Some advice for your first feature, Part 2 (Tze Chun)

Here's part two in the series- these thoughts come from Tze Chun, director of 'Children of Invention'.

About the list Tze says: I don't know which one I'd say was the most important.  Number 1 probably:

1)      Drink a Red Bull as soon as you finish lunch.  Food coma is okay in real life, but for a director it can be a disaster. 

2)      Don't get too attached to your shot list.  When the day winds down, you may have to combine shots.  It's not the end of the world.

3)      Surround yourself with people that you trust. When you work on a 14-hour day, there will be at least 60 minutes a day where you will have effectively lost your sh*t. You want people around you who will tell you when you have bad ideas and support you when you have good ones.

4)      People are always saying never to work with child actors.  I say you should work with them before you forget what it's like to be one. 

5)      You need to put a lot of feeling into your film, because it's going to get diluted when it finally gets to your audience.  You need to feel a lot just to get your audience to cry or laugh a little bit.  I dunno why that is, but it is.

6)      As much energy as you put into the film, put that much energy into being calm.  Most fights on set happen when someone gets frantic.  That negative energy pollutes everything.  It's how you act when things are at their worst that defines how people remember working you.

7)      No Indian food on set.  Ever.