Film director

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A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film.^[1] 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 his or her vision. A film producer may also be considered a filmmaker.

Director Herbert Brenon with actress Alla Nazimova on the set of Madison And :Libby, 1916

In some cases, film directors do not 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.^[2]

[edit] Responsibilities

A film director is responsible for overseeing creative aspects of a film. They often develop the vision for a film and carry the vision out, deciding how the film should look. They also direct what tone it should have and what an audience should gain from the cinematic experience. Directing a film is a kind of storytelling. Film directors are responsible for approving camera angles, lens effects, lighting, and set design, and will often take part in hiring key crew members. They coordinate the actors' moves and also 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. Directors often use storyboards to illustrate and a directors viewfinder to set up camera angles.

The director also plays a key role in post-production. He/she works with the editor to ensure that the emotions of the scene and the close ups, mid shots and wide shots appropriately reflect which character is driving the narrative. The director also advises on the (colour) grading of the final images, adding warmth or frigidity to the composition of the shots to reflect the emotional subtext of the character or environment. They also participate in the sound mix and musical composition of the film.

[edit] Methods of film directing

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

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

Directors have different methods of filming. Some styles include:

• Outline a general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue. Directors who employ this style are Christopher Guest, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Mike Leigh, Jean-Luc Godard, Miklós Jancsó, Gus Van Sant, Judd Apatow and occasionally Robert Altman and Federico Fellini.

• Control every aspect, and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. Such as
  Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, David Fincher and Alfred Hitchcock

• Write their own scripts (such as Woody Allen, John Cassavetes, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron, George Lucas, J. F. Lawton, Charles Chaplin, Billy Wilder, David Lynch, the Coen Brothers, Pedro Almodóvar, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Todd Field, Paul Thomas Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Satyajit Ray, Oliver Stone, Terrence Malick, John Singleton, Spike Lee, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, M. Night Shyamalan, Paul Haggis, Billy Bob Thornton or Robert Rodriguez).

• Collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners (such as Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown/Tony Grisoni, Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson/Noah Baumbach, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi/Paul Schrader/Jay Cocks, Yasujiro Ozu and Kôgo Noda, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, or Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, Krzysztof Kieslowski/Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Frank Capra/Robert Riskin, Michelangelo Antonioni/Tonino Guerra, Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan).

• Be the cinematographer and/or editor (such as Stanley Kubrick, Steven Soderbergh, Josef von Sternberg, David Lean, Don Coscarelli, Robert Rodriguez, James Cameron, Gaspar Noe, Takeshi Kitano, Andy Warhol, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kenneth Anger, and the Coen Brothers).

• Appear in their films (such as Orson Welles, Mel Brooks, Mel Gibson, Martin Scorsese, Peter Jackson, John Waters, John Carpenter, Spike Lee, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Anger, Michael Bay, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, Mel Brooks, Charlie Chaplin, Sam Raimi, Roman Polanski, Billy Bob Thornton, Sylvester Stallone, M. Night Shyamalan, Harold Ramis, Robert de Niro, John Woo, Kevin Smith and Edward D. Wood, Jr., Kenneth Branagh; Alfred Hitchcock made memorable cameo appearances in his films.

• Compose a music score for their films (such as Charlie Chaplin, Stanley Kubrick, Clint Eastwood, John Carpenter, Satyajit Ray and Robert Rodriguez).

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.

[edit] 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 or even millions per film in some cases.^[3]

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

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

[edit] External links

• Federation of European Film Directors
• Filmmakers - Free Filmmakers Forum
• 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