My list of important things to keep in mind as a director—
Size of the gesture
You have to know whether your animation, set or performance is going to read. This doesn't have to do only with performances, but with everything. If you're tight, only a small gesture is sufficient. If you're wide, you're going to have to get bigger. Examples: the green room set design should have been "bigger" to read in the wide shots. The dead bird tableau should have been "bigger" to read in the wide shot. Detail—small gestures— didn't seem to be as much of a problem.
Geography
Film inherently scrambles geography which is both an advantage and a caution. It's advantageous because you can cheat shots—shoot close ups later, do reverses on the same wall. It's a caution because you have to sign post a lot when you don't want audiences to get lost. Geography is less about memory. It's not so much about showing a wide map view and then showing the details although in simple scenes, it does work that way. Rather, it's about showing relationships, like where is Ben in relation to the car right now?
Anticipation
What makes film different from a novel is the way anticipations are set up. There is no bigger job. You show the blood leaking from the car to anticipate the dead bird, the horrified expression on a face before the reveal of the shrine, the narration that says "and then...." In a short film I think you can concentrate on the micro level anticipations and the macro-level. What makes a feature different is that you also have mid-level anticipations and reversals. If there are only micro-level anticipations, you have interest without substance or theme. Macro-level without micro is tedious to watch.
Moments
Film isn't a chronology of events. It's more fruitful to think of it as a series of emotional arcs driven by the lead's point of view that lead to the creation and fulfillment of anticipated moments.
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