Insight

Some of the worst bits about directing are also the aspects that make it such a fantastic job.

Although film-making is a co-operative process, the director is the one who's supposed to have the vision and the plan.

The crew and actors are paid a lot of money and so the producers of the film will expect the director to organise the film efficiently. At any time, the rest of the crew will look to the director for guidance. She or he has to be ready with a decision, even if they are unsure of the consequences. Like most creative jobs, the hardest thing is belief in your vision when everyone is telling you you're wrong, even you!

During the making of Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola was close to despair, commenting to his wife Eleanor, "I tell you from the bottom of my heart that I am making a bad film." And again, "We are all lost. I have no idea where to go with this." Although not all directors will have to go through Coppola's traumas, most will experience self-doubt at some time during a shoot.

If you're interested in Coppola's experience on Apocalypse Now, try and get hold of a copy of Hearts of Darkness, a great film documentary largely shot by his wife, Eleanor. Another wicked insight into the soul of a director is a book called Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut and Helen Scott.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/film/advice/careers/cons_of_being_a_film_director.shtml