The Art of Directing

Directing.

director

dɪˈrɛktə,dʌɪˈrɛktə/

noun

1. a person who is in charge of an activity, department, or organization.

   • a member of the board of people that manages or oversees the affairs of a business.
     a person who supervises the actors and other staff in a film, play, or similar production. - Google Dictionary
2. Directing consists of running a production from beginning to end, and keeping the production on track with the help of their crew. There are different kinds of director such as the director and then the assistant directors titled 1st director, 2nd director, 3rd director, and sometimes a 2nd 2nd director; but multiple directors are also mostly on larger scale/ professional productions. Each kind have a similar but different job on set, as follows-

• Director- The director is the person responsible for the creative vision of the film- they work closely with the crew to get a production from the script to the screen. They are also responsible for casting.
• 1st Director- The 1st assistant director or 1st AD is responsible for organising the crew and set and liaising with the production office, and often act as the floor manager.
• 2nd Director- The 2nd AD looks after the cast. They will also assist the 1st AD.
• 3rd Director- 3rd AD is usually the assistant to the 1st AD, but also will look after the extras.
• 2nd 2nd Director- Some believe that this is the same as the 3rd AD, but it's argued that it's a separate job. 2nd 2nd AD are used on larger sets, and are used when the 2nd assistant's job can't be done by one person.

Directors take on a lot of responsibility on set. They are crucial to the production of a film or show running smoothly as they ensure that everyone involved is happy and doing their job correctly. Although they are often seen as the person in charge of everything, teamwork is also very important on set to ensure that everything goes to plan, as if 1 person isn't doing their job correctly it can affect how the rest of the crew work.

Directing is a lot about bringing a script to the screen, and representing the creators' view onscreen. But today's screen is largely decided by budgets. If a director can't get the budget then they can't make the film, and if the film's budget is too high it will be too risky, or the budget will be too low to make anything that will garner enough of an audience. [1] David Bell's Cracked article explains that it's become increasingly difficult for even very famous directors (i.e. David Lynch) to get their films funded so they've began to move to indie filming and smaller budgets, or onto TV.

Saying this, thanks to the evolution in technology, films have gotten much bigger and more ambitious (the ones that get funded, that is). Everything has been developed to make the production easier, but this comes at a cost. Cameras used to be large, bulky film cameras with delicate film that, if scratched, could damage the whole scene. [2] With these images from Business Insider's article on how much film has changed, in this example it's the detail in animation, you can see just how much technology has changed since the not-so-long-ago past.
This all means that a bigger crew is needed for these more ambitious sets and plans, and this explains the many number of directors and all their different jobs.
 All of this recent development has improved how films have been ran. Directors no longer have to watch closely and give the actors pointers after takes have been made to give them feedback. Actors can now instantly watch back the take and see where they can improve themselves. This makes the job easier for the director.

An example of how different directors can affect a film's direction over time is with the Harry Potter franchise. In the beginning, the first 2 films were directed by family-friendly Chris Columbus, also known for Home Alone. But by Goblet of Fire we saw Mike Newell bringing the book to life and also marking the movement from Harry's mystical adventures to darker tales and more adult themes. Obviously, Harry Potter never became anything adult-themed, but the films definitely moved to darker topics with more involvement from Voldemort and the story of Harry's parents. [3]

I think a really key aspect to a director's job is the casting. If you get the casting right, then you'll be making production a lot easier for yourself. It's important for the director to meet the actors to get a 'feel' for them and to see how they act, their mannerisms and if this matches the character. I think a director will always have a talent for knowing when they've found the right person. David Lynch speaks about how he casts people, and he gets them to just talk for 5 minutes so he can understand who they are and what they're like. [4]

Another feature of directing is having to analyse scripts. Script analysis is very important, as this is how you will get the best kind of understanding of the script so that you can represent the story properly. It also means you'll be able to understand the characters better and you'll know the script inside out. We learned about script analysis in our lecture with Steve Finn, and it was extremely helpful to know about how to properly look into a script.

My Understanding

My understanding of directing is that you are the creative vision of the production, and everyone is ultimately going to be looking to you for the direction, and what they are going to be doing next. But if, as a director, you work hard and keep up communication with your crew, and your crew is also working hard to get the results they want and you want, then you will be able to bring together a production. But there are many aspects that are also involved that the director will have less control over such as funding, and it is the director's job in this case to be able to sell the show to people and get them on board. As I won't be doing this so much in my production I will be able to put more time into gathering a team that will work hard for me and I will be able to put in the research that will help me to bring together what I imagine for my production.

Bibliography

[1] Bell, D. (2016). 5 Ways Modern Movie Directing Has Changed (For The Worse). [online] Cracked.com. Available at: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-modern-blockbuster-has-changed-for-worse/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].
[2] Verrill, C. (2016). 18 photos that show how drastically making movies has changed over the last century. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/film-sets-1900s-vs-now-2016-4?r=US&IR=T/#now-theyre-small-lightweight-and-more-easily-carried-there-are-also-easier-ways-for-the-director-to-figure-out-what-aspect-ratios-and-focal-lengths-they-prefer-and-that-is-with-a-viewfinder-as-pictured-below-6 [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].
[3]Saporito, J. (2015). How did the "Harry Potter" series evolve as the directors changed | ScreenPrism. [online] Screenprism.com. Available at: http://screenprism.com/insights/article/how-did-the-directorial-changes-across-the-harry-potter-films-suit-the-mate [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].
[4] Holzman, A. (2013). The Art of Directing, David Lynch. [online] Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/33179458 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].