A Newbie Director can be overwhelmed with thoughts and worries, easily overlooking the High Five Essentials that will end the production with energetic "up high" and "down low" slapping of hands by all involved. It doesn't take long before ordinary video producers will be stuck with the need to direct other people. This article will help you avoid taking on the responsibility cold turkey, having no idea what to expect.

The Pre-production Meeting

When at all possible the first essential to a successful directing debut is the pre-production meeting. This is where you get the opportunity to address many of the things that go beyond telling your talent where to sit, stand or move, (what they in the industry call "blocking"); teaching them how you want them to emote (energetically, seriously, pensive); and instructing them to when you want them to say something, or nothing.

If this is your puppy and you're the director, producer, shooter, audio engineer, editor and eventually the distributor, you need to plan ahead as much as possible to ensure that when the time comes, little is lost to ill-prepared talent. Avoid unanticipated consequences of everyone showing up with pre-conceived notions of what they need to do that are opposite of what you expect. This is where meeting before the shoot helps and it is an essential component of the directing process.

Let's look at a real-life situation. Brittany is a young entrepreneur who wants to start an Internet T-shirt design website - B's Tees. She wants the conventional components of a website and a blog to drive traffic to her website. She also is very aware that video is an essential ingredient of her marketing strategy. Of course she wants to be the star, the talent, and her business spokesperson, yet she has no experience. That is where her friend the newbie video enthusiast (you) comes in. Willing to help set up the video series Brittany will use to highlight her Internet business, you, her video friend, are also doing this for the experience and knowledge you will gain.

What to Wear

There's more, much more, to directing than calling the shots and giving orders during the shoot. First and foremost is advising the talent what to wear . This might not be your idea of directing but it should be included in your High Five Essentials. The wrong apparel can make or break the production or cause delays and loss of valuable time while changes are made because you didn't advise the on-camera person to avoid reds, busy patterns or multi-stripe designs. Stay with solid pastels, soft colors and grays and your directing debut will be off to a good start.

This is something better handled before the shoot, during your pre-production meeting. Other High Five Essentials include discussing the script, the shot sheet and the set. These are all best handled prior to the actual shoot. If your producer is also your client and the talent, it's a good idea to have several discussions leading up to the day of the shoot.

Now, when Brittany and her director/videographer show up on the day of the shoot they're prepared at least to present the right visuals to ensure the look of the production is a good one.

What to Say

Brittany should have an idea of what she wants to say. So should her director. That means a script and this is something with which the talent and director need to be familiar. Nothing will squash your talent's enthusiasm or your directorial debut like winging it, going in with no idea of what needs to be said. Directing talent is an important role you will need to master.

If nothing more at least have a few prompt cards handy to help your T-shirt entrepreneur stay focused on what she wants to say when you cue her that the camera is rolling and give her the countdown to start speaking. A half-dozen prompt cards that can be held just below the camera lens when needed is far better for both the inexperienced talent and newbie director than expecting smooth sailing as an extemporaneous speaker. Professionals who spend their entire careers making special presentations to thousands of people from the stage will freeze up, get their tongues twisted or drop their lines during a one-to-one session between them, the director and camera.

Trust me, you as the director (regardless of what other hats you may have to wear at this production) have to be familiar with what needs to be said. So use prompt cards, shoot short takes after discussion of what is to be said when the camera starts rolling and you cue the talent, or be prepared for the estimated two-hour session to take all day - if you have the time and energy to keep directing.