Directing Fundamentals. Without a strong vision behind a story, a film will lose its focus. A film director needs to have an understanding of how each department contributes to the making of a film and how to best utilize the talents of all team members. The following 100 LEVEL blogs cover the role and responsibilities of a director in script development, pre-production, production, and post production. Read along to learn how to tell a story cinematically, use the camera as a tool, prepare a script analysis and engage in the casting and rehearsal process with actors.
Your first day on set as a director will undoubtedly be memorable.
Every day of film production requires you to have a plan. The question is: can the scheduled work be completed in the allotted time?
Whatever happens, you’ll walk away knowing a lot more about your actors, yourself, and the challenges of directing.
Read MoreAfter all the planning, preparation, meetings, auditions, rehearsals, location scouts, etc. – the first day of principle photography is what all the work has been about.
Your script analysis, thumbnail frames, shotlist, schematics, and meetings with your creative keys have helped build the plan for the production.
Pre-thinking performance notes and details are a vital part of the playbook.
Read MoreFilms are rarely shot in chronological order. Creating the production plan, crafting an efficient schedule, and deciding on the best order for shooting your film is done with your assistant director.
There are many puzzle pieces to a shooting schedule. Weather forecasts, location access, equipment availability, and actor availability can all create logistical challenges. A well-organized schedule lets you get the work for the day done in the allotted time with strong performances and a sense that everyone is pleased with their efforts.
Take care when building your schedule. It will pay off with a good directing experience.
Read MoreBringing a film to life – and making it good – relies heavily on the script and the director. But the director is not working alone. There are many creative partners who align with the director, and two are of critical importance in pre-production and principle photography – the director of photographer and the production designer.
Working alongside the director, these two creative keys are responsible for crafting the visual images.
Read MoreAn engaged audience reacts to the director’s choices in every frame. Focus, light, movement, composition, and shot content are factors for every director to consider when constructing a frame.
Ideas for frames grow and multiply through your director’s prep. The writer, John Steinbeck, said it best — 'Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.'
Read MoreCamera angles have conventions and implicit meanings that have been understood by viewers from the early days of moving pictures.
Directors need to know the impact of their decisions when they set up a shot. And they need to understand what their audience will understand from their camera angle choice.
Read MoreCreating strong images that are carefully designed with intentional storytelling details is the director’s job. The power and effectiveness of the storytelling lies in the director’s camera choices.
The beginning director must have an understanding of how camera placement and movement can convey the narrative purpose of a shot or a scene.
Read MoreWe know that filmmaking is a collaborative art and that the cast and crew work together to support the best possible storytelling. However, the director is ultimately responsible for building a strong, cinematic story.
Developing your eye as a film director is an ongoing process of understanding, observation, and patience. Every day and every film is full of opportunities to learn.
Read MoreAs the production moves from pre-production into principle photography, the shotlist is tremendously helpful. It shapes the schedule, clarifies the equipment that is needed, and many other important details that contribute to managing a smooth-running show.
Every director has their own process for pre-visualizing their story, but creating a written plan helps build confidence in the decision-making that happens on set.
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