For me, the biggest stress when undertaking something with as many novel ideas, tasks and unknowns as a first feature is this: I don’t know what not to worry about. So I worry about everything.
Naturally, this is inefficient and exhausting. That said, I’m not sure if there’s any other way (for me, at least). It’s part of process. Once I’ve done a thing, I know more specifically how to allocate my energy for the next time.
I knew this was going to be the case as it has been my experience many times over with different jobs and pursuits. To balance this, I tried to cover my bases; to worry in advance. I solicited advice from people close to me, people I respected, and went to work.
All the preparation saved my ass time and again. Things get chaotic on set and some days, when you’re supposed to be focused on a shot list or rehearsing with the actors, you’re forced to worry about something else entirely. Having the essentials carved out and communicated well ahead of time made my life a lot easier. I tried to make sure anything that could be decided on early was settled, even if I knew it would change when we got into the space. That way, if things got out of hand, the other creatives could essentially operate autonomously.
To that point, I’m so glad I had three weeks to rehearse with my actors. Working the material with the actors is the best way to discovering new ideas and fleshing out the story. Good actors are good story-detectives.
I learned this lesson right off the bat. We were settled in our remote town in the south of France and had finished dinner on our last night of pre-production. We had an early call time to kick off our 25-day shooting schedule. The plan was to review the schedule, my shot list and get to bed early to be well-rested and well-prepared for our first day. I was helping our AC set up a fan in his room (it was hot and humid at night and we didn’t have the luxury of air-conditioning) when my hand slipped while connecting two metal poles and I cut my finger. Deeply. As soon as it happened, I knew I was in trouble. ‘Shit. Not ideal. Where’s the nearest hospital?’. I was very lucky that my sister, a nurse, was visiting, otherwise it would have been a two hour drive to help. That’s when I learned you could crazy glue yourself shut. After a few hours of pressure and a couple applications… we got it to stop bleeding. But now it was late and I had to get to bed. No time for more prep. Thankfully, I had all the prior preparation and my people to fall back on.