8. Do As Much Planning As Possible
This seems obvious but it is something so many new directors don't do, which is really a shame because it is the deciding factor between a good and a bad director. Too many times have I seen people say that they will, 'figure it out on set' and they will 'feel it out on the day'. Funnily enough, this is the failing of most every writer starting out too. Figuring it out as you go along is absolutely fine but it is only informed by the research you have done before hand. It informs everything. Inevitably on set, everything you have written down and planned for will go out of the window. But you need to have done the leg work before hand to inform the new ideas you will inform. Getting your shot lists, storyboards, floor plans, writing your notes on your shooting script, figuring out your set ups are all things that need to be done before you set foot on set. Here is an example for you. Once I drove to a different city to shoot in a rather lavish church. It wasn't until we got there that I realised I had left half the equipment back at my house. I luckily had a microphone, a tripod and a camera, but my tracking shots, lens changes and my lighting set ups all had to be dropped at a moments notice. Everything need to be reevaluated incredibly quickly to stay on schedule. I pulled through and we got what we needed but it was only possible because I had devised a shot list before hand, knew the script as well as the character motivations inside out and knew what I wanted to convey due to all the time I had spent planning before hand. So know everything you need to know about a scene, how it has been achieved in the past, how you are going to achieve it and devise a precise plan for the day. It could and probably will all go out the window the second you step onto set but it is integral that it was there to begin with.