Film director

Filmmaker redirects here. Filmmaker can also mean Film producer.

Director Herbert Brenon with actress Alla Nazimova on the set of War Brides, 1916

A director is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the script, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of their vision.

However, film directors do not in all countries have absolute artistic control. The director can also be selected by the producer. The producer can in this case have veto power over everything from the script itself to the final cut of the film, often in anywhere from slight to extreme opposition to the director's vision.

When directing episodes for a television show, a director's responsibilities are somewhat diminished, as the visual look and feel of the series is already established, usually by the person billed as the show's creator or executive producer. Those directors who choose or are chosen to work in TV traditionally have had to accept that they will not be as lauded, or as well-paid, as their big-screen counterparts.

Responsibilities

A film director is responsible for overseeing every creative aspect of a film. They develop a vision for a film, decide how it should look, what tone it should have, and what an audience should gain from the cinematic experience. He/she is in short the storyteller. Film directors are responsible for approving every camera angle, lens effect, lighting, and set design occasionally even taking part in the hiring of key crew members. They coordinate the actors moves, determine camera angles, and may be involved in the writing, financing, and editing of a film. The director works closely with the cast and crew to shape the film and may often take suggestions on pertinent issues. Some like to conduct rigorous rehearsals in preproduction while others do so before each scene. In either case this process is essential as it tells the director as well as other key members of the crew (Director of Photography, Stunt Choreographer, Hair Stylist etc) how the actors are going to play the scene, which enables them to make any necessary adjustments.

Methods of film directing

Ingmar Bergman examines lighting conditions, apparently through x-ray film, during work on Wild Strawberries.

Directors have different methods of creating a movie. Some styles include:

• Outline a general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue. Directors who employ this style are Christopher Guest, Spike Lee and occasionally Robert Altman.
• Control every aspect, and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. Such as Stanley Kubrick or Alfred Hitchcock.
• Write their own scripts (such as Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, Charles Chaplin, Billy Wilder, David Lynch, the Coen Brothers, Pedro Almodóvar, Kevin Smith, Chris Folino, Quentin Tarantino, Todd Field, Paul Thomas Anderson, Satyajit Ray, Oliver Stone, John Singleton, Spike Lee, Hayao Miyazaki, M. Night Shyamalan or Robert Rodriguez).
• Collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners (such as Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson/Noah Baumbach, Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg, Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi/Paul Schrader, Yasujiro Ozu and Kôgo Noda, or Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale).
• Be the cinematographer and editor (such as Steven Soderbergh, Don Coscarelli, or Robert Rodriguez).
• Appear in their films (such as Orson Welles, Mel Brooks, Mel Gibson, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Eli Roth, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Sylvester Stallone, M. Night Shyamalan, Harold Ramis,John Woo or even Edward D. Wood, Jr.).

Directors work closely with film producers, who are responsible for both artistic and non-artistic elements of the film, such as, script approval, financing, casting notes, contract negotiation and marketing. Some directors will take on some of the responsibilities of the producer for their films. Directors like Orson Welles are famously known for writing, directing and producing their films while the early silent film director Alice Guy Blaché not only produced her own pictures, but actually created her own highly successful studio.

Professional organizations

In the United States, directors usually belong to the Directors Guild of America. The Canadian equivalent is the Directors Guild of Canada. In the UK, directors usually belong to Directors Guild of Great Britain. A new director might earn as little as $20,000 a year, while the most successful can earn over $500,000 per movie, even millions per film in some cases.

Physical Demands of Career

• Is able to communicate well
• Stay standing for long hours
• Resist harsh weather/dangerous conditions
• Have a powerful voice
• Stress tolerant
• Is able to manage a team
• Has a good, creative eye
• Time management skills
• Organization

Related Careers

• Art Director
• Camera Operator
• Producer
• Actor
• Dancer
• Stage Manager

Education Required

Education is required in this field. Directors will need to study areas of history, language, performing arts, and visual arts. Many directors have attended film school. However, this is not the only way into the industry. If the director has good contacts and knows someone in the industry, this can help their career greatly.

See also

The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London.

• Federation of European Film Directors
• Auteur theory
• List of directors
• Alan Smithee
• English Film Directors
• List of Directorial Debuts

External links

• Federation of European Film Directors
• Filmmakers - Free Filmmakers Forum
• Smooth Negotiating: Making the Director Deal
• Directors Guild of America
• Directors Guild of Canada
• Directors Guild of Great Britain
• A comprehensive collection of interviews with a century's worth of European film directors
• Films101 The best directors picked by critics and filmmakers