How To Be A Leader On Set
By Kevin Waczek
Being given the title of director or director of photography places you in a leadership role. Great leaders are not made on their titles alone, but have certain traits that enable them to guide and inspire those they are responsible for. In this blog post, I have put together four tips that will help you become more of a leader on set, no matter your position or how much of a leader you are right now.
LEADERSHIP ON SET
1. Be open to creative suggestions
The word director stems from the word dictator, and if you are on the wrong set it can feel like a dictator is running the show. The director is in charge of the actors and creative vision of the film. He also has the final say on everything. Therefore, he is in control of the creative process on set. Similar to the director, the director of photography is in control of the crew on set. What I have found during my experience as being a part of other people’s sets and running my own sets is that there is always more than one way to tell your story. Many times I have begun the shooting day with a detailed plan and a shot list, and after some creative banter with my crew I am shown more entertaining ways to shoot a section of my film. So step away from being a dictator, and be open to creative suggestions. This increases the engagement of ordinary crew member since they now have a creative stake in the film.
It is great to be open-minded, but you should not execute every suggestion given you to. You are still the director, and only the ideas that you love and think will benefit the story should be enacted.
There are times where this type of collaboration is just not possible. Films have deadlines, and when you and your crew are working quickly sometimes there is no time to change anything from the original plan. However, generally it is beneficial to listen to your crew and entertain their creative ideas. Not only may it benefit the film, but they will see you as a leader open to new ideas instead of a dictator cracking the whip.
2. Admit to your mistakes
Nobody loves a know-it-all. What I find is worse than a know-it-all is someone who doesn’t actually know everything and acts like they do. More importantly, that person doesn’t admit to their mistakes because in their mind they cannot make mistakes. We are getting down to basic relationship science in this tip. People generally don’t like people who don’t admit to their mistakes. Even in the worst of situations, admitting your mistakes shows great character. Being strong enough to admit that you are wrong and regrouping with a possible solution is an essential trait of leaders. Its okay if you make some mistakes as long as in the end the problem is resolved.
3. Don’t talk down to your crew
How you treat everyone on your crew is very important. Most often there will be people above you and there will be people below you. A good leader will treat everyone with respect because they realize that filmmaking is a group effort. There is no one-man band that can create a quality film all by themselves. It’s a group process, from the production assistants at the bottom to the director at the top. They are all needed to create a quality film. I really like the saying, “you can judge a person's character not on how they treat the people above them, but how they treat the people below them.” A leader recognizes that even the most insignificant person on set is important, and if you want them to work hard and feel a part of the project you need to treat them with respect.
4. Lead by example
I really like this tip, because I feel the best way to show leadership is to lead by example. Being the person who is leading the charge and placing taking on a huge workload inspires the rest of the crew to work as hard as you. Often times the thought-process of being the director or director of photography is that you don’t have to do any physical work. In my experience, I have found there is not enough crew to have that mentality. In order to lead the best way that I can, I have to be a part of the physical labor to help my crew succeed. There are many times where I have been the director, the audio guy, or the cinematographer as well as a grip, gaffer, or AC just to keep the film on schedule. It’s all about stepping up and filling in whenever you can to make the film the best it can be. That is what a great leader does. They care more about the final product than maintaining their position of authority.
One way to lead by example is to work hard! If you are the director, the film is your “baby,” so you should be the hardest worker on set. Nobody else is going to have the strong emotional connection to the film that you do. Therefore, it is safe to say that nobody is going to work as hard as you. So if you don’t work hard, you can expect your crew to slack off and not care about the project, but if you work extremely hard and share your passion with your crew through your actions every day on set, you can bet that everyone will step up their game to match your energy and enthusiasm.
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