For the most part, no one wants to be the jerk. You don't like it when people are mean to you, so you try not to act like it to others. Thus when it comes to filmmaking, the first instinct is to make sure you are on everyone's good side. The truth is, however, that that is a mistake if you want to make a film true to your vision. I am not saying be mean to your crew because you should always treat them with respect. What I mean to say is you cannot act like everyone's friend on set. You are the director and have to make sure you are getting what you want out of the crew.
The Film is Your Idea... Not Anyone Else's
You have to make sure you idea is being shot and this was a lesson I learned from experience. I had a cameraman who was very good at getting certain shots. However he was the more artistic type who would take as long as it would take to get the shot. The problem with that is we only have so many hours in the schedule.
On the first day, I let him do his thing. Looking back on it, it was a pretty bad rookie mistake. We fell behind tremendously and if it wasn't for my producer at the time, I might not have realized soon enough the effects of what was going on. Also there were certain shots that I would not have wanted. It looked good artistically, but I felt as though the shots did not have the same weight to tell the story. The next day, I made sure to push him forward. I did my best to not sound angry, but I was stern enough to mention we were running out of time. Luckily for me, he was understanding so there was no tension between us during and after production.
No one likes to be "that" guy. The one barking orders and making people angry at him. Still if you want the film done the way you want it, sometimes you got to make those choices. You can't be everyone's friend on set, but you HAVE to be a good director.
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