up and I was genuinely worried we'd have to do it all again.

Even then, no one came up to me and said "you don't belong here, you can't do this, you're just faking it, you need to go home," which is what I was secretly afraid of.