I quickly learned many new tricks and techniques as the day wore on. Since I was the only director on the set, what I learned was actually all those things other cast and crew members already knew. Take sound, for instance.

I learned to always make eye contact with the sound man during a shot. If the sound was no good, why continue? As if exchanging furtive glances across a classroom when the teacher’s not looking, he’d just give me a subtle nod or a quick thumbs up. Other times he’d grimace or make a hand signal indicating the sound quality was sub-par. In that case, it would be my decision to continue or stop. (i.e.; was the quality of the performance so good that it was okay to continue and fix the sound later?) While the camera or lights were being reset between shots, I’d put on the headphones, close my eyes and carefully listen to what had been recorded. Without video playback I couldn’t really see the scene until it came back from the lab. But I could listen to it. After just a few hours, I sensed how low the microphone boom could go before it would drop into a shot. (Maybe better than the cameraman did.) The boom man was afraid the cameraman would snap at him, so he kept it too high. Then, the soundman would get angry at the boom man because the sound sucks when the microphone is too high.

Turned out there were dozens of these minor conflicts going on all the time. At one level, the production manager solves most of these problems. But there were many, many cases where I was the only one who could broker a compromise. I developed a technique where I could sort of watch everything all at once. Yes, I’d be totally focused on the actors performing the scene, but I’d use my peripheral vision to stay aware of everything else. If the soundman was sitting 30 or 40 feet away and subtly raised one finger, I’d notice it.

Being a director isn’t just working with actors and somehow conjuring a perfect performance in front of a camera. Like Mickey Mouse in “Fantasia,” you need to direct an entire orchestra of instruments. Each instrument has a different tone, purpose and contribution to the finished symphony. When each part works flawlessly at exactly the same time, you should have a masterpiece. (Of course this rarely, if ever, happens. Some well-known directors shoot the same scene hundreds of times looking for the perfect take.) You must carefully coordinate the timing of every cast and crew member so they all deliver their very best at precisely the right moment. This coordination of effort is where real “filmmaking” comes into play. While the crew is expected to work like a well-oiled machine, an actor’s energy will wax and wane.

To me, the difference between a director and a filmmaker is very clear. A director works with actors and script. A filmmaker works with these things and everything else too. A director completely relies on the soundman to give him professionally recorded audio tracks. A filmmaker understands the technical aspects of sound recording and uses this knowledge to extend his own creative expression.

Unfortunately, I was the producer of this film too. I describe this situation as being regrettable because it was. I consider both jobs to be creative in nature. So, wearing two hats at the same time means a creative compromise. I didn’t know this at the time, but I would be stuck with both jobs for every film I made in the future. Oddly enough, I don’t think this workload bothered me too much with my first film, but it became a major problem in the future. Simply stated, a first time director knows so little about the whole process that I doubt he or she could exploit the additional creative time anyhow. As you become more experienced, the compromise limits your artistic growth as a director and as a producer. It was at about this time I realized how important and creative a producer really is. That’s right, creative! The most common question I get asked by people not involved in the “business,” is “What does a producer do?” The average person assumes a producer is some fat, cigar-smoking, double-chinned guy with money to burn. Although I’ve met a few producers which fit this description quite well, it’s far from the truth. This may seem crazy, but I think the producer is the most creative person of all. Yes, the writer and director make major creative contributions, but the producer makes the most important creative decisions of all. Not only does the producer usually pick the story and the stars, he hires the director and most of the other significant creative positions as well. Talk about your important creative decisions! Now, throw in all the OTHER things a producer does and you have a inventive powerhouse. My biggest struggle as the day wore on was trying to put all the production elements together in my mind. The story, cameras, actors, sound and everything else had to somehow turn into five, 2,000 foot reels of 35mm film in two octagonal-shaped cans with the word Goldberg stamped on the sides. I hadn’t finished the first day of shooting yet, and I already sensed something was very wrong. The script told me what the actors are supposed to say and when, but it doesn’t tell me how to photograph them (should I shoot a close-up of everyone?). It doesn’t tell me what music will be playing or what the lighting should be like. What was happening right in front of me bore no resemblance to even one small part of a finished film. How would I know that what I was doing would provide the thousands of pieces to make a film? Something very important was missing. (Maybe it was my brain!) Did everyone show up that day except the director? Suddenly, I felt SO insecure and inadequate. If I was the director, why couldn’t I just snap my fingers and make the clock stop ticking? Then, I would go somewhere and learn everything a director is supposed to know before they make a film. It was like being in a nightmare where you’re afraid everyone will discover you’re just faking it. I wanted to go and hide, but I couldn’t. All I could do was pretend.

Next Article:   How I Made My First Feature Film - Chapter Fourteen (Editing, Part 1)

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