Before now, I think all what a Director has to do on set was to yell action. But directing goes well beyond commanding actions and unfortunately I learnt the hard way.

Being a director has opened my mind to know that a director should be able to not manage not only his or her own emotions but also the emotions of the actors on and off the set.

Directing is all about communication and cooperation. It’s true the director has the say but the director doesn’t have a final say, the director still has to listen to the D.O.P, the Prompter and even the actors.

Especially the ACTORS.

See, you will tested, you will cry, you might even be tempted to commit one of the “thou shall not” against a crew member, there will be good times and there would always be bad times but the important thing is that you keep your emotions in check and keep your mind on the goal.

So when next I say “action”, I will have it in back of my mind that the action I’m hoping to get might not always be the action I would get.