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.
The tech survey is where the rubber hits the road for the directing team: laying out the production plans, the schedule, the start and stop times — basically, everything that’s going to happen for each day of shooting at each set.
The more details and precision, the better. Thoroughness and clarity are key.
Make the most of your tech survey. It sets the tone for your shoot.
Read MoreShow and Tell meetings bring together the various elements of the images you plan to create. They also help you avoid unwanted surprises during principle photography.
Everyone on the filmmaking team wants to deliver their best work. Clear, concise communication and decisive leadership from the director is a must. Effective show and tell meetings begin with the director. Vagueness and uncertainty are not helpful and will likely lead to delays and disappointments on set.
Get all your ducks (and seahorses) in a row!
Read MoreWhen you’re crewing up for camera, lighting, sound, makeup, etc., the role of script continuity can be an afterthought.
I recommend finding someone who wants to do script continuity on every film. It’s an important role in longer form television and feature productions. When you get onto a professional set, they will be beside you for every shot.
Value the support they provide, and you will be a better director.
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 MoreAs a film director, the focus in your shot is either something that you want and can use, or it’s something that you don’t want and can’t use.
Be happy with your shots and takes. Make them the best they can be. Once you’re in post-production, focus issues cannot be resolved.
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 More‘Thumbnail’ is the term for a simple storyboard frame. It’s a small, quick sketch that shouldn’t take longer than 10 or 15 seconds to create. Thumbnails are an important part of the director’s visual planning process.
Thumbnails illustrate the size of the shot and the character position in the frame. This helps the different departments understand the director's goal for the camera set-up.
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.
Read MoreCreating blocking strategies and drawing up schematics are critical skills for the beginning director to develop.
Every director goes through their own process for planning the visual story that they want to tell – before they arrive on set to shoot it. The director’s pre-production work informs the schedule for shooting the film. The schedule is bound by the budget. Ultimately, the amount of money and time available for you to shoot a scene will dictate the limitations you need to work within.
Read More“Blocking’s up!” is the announcement you hear on set when the director, director of photography, and actors gather to walk through the dynamics of a scene and how it’s going to be shot. Blocking is essentially the choreography between the actor(s) and the camera.
There can be many moving parts to the blocking puzzle. Everyone who contributes to the shot needs to know what’s in the frame, what’s happening – and when it’s happening.
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