Alright it’s shoot day. The biggest issue you’re facing as a director working with actors is time. Your day is pressurized. You need to do so many things very quickly, or at least your crew does. You’re responsible for making every decision that wasn’t made before today, solving confusion while maintaining the integrity of the impact of the movie your making. That’s why before you get on set, the best thing you can do to help your actors is to prepare every other department before the first day on set.
Photo on the set of Prologue (2020)
Get to a place before shoot day where your department heads are comfortable. Shoot days are insanely expensive, you or the production is paying everyone to be there, feed them, maybe even house them. On top of that you or the production is renting equipment. Delegate what you can. Trust your team you helped hire so you can concentrate on working with the actors' get everything out of their performance. Honestly this is what I felt I was naturally best at, I’m very prepared and I know what decisions I want to make versus what I leave to department heads. But you must communicate what you’re keeping and what department heads are responsible for, or there can be confusion. There’s always something I feel like I thought I communicated but hadn’t on shoot day. It’s very hard to over communicate as a director.
If you’ve rehearsed, then you should also know where the variability can be for the actors. You’re now familiar with how they interpret the text, how close they can get to an ideal. Set up the mood for the actors from the beginning of the day. Set the tone for the actors by how you conduct your set. Also, use your Assistant Director. They’re often the next most adept at dealing with actors. Communicate the mood and your concerns.
Then when you’re ready to shoot, know what is the most important shot of the day. Make sure you save time for those performances because it’s easy to get caught up on small things like a single line delivery or the way someone walks. Learn to adapt to what you’ve captured so you can focus on key moments for the film. Your scheduling will determine where those moments come during the day. You may want to think while scheduling, is there a scene you want earlier in the day so you have ample time to shoot it? Is there a moment you want to build up to and shoot on the last day? All of these things you can mention while figuring out the schedule, but it very likely won’t be the only factor in figuring out the schedule, so you’ll have to be flexible. Know your schedule and how much time you can go over on something (Good AD's help with this a ton as well).
Adam Wade & Shonali Bhowmik on the set of Sardines out of a Can (2013)
Another way to buy time is to combine shots with camera movement. If you do this you must be much more precise with your pacing of the scene. It also may cost more to move the camera effectively to combine shots for the scene. But in the end it could end up saving you money if you can save time shooting or it may allow you to have more time to capture the big moment scenes.
Finally, give all speaking actors the attention on the day they're doing scenes. You likely will have to focus a bit more on main characters, but all characters are important and you want all actors to appreciate their time on set. I do not always do this well. It’s important to remember the actors are all different and they’re not their characters. Pay attention to what they need to become their characters. All acting is on the actors and the director to emote for the characters.
It’s a lot to pay attention to, but in general, what I learned from my first short film is to be extremely prepared, trust your instincts (cliché, I know), and pay attention to all of your actors preparing and on shoot day and you’ll capture unforgettable moments for your movie.