Mastering Communication: The Key to on-Set Success
What's the most common large-scale roadblock on any given set? Well, I couldn’t say for sure, but for my money, it’s not a messed-up tether cable, it’s not running out of coffee on the crafty table (although there is a tragedy to that). In my opinion, it is without a doubt miscommunication or lack of communication. For some reason, we so often run into issues of not communicating out of fear, frustration, or "time constraints".
So what is one to do when trying to fix such a major malfunction in the process? Let’s start by identifying what those already mentioned issues are and how we can fix them.
Fear:
I would say the most common reason is fear. Every G&E crew member has a story from early in their career inwich they were asked to go to the grip truck and grab a “gc453-xy#qzt” only to go out to said truck and start sweating bullets because they have no idea what that could possibly be. This is a universal if not ridiculous example that speaks to a real issue we have in this industry. For years, the photo/video industry has been a culture of the informed and the uninformed. It creates an anxious work style where we are taught to work with a fear that you will be seen as less capable, a fear that you will come off as unintelligent, and a fear of coming off as unaware so whatever you don’t entirely understand, keep it to yourself!
But this is a mindset I see us moving past, we all remember that grip who was instrumental in teaching us the basics of this industry, from how to set up a C-stand to what is the correct way to ask questions or codes to call to create a nice flow.
When we are letting everyone in we create a powerful culture of not only support but connection and understanding. Remember, thirty seconds of explaining saves you minutes which turns into hours in the long run. Plus you are facilitating a culture that promotes emotional safety, and I think we all know that creativity always is at its best when everyone feels safe to express those creative ideas.
Frustration:
I’m not going to lie, this one grinds my gears. I've seen many instances where a team member hesitates to approach another team member because they lack trust in their ability to understand instructions. Instead, they resort to passive-aggressive communication tactics or seek assistance from someone whose role differs from theirs. This situation is unfair to everyone involved because it overloads the individual they turn to for help and prevents their actual assistant from learning. In the long run, this behavior diminishes their own potential asset.
In her book Dare to Lead, author Brene Brown comes back to a pretty simple but central phrase: “clear is kind,” so easy, so eloquent, right? When we speak straightforwardly, there is so much less room for error, you are not playing mind games with your team, we are informing them, once again, we are opening ourselves up. This is where it can be kind of hard though, to lead someone takes a level of vulnerability on our parts, to be clear in your language is to plainly express intention which is deceptively a scary idea. What if they think I’m dumb, or respect me less for not using the “correct” corporate talk, or what if, god forbid, I’m wrong! This is a real risk but when we allow ourselves to be wrong or come off as “dumb” we are allowing someone else to come alongside us and help us correct this, or help suggest a different approach. That not only will save you time but usually get you a better end product.
Addendum to this point: At Reactor, we often use the phrase “say that again but use different words” and you won’t believe how much work that little phrase can save you.
Time Constraints:
Finally, I want to talk about time constraints. This one is real, like really real! We only have so much time to get stuff done and we only have so much time, money, and stamina to do it, this is where your checks and balances come in. If you’re working with the right people they understand the emotions of business and can curb that from the word go thus saving you time on our first two points, then there are the little things we can do to help this, off-site communication in the form of call sheets, updated sides and up-to-date schedules are shockingly effective.
Don’t discount the power of a spreadsheet and the access granted to the widest circle possible will bring."They don’t need to know all that” is a common refrain you hear. While there is a lot of truth in that sentiment, it's important to pause and consider why they don’t need that information. Returning to our initial point, is it because it’s genuinely an inappropriate amount of information for them to have, or is it because of a sense of stinginess? As Tommy Wiseau once put it to his script supervisor when asked if he could have a copy of said script, “everybody wants script, don’t be greedy guy.” This is, of course, patently ridiculous but I would encourage everyone to take a step back and ask themselves, why am I being stingy.
All in all:
we can agree, this is an industry that can be fast-moving, hard to control and just generally pretty intense, but remember in all that craziness what we can control is how we treat one another and how we express ourselves. This is a medium we all love, that’s why we do it! So, why aren’t we talking about it with that same love.
Sadhguru:
Right from your childhood your parents taught you if you study how must you… how should you study? Study hard. If you work, how should you work? Work hard. You do everything hard. If you do things hard things won't happen. It will become a donkey’s life. Just doing everything hard. Nobody told you, you must study in joy; nobody told you, you must work in love.