Directions Unit - The art of Directing

It is the responsibility of the Director to ensure that everything and everyone on set is moving in the right direction. It takes a group of people to make a movie, and the director is the "conductor" of this group. The Director simply makes sure everyone is doing their job and it is the groups job to add their own style. Though it is the Director that has the ultimate say on set, there is always collaboration between him and the DP, makeup, set design, head gaffer, camera operators, and all department heads.

With all that being said, I want to talk about the two different directing styles seen in a number of movies today. For the most part the directors who focus on the visuals, or on the actors performance. Each director has their own blend of the two. This makes me ask myself, what director am I? Do you tend to focus on the performance of the actors, or on the way the movie looks. The best director can focus on both and use them to tell a compelling story. For my short piece I will be focussing mostly on the visuals. I want to make the setting feel the way it's supposed to feel. I want to trust the actors to do their part well.

This brings me onto the next topic, you want to have actors who are talented enough to make the character their own. A quality actor will be able to bring the character to life. Before you even start filming you need to know what style the movie is going to be, and what type of lighting you want for each scene. Once you have a good style plan, you need to work with your director of photography and make sure you are collaborating, so that he can light a set while you work with the actors. Once a set is light, you can make your visual adjustments with lighting changes, lens choice, and camera position.

Before you start rolling, you must talk to the actors and tell them where they are at. They need to understand what emotions they need to portray and what has happened to their character up to this point in the story. Because you casted well, they can take some simple direction and make that character come to life. There is a lot more to directing than this, but this will give you a good foundation. Don’t take on the whole load yourself, collaborate with your DP in visual style so that you can work with the actor and juggle all other on set responsibilities.