Director/DP Relationship

The challenge of being a director trying to communicate you vision to a DP, for me, is in explaining not only the look you want but also why you want it. In my mind, the DP needs to know why you want things shot in a certain way because your reasons are linked to the result. In other words, if you explain only what but not why, the DP will get the general idea, but may miss some of the subtle nuances which are often very important.

Explaining your reasons for doing things can be difficult because a) sometimes your ideas are based more on feelings than completely formed thoughts and b) the DP does not always think in the same way that you do. What I think works is when the director and DP establish some sort of relationship that makes it so that they each have a good idea of what the other is thinking before they say it. I don't have this sort of relationship with another filmmaker, but many professional filmmakers have spoken of it.

The challenge of being a DP is exactly the opposite of being a director; it's trying to understand the unique perspective of the director. Not only that, the DP also has to do what he/she thinks is right, sometimes. It can be difficult to balance what you think is right and what the director is telling you. Again, it helps to be on the same wavelength as the director.