Film industry needs to learn more about soft-skills, especially leadership and learning skills. Other industries are light years ahead of us in this and that's why they are more efficient and more livable for the people working in them.
Receiving feedback is usually hard. We human beings just don’t like when others feel entitled to tell us how we should have done what we have done. In a creative industry like film, it's a daily thing. But it's not just creatives who encounter this, it’s also part of the technical side of filmmaking as well.
Negative feelings, events, things impact us more than positive ones. Psychologists figured this out. So in a stressful environment like a film set, we can feel down more easily than we actually should do.
I noticed how one of the 1st ADs I worked with recently remembered my name only after one short introduction. Even after not having worked together for a week or so he greeted me by my own name. I was curious if it was something that came naturally for him, or he was working on it deliberately.
When I’m working on a project, I feel guilty for not having enough time for friends, hobbies, family, housework, and other things. When I’m not working I feel guilty for wasting time when I would finally have the time for these. But I just want to rest! Have you ever felt this way?
Prioritizing on a film-set is often troublesome. Everything seems to be important and usually all of them at the same time. And like it’s not enough. When you get home, there are also new tasks waiting for you in your mailbox, or on the fridge door. All of them urgent and important as well. So what do we do? :D Well… panic and complain of course. But what should we do?
"Soft skills are a combination of people skills, social skills, communication skills, social intelligence and emotional intelligence quotients among others that enable people to navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills."
An in depth list with resources to start with.
Lets talk about film-life topics with the "A" - Camera Focus Puller of Life of Pi, Saving Mr. Banks, The Founder, Only the Brave:
- Being ready for things going wrong
- Building a great team
- Personalities on set
- Letting things go
- A reversed career path to 1st AC
- Networking
- Shifting gears to Family life
- Mentoring, Being mentored, Lifting others up
- Being ready for opportunities
... and more.
Lets talk about film-life topics with the VFX DP of Inception, Dark Knight, Hunger Games:
- Managing a team of people you don't know
- Managing time on set
- Delegating tasks
- Relationship with upper-management
- Career path from something non film through lighting, to DP-ing
- Work/Private-Life Balance
- Financial planning while working in film industry
Success happens only when you keep doing awesome work in the face of setbacks and frustrations long enough for a breakthrough to happen. Some kinds of motivation will take you only to the next stop, but for a successful career, you need to know which will survive the marathon.