I have been out in the desert Assistant Directing a difficult shoot, and I thought I would share a few extra things you can do to keep a crew happy. This is all based on my mistakes:
- If outdoors, always have a sun shelter
- Check everyone’s dietary requirements so no one ends up hungry when lunch comes
- If you have a very long day, make sure there is a snack (i.e. pizza), if not a full evening meal
- Make sure craft services is up fast, and accessible
- On cold shoots make sure the actors have a place to warm up, as well as warm drinks
- Factor in travel time for your schedule
- Rent a van or truck that is big enough to store all of your equipment to make loading in and out easier
- Check to see if everyone is ok to drive after leaving a long day
- Lunch is your god to the crew, make it holy: on time, warm, accessible and of a reasonable length
- If you send out a vehicle to pick something up, make sure there is nothing on it that you will need in the future
- Make lists before the shoot of an “idiot check,” all the things that need to be done every night before you sleep. The big one I forgot was emptying a septic tank on an RV, you can imagine how that went over.
- Keep people very informed of weather conditions the night before, make sure sunscreen, hats, etc. are available.
- Make sure you have an adequate support crew (2nd AD, PAs, Grips, etc.)
- Do your homework and be very prepared. Have a schedule in advance and idiot checks for every night.
- Have a daily list that you follow: is the sun shelter up? is craft services up? is there hot coffee for the crew?
- Respect your PAs that are helping you, and use them to take some of the burden off yourself.
- If you wake up before 6, hot breakfast is a good idea.
- Forgive yourself for mistakes.
- Enjoy things as much as possible, always remember you could be in an office.
I’m sure there are more, but this is a handful of things I learned on this one.
