For the last two weeks we’ve been in Productivity Land. Two weeks ago we talked about how to put in place daily and weekly reviews to create better awareness of how you spend your time. Last week I showed you a dead simple system for tracking your tasks in your calendar.

This week I want to show you the reason why we did that.

Whenever I start a new film I find it’s easy to get overwhelmed. There are so many things that can get done, that it’s hard to know which need to get done.

The preparation phase (prep) is awesome. It’s filled with possibilities and it’s where we as directors get to let our imagination loose.

Let’s break down the process of preparing as a director, and how to handle all the things coming your way, whether you’re a first time indie director or working for the studios.

Most of it is not directing

Have you ever directed your own short and felt like you didn’t almost no directing?

As directors we also tend to be the driving force behind our projects, especially on the indie level. This means we also pick up the slack wherever we need to.

Most of that stuff is not directing.

At the same time it is.

We are taking ownership of the project and making sure it gets done. Where you and I need to watch out is when everything else becomes more urgent and important than our jobs as directors.

During prep, schedule time for you to focus on the directing part of the job. This is where we need to use our most productive, creative time. Not when you’re on your last drop of energy at the end of the day.

Getting zapped of energy is a real killer, and nothing does that like answering a million and a half questions every day.

That’s our job though.

We help our cast and crew understand our vision, and usually that takes place as questions and answers.

What we need to figure out is how do we communicate our vision, while still giving our creative collaborators space to work their own magic. This takes trial and error, and we all have our own thresholds as directors, but if you hire people you trust, put that trust to work.

Let them make decisions, ask them to bring you 1-3 options, and always motivate your decisions from a story perspective.

How to break down a script as a director

This could be its own newsletter series, but I want to give you a brief overview of how I look at breaking down a script when I’m directing.

I always start with what’s on the page. What do the words say?

And I always begin with the characters:

• why are they in the scene?
• what do they want?
• how are they trying to get what they want?

Ask these three questions of each character in a scene and you’ve got a directing blueprint already. I also find it helpful to know where the character is coming from right before the scene, and where they’re going right after. It creates a natural start and end to the character’s arc within the scene.

After breaking down what’s on the page I look between the lines to find what’s implied, or what’s been established earlier.

Lastly I look at what’s not on the page, but is needed to make the character arcs in the scene work.

I also like coming up with options for myself for what the characters are doing physically in a scene. Changing their physical actions often helps with changing the mood or the energy in a scene. If what’s on the page doesn’t feel right on set I like to have some ideas in my back pocket.

This goes for everything, especially in regards to working with actors. I like thinking through every possible scenario and look for ways I can both subtly and radically change how the scene plays out on set.

Prep is the phase where we get to dream and imagine. It’s so important that we take the time to imagine as broadly and deeply as we can.

Building out the vision

After I know what a scene is about on a character level I can start building out my vision for the scene.

Again, I know I’m repeating myself, but this is too important not to say over and over:

We motivate everything from the characters and their story.

I’m a shot list kinda guy, it helps me get organized (and my drawings are terrible.) Some directors use storyboards, or a hybrid. If you don’t know what you like, try both and see what you like.

I’ve also spent a lot of time editing, so that influences how I think about shooting a scene.

I often work backwards from what I’ll need to edit the scene, and make a list of all the shots I need to accomplish that vision.

One bonus tip: give yourself options.

No matter how awesome your vision is, give yourself ways to change it and improve it in post production. If you only shoot a scene one way, you’re stuck with the mistakes you make on set.

And trust me, we all make those mistakes.

In fact, that’s rule #1 for preparing as a director.

GIVE YOURSELF OPTIONS.

When I worked the Sochi Olympics for Norwegian broadcast TV, our commentator gave me an insight in how someone at the top of their game prepares.

He said, if he used 10% of his prep, it had been a really boring event.

10%!

I drew two conclusions from that:

1) Over-prepare like it ain’t no one’s business.

Know your story so well you can solve any challenge that comes your way. When you know the story well, you can make a new plan or adjust on the spot, because everything is motivated from the story

2) Let go. Especially on set. You’ve already prepared more than you need. Let go and be in the moment, so you can capture the magic that happens on set.

This power combo will take you further than any other directing advice I can give you.

Conclusion

Today we did a quick overview of how to prepare as a director.

• Prioritize your directing
• Break down the script and find the motivation that will fuel your vision
• Over-prepare and let the prep go once you get on set.

I hope this was a good primer to get you started preparing for your own shoot.

Next week I want to share a story about how I learned all this the hard way, by making some terrible, horrible directing mistakes.

See you then,

Morten

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