Ep. 66 How to lead your film crew

Being the big boss on the film set is a difficult job, and it's one that you can master! 

And once you do, you'll be on your way to creating a film to release into the world.  Speaking of releasing a film, Sue's also just released a Live the life you please across cinemas in Australia so you'll get a sneak peek behind the curtain on how that release is going!

But the main event for this week's episode of Moonshine Moonshot is on how to lead your crew.  Sue will discuss how your leadership style will affect the end product. It's important to be confident, in control, and open and collaborative!

And you also have to manage the nerves! For your crew to follow your lead, you need to give them confidence that you know what you're doing.  But don't worry, Sue shares a few tricks on appearing confident even when you're not feeling it!  

So click play and get into it!

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello my fellow filmmakers. Today, this the start of this episode, it has got to be all about the premiere of the new film we released last night, and what a way to launch Live the Life You Please. But at the theatre at Parliament House in Canberra, it was an amazing turnout. Lots of the cast and the crew and the sponsors were in attendance. And seeing the film on the big screen and hearing the score and seeing it all come together in that kind of an environment for the first time was, well, it was really exciting, but it was also a huge relief because it's pretty nerve-wracking showing your film to the whole world after, you know, many, many months in making and planning and filming and all the things that go with it. But, you know, at the end of the day, what you really want is to make sure that the cast are really happy with how it turned out. And they were, which was such a big relief because, you know, they they really opened themselves up to share these very intimate personal stories, and it's really, really meant a lot that they were really felt rewarded by the process and by seeing it on the big screen. So it has been a heck of a few weeks leading up to this launch. Can I just say, with all the publicity, the team here at Moonshine Agency has just been going double time. Our editors have even turned into publicists. And, you know, we've just all invested so much in building audiences to see this film. And, you know, in amongst all of that, we've had some travel, we've had other projects that had requirements. And as I said in the last episode on work-life balance for documentary filmmakers, that was episode 65. If you want to get a real grip on how to balance work and life as a filmmaker, head on back and listen to that one because then you'll really understand how big the juggle really is. And you know, the best life plans and all of that, but sometimes you've just got to let things go the way they're going to go. And on this one, it was just all hands on deck. There were so many learnings from the launch of this independent documentary feature film because it went out in cinemas right across Australia. And it was a very big launch, very different for us the way we went about this. And there is so much we've learned from it, which I think is really important for all filmmakers, particularly documentary filmmakers who want to put their films out into the world. So I will be sharing a lot more on how we went about distributing this film ourselves. And when the dust settles, I'll have time to create that podcast for you. So in the not too distant future, I will be talking all about distribution for your films. But today, I am talking about a very important element in the lead up to releasing a film, and that's how you get your film made in the first instance. So this part of the series, we are still very much in production, and today I am specifically talking about how to lead your cast and crew on set and run the show. So if you're listening here today, then you probably already know who I am. But uh, you're listening to the Moonshine Moonshot podcast, and I'm your host, Sue Collins, and I have been making films, mainly factual films, for around 15 years, and this podcast is where I share much of what I've learned with you so that you can learn from my trials and tribulations and also the achievements as a filmmaker. And my hope is that you know you can learn from that and apply it to your own filmmaking and improve and increase the success rate for your own career. Now, there are so many things that go on on a shoot day. Making sure everyone arrives on time, that the location is set and ready to go, that the gear is all ready and working, that you have all the props, sets, wardrobe, everything you need ready to go. So, how do you exude confidence of a leader? How do you exude that confidence when you're running in circles trying to keep a handle on everything? Because the best thing you can do is before you even arrive on a shoot day, I recommend that you spend a few minutes considering what sort of vibe you actually want on your set. Do you want to run a no-nonsense tight chip? You're on the clock after all, cracking that whip, or do you want a more relaxed vibe that feels sort of, you know, allows for that creative, impromptu decision-making opportunities on the day? It's documentary and you want to run with the flow, or do you want something in between? And the reason it's really good to think about this is because it's going to inform the way you handle yourself on set. So will you be domineering and dictatorial to achieve that no-nonsense tight ship? Or will you be more nurturing, relaxed, and flowing, making the crew feel safe, but being okay with time delays if it means getting the shot just the way you want it? So whether you're the producer or the director, you are going to need to direct the crew. And if you're the director, then you will definitely be directing the talent as well. So, how do you get people to do all the things they need to do while you stay on top of everything? It's a really, really big day if you're the one running the shoot. Even if it's only two crew members and one person who's talent, it's still not easy to do. Sometimes you've got to be a collaborator, and other times you need to be explicit and prescriptive. So you need a certain amount of duality in your approach. And you can only be confident in knowing what you need to achieve on a shoot day if you've done your work in the lead up to the shoot, and being confident in what you're aiming to achieve will actually help with your stress as well. So whether you're new or experienced in running the set, it's important you don't show your stress outwardly. This is a really important piece of advice. No matter what's going on in your head or in your stomach, you need to be really careful not to show how stressed or frazzled you are because it makes people nervous. And then when people get nervous, they lose confidence in you. And when that happens, they often try and take the reins or simply start running their own little department in their own way. And you'll get others who'll try and take over or simply question your every decision. And it gets tricky to manage, and it can be really hard to reel it back in. So my advice is don't overthink it. That alone can make you nervous. Just thinking about everything too much before shoot day. And I don't mean don't plan. I just simply mean, you know, don't just, you know, ponder on every tiny detail because that really will make you nervous. So be prepared. Make sure you know the call sheet and make sure you set expectations with the crew ahead of shoot day, or get everyone together right at the start of the shoot day and walk them through your expectations. Preparation will give you the space to have the confidence you have everything at hand. And look, things do go wrong. A while ago, I had a new person in our team turn up on set for a shoot. And I was directing on that particular one, and this person tried to completely take over. But in a subtle kind of way that was hard for me to pull up on the day, he had no respect at all for my role. And in a way, he acted like I was the junior. And I didn't want to unnerve the talent by voicing this issue on the set. It wasn't a particularly big shoot. It was only like a two-hour, quite a small, you know, five-minute little uh interview to camera. Nothing, you know, big and well, it wasn't lots of crew, nothing like that. But I just let let it roll. I let this person just behave the way they were behaving. It definitely wasn't so bad that it interfered with getting the job done. But at the end of that shoot, I pulled the team member aside and I had a chat to them about it. And it wasn't too hard to navigate because I've had a good deal of experience on set. But if I'd been very new, I would have been utterly humiliated by the situation and I would have probably been really rattled and my confidence would have been really low. And in turn, that would have really affected my own performance on the day. There's something else that can make even the top of their game get nervous, and that's having marquee talent on set. Now, by marquee talent, this could just simply be someone that you have admired your entire career, or it could be a really famous person who comes with a whole entourage. And when I say that, I'm actually I'm actually thinking about a time, I was very early career, and I was interviewing or I was working with a director who was interviewing Lance Armstrong, and I was the camera person. And before the interview, um well, this interview was done well before Lance Armstrong was done for being a drug cheat. So I'll just put that in this. He he was not he was famous for being a sports star at that time, and he rolled into the chute like a rock star, and he gave a really great interview. He had a full entourage, and at the very end of the shoot, and I was pretty nervous as it was, but he came over to say thanks and he looked at me and he looked at the camera and he said, I didn't see a red light. I don't think you hit record. I was horrified and humiliated, but most of all, I was worried and immediately went into trying to play back the tape, and he started to laugh. Gotcha. Uh yeah, okay, thanks, Lance. Good one. Yep, my face was pretty red and my confidence was pretty shattered. It can happen. People just like to pull you out. And um, he thought he was probably being really cool and showing off for his entourage, but for me it just made me feel really silly and humiliated. So obviously I recovered from that because here I am 15 years later and I'm still working. But some other techniques that can really help in the lead up to a shoot day are things like deep breathing, meditation, finding quiet space to get your head into gear before you arrive on set. But most of all, the single most important thing you can do is to be prepared. So if you've been doing all the pre-production planning that we've been talking about throughout this whole series, and if you have the right folks around you, aka, your crew, and you're set up well before the shoot starts, you will have a much higher chance of a successful shoot day. And sure, you might be a bit nervous to start with, but with everything planned out and a great call sheet and a good team around you, you'll quickly relax into it and focus on getting the job done. And then no amount of Lance Armstrong type smart alex is gonna unnerve you. So I hope that that's been helpful in getting you off to a good start to leading on a shoot day for your own projects. Now I have been doing this podcast thing, the Moonshine Moonshot, for quite some time now, and this is series two, and we're already at episode 66, and I would be really interested to know which parts of this series you find useful and what sorts of things you would like to hear more of. So if you want to send me a message, you can just DM me over on Instagram, Moonshine Communications Academy, or obviously don't hesitate to email me as well if that's your preferred mode of communication. Support at Moonshine Communications Academy.com. I'd love to hear from you, and I'd love it if you can hit subscribe because that also lets me know that you are enjoying this podcast. And I will be back next week with more on production for documentary filmmaking. So I will speak to you then.