It may be cliché to mention time as being something we’d all like more of, but it is a major factor once your film is up and running. It is also the one thing that is under relentless assault as you make your film. Every element of the process can benefit from more time, and every element can conspire to eat it up. Knowing this in advance is critical. The only guarantee is that time will go faster than you want it to. However you can make the most of your time on set by being as prepared as possible. You can’t anticipate what will delay you, but you can have swiftly employable backup plans for when things do go wrong, you can essentially create time on some days when things go smoothly.

Preparation for our film was essential for the type of film and the style of execution I planned. To a great extent, I believe that an enormous amount of the directing on this type of film is done long before the camera rolls. By approaching the process in this way, fewer unanticipated decisions need to be made on set, and more time can be spent focusing on the actors and the performances.

A cast and crew who are working in difficult conditions, as we were, like to see that you are being efficient with your time. In our case we set high expectations for the amount of coverage we wanted to achieve each day. When it was clear that our plan was efficient and was working, you could feel the energy and the excitement of it and everyone became the guardian of the precious resource that is time.

[PREMIERE SCREENING: Tuesday, Jan. 22, 3:15 pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City]