So a very common thing to happen on a film set is that you find yourself suddenly running behind schedule, yet you still have an entire scene left to film. You were planning on having the 1/2 day after lunch to shoot it, but now you only have 3 hours.

It's even harder because you were planning on breaking your grip and electric team early so they could pre-light the new set during lunch. But now you have to eat that time too.

Oh, and you have to wrap one of the actors 1/2 hour early because of that thing they agreed to, and you were originally planning on finishing the day with insert shots using her hand double. So now you have even less time.

Long story short, those 10 beautifully designed shots that were perfectly logistically engineered to fit in that time, that whole plan has to go out the window. You have to figure out a new plan, right there, on the spot.

Some directors will spend energy blaming. "Why didn't they test the practical FX before today?" "Why wasn't the actor pre-called?" "Why won't the studio approve overtime?" Which doesn't get you any closer to the outcome goal of making your day. The clock is still ticking.

Great directors accept reality. Quickly. And they figure out how to tell the story of the scene as efficiently as possible. If you're lucky, inspiration might strike to make the new plan just as creatively satisfying as the initial one. But always err on the side of simplicity.

Because most likely, the problem that made you fall behind schedule wasn't just one problem, but the entire crew dealing with a myriad of unexpected issues based on the specific realities on the day. (And yes, if there's one terrible crew member, ya fire them after you wrap.)

I keep having dreams about this situation, and I feel like there might be parallels to what's going on now.

Except the goal is not to shoot the most compelling version of a scene, the goal is for my daughters to be able to make more memories with their grandparents.