Directing Episode 103 - "Panic"

by Seith Mann

As an episodic director, coming in to direct an episode of a show (especially one you've never done) can be different every time.  It really depends on the dynamics of the hundred or so people you're working with and meeting for the first time.  I imagine sometimes that I'm a lone gunman walking into an old Western saloon in a new town.   It's full of people you don't know, but they all know each other.  Some of 'em talk to you.  Some of 'em don't.  Some are your friends, some your enemies, some pretend to be something they're not and some just don't give a damn.  I guess it's not a great analogy cuz as a Director, everyone knows what you're there for.  But hell - that's the game I play in my head.  You usually just don't know.  CRASH was a little different in that I have long (relatively speaking - I've only been doing this three years), happy history with the DP, Russell Fine.  So that was one thing I knew was gonna be cool off the top.  Also - I had worked with Clare Carey and Brian Tee before and enjoyed working with both of them.

Catching up on the episodes is not hard.  It is one of the coolest parts of the job.  You have to do it on a serialized show if you're gonna have any fucking clue who the characters are and what the story lines are.  But I got in this business because I love watching movies and good television.  So essentially, I get paid to do something I've always loved.  The only tricky part is when your shows run a little too close together and you literally do not have enough hours to mainline all the episodes.  That wasn't a problem on CRASH, because only one episode had been cut by the time I started shooting.

I find actors usually have a good ideas and instincts and they often make me look better.  The only time I find actors to be a problem is when they aren't willing to try your ideas in the same way that they want you to try theirs.  Or if they are unwilling to recognize when their idea is not working.  But somewhere in a healthy collaboration, you discover things better than either one of you imagined.

The most fun scene was either Luis and the cow or Clare, D.B. and Charles Parnell in the house.  There was a moment when Clare and I kind of figured something out at the same time that was really sweet.

The hardest scene to shoot was the initial scene in the recording studio.  The space was very small and crowded with people, but it was important o deliver some key information in a short page count.

I think the main thing, in terms of shooting a sex scene, is to check in with both your actor and actress and make sure they know that their comfort level in the scene is a priority for you.  And then, make sure they you’re not some freak who’s getting off on the scene or that you intend to do something that is gratuitous.  And by gratuitous, I mean have actors doing something or expose them in a way that is not grounded in the reality of what their characters are going through.  So my approach is to deal with what the characters are going through – like any other scene.  We want it to be real and grounded, but it’s delicate.  So there was a lot of discussion what each character should be wearing.  Ultimately, Christine appears nude for all practical purposes and Peter is wearing a t-shirt.  That made sense for where both characters were coming from in the scene.  She is seducing her husband for a reason and acting out some repressed sexual tension she’s got going on cuz of the handsome new architect (played by, my man, Charles Parnell.)  And Peter is totally unsuspecting, but not inclined to pass up on some interaction he probably hasn’t had in some time.  I found that because the three of us had a lot of communication going into the scene, it was all good when we got there.  I’m sure it didn’t hurt that Clare and I had worked together before and she knew I wasn’t a freak.

Working with Dennis was very cool.  You expect with his stature that he might be one of those actors who is not open or collaborative.  The total opposite.   Very smart and insightful, but open.  One scene, cuz of time considerations, we only had time for one take, one size.  And of course he had like five thousand words to say.  One take.  He nailed it.  The man is a pro.

Shooting Panic’s rap was fun.  We just turned the cameras on and let Jocko rip.  I loved that he shouted out Spike Lee (one of my filmmaking heroes) in his rhyme.  In the early part of my career, I tried and failed to direct music videos – so this got to be a little bit like my music video within a larger context.