Film directing -- it hurts to compromise.

NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T. HOW DOLLARS OMIT FILM SCENES.

...I was recently approached to scribe an article for a film magazine about how a director has to deal with rewrites, and why do they even happen at all. Here's an extract and, as always, any wanna-be film directors or veterans want to comment, please feel FREE!!

‘The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.’ So wrote Mister Robert Burns – in his case he was referring to a nest of mice that he’d recently ploughed over, but in our case he may well have been referring to directing a film.

Be prepared to compromise. Yes, even if it dents your integrity and stems the flow of the creative juices. There are only a handful of directors out there who have the privilege of months of pre-production. If you are one of them, no need to read on. If not, clench your teeth. Budget now dictates story and a shooting schedule dictates your style. That’s the reality. That scene you so love in which your hero steals a Ferrari and rampages through four city blocks? It is now too costly and you've been told this a week before filming. Short of robbing a bank, your only alternative is to rewrite, a process dreaded by production as it can, in the short term, change plans that have already cost time and money. So why have it in the script in the first place? Because it helped finance the film, but that was before the accountants stepped in.

I’ve directed and worked on numerous films in which the process of rewriting is happening even when shooting has begun. (Recently on a high budget film the day dawned, at much expense, to shoot the conclusion only to discover that it hadn't been written or agreed on. What was the compromise? Shoot two endings.)   I’m not talking about dialogue tweaks here, but radical changes that are being put in effect because of location fees, actor availability and schedule restraints.

Is there a way to avoid these skirmishes? Film is collaborative – you may be the director, the man with the ideas, with the vision, but it takes a team to support your thinking and make it happen. Communicate the script and your ideas constantly with your team – it may well be your stunt co-coordinator who suggests swapping the Ferrari for a motorbike and shooting the scene on a beach rather than through four city blocks. By doing so, the drama you wanted remains intact.  Allow initiative and sometimes that compromise even surprises you for the better. But use your minimal prep time to hammer through those scenes that are an enemy to the schedule – rewrite, re-think and let your concerns be known. Some creative producing is a must. Better change it on the page than see your vision disappear in a blur on the day.

A few years ago I was directing a film when one of the actors, Nameless, discovered some chemical nutrient and, consequently, became hospitalized. There was much panic overnight, especially by the producers. Fortunately we’d already shot the beginning and the end of the film with her, but what to do about her in the second act? Compromise – I scribbled an off-camera scene with her (voice only) and her pretend husband and had them argue, thus letting the audience know she wasn't coming out of her train apartment…until she had to!

So why direct a film if it seems so stressful, so compromising? Climbing Everest in the nude may read as a less painful way to earn a living – directing is an exploration of yourself and it allows you to share that part of you that, the Gods Willing, may inspire and entertain others. It is a tough road to travel and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, but it is a great dance as long as you chose your partner(s) well.