Film Directing 123: Show and Tell Meetings

LEVEL 100 blogs are for film students and first-time directors taking on the directing role for a short film. The series is designed to help and guide new filmmakers through the director’s prep duties, pre-production activities, and principle photography dynamics.

Keep production running smoothly with no surprises

Show and Tell meetings bring together the various elements of the images you plan to create. They also help you avoid unwanted surprises during principle photography.

During pre-production, the different departments of the creative filmmaking team work independently, for the most part. Based on your instructions, they gather props, assemble set decoration assets, put together wardrobe ideas, try out stunts, test special effects, establish the look of special effects make-up, and other details that will make up the frames of your film.

The props department compiles the possessions and accessories for every character and key items for every scene. For example, a wristwatch, a charm bracelet, a keychain, a briefcase, or a bottle of pills may be specific items that speak to the character, the story, or something that you want to feature in a close-up.

Show and Tell meetings allow you to review and approve everything before you go to camera.

The director must know the shots and what the camera (and audience) will see. Will we see inside a jewellery box? A fridge? A medicine cabinet? The production designer and set decoration team need to know what will be in every shot so that they can have it ready on the day.

Wardrobe choices, set design, and set decoration are important to coordinate. Two characters in the same suit and tie might be a comical note in a scene, but if it’s not intentional it may confuse the audience.

Knowing the colour and tone of the walls, window treatments, and set decorations are critical details that factor into the decision-making process for the production designer and the design team.

There’s a lot of information to juggle in the planning stages. Show and tell meetings help manage all the pieces of the puzzle.

There’s a cost to everything, so precise instructions are important. The director and designer must be on the same page.

Imagine a scene in a bathroom where a distraught character opens the medicine cabinet and pulls out a bottle of pills. What do we see? Depending on the shot, we don’t necessarily need to see inside the cabinet, do we? However, if we do see inside, the film team needs to know. It must make sense and be in keeping with the story and the character’s world.

If there is just the one bottle, that makes a statement about the character. If the cabinet is disorganized and jammed full of stuff, that tells a different story. You need to explain what will be seen (or might be seen) so that your team can be prepared.

If you have a close-up planned for the pill bottle, that’s an important detail for you to review and approve. The name and information on the label, the number of pills in the bottle, the size of the bottle, etc.

Another important aspect to review in a show and tell meeting is make up, particularly special effects makeup. It's important to establish the look of something like a black eye, a scar, or specific bruising, etc. It's also important to understand how long the makeup team will need to get their work ready for camera.

What you don't want to happen during your shoot day is to end up waiting because you failed to understand what every department needs to do to be ready for the shot. Holding up production because it’s not the right prop or make-up can easily be avoided.

Show and tell meetings keep production running smoothly by solving potential problems in advance.

If you plan to do more than one take on any effect or stunt, such as a water splash or a pie in the face, the reset time and details need to be discussed. To do another take may require a wardrobe change, drying time for the actor’s hair, make-up re-applied, set clean-up, etc.

Getting accurate time estimates for how long it will take to do another shot is something the Assistant Director needs to know so they can add it to the schedule. If the reset time for a second take is 30 minutes and requires a second set of wardrobe, everyone needs to know well in advance.

Scheduling show and tell meetings a few days before the start of principal photography allows you to address concerns AND give everyone enough time for any requested changes to be made.

Effective show and tell meetings begin with the director. Vagueness and uncertainty are not helpful and will likely lead to delays and disappointments on set.  

Everyone on the filmmaking team wants to deliver their best work. Clear, concise communication and decisive leadership from the director is a must.

Get all your ducks (and seahorses) in a row!