A film director is a person who directs the making of a film.
Generally, a film director controls a
film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and
actors in the fulfillment of that vision.[1] The director has a key role in choosing the cast members,
production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking.
[2]
In some European countries, the
director is viewed as the author of the film.
The film director gives direction to the cast and crew and create an overall vision through which a
film eventually becomes realized. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions
and stay in the boundaries of the film's budget. There are many pathways to becoming a film
director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, film editors or actors. Other film directors have
attended a film school. Directors use different approaches. Some outline a general plotline and let
the actors improvise dialogue, while others control every aspect, and demand that the actors and
crew follow instructions precisely. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on
screenplays with long-standing writing partners. Some directors edit or appear in their films, or
compose the music score for their films.
Contents
[hide]
1 Responsibilities
2 Career pathways
3 Characteristics
4 Professional organizations
5 Notable individuals
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links
Responsibilities[edit]
The film director gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, while filming a costume drama on location
inLondon.
Film directors create an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized. [3] Realizing
this vision includes overseeing the artistic and technical elements of film production, as well as
directing the shooting timetable and meeting deadlines.[4] This entails organizing the film crew in such
a way as to achieve his or her vision of the film.[5] [6] This requires skills of group leadership, as well as
the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful, fast-paced environment of a film set.
[7]
Moreover it is necessary to have an artistic eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast
and crew,[8]thus, excellent communication skills are a must.[9]
Since the film director depends on the successful cooperation of many different creative individuals
with possibly strongly contradicting artistic ideals and visions, he or she also needs to possess
conflict resolution skills in order to mediate whenever necessary. [10] Thus the director ensures that all
individuals involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed
film.[5] The set of varying challenges he or she has to tackle has been described as "a multidimensional jigsaw puzzle with egos and weather thrown in for good measure". [11] It adds to the
pressure that the success of a film can influence when and how they will work again.
[12]
Omnipresent
are the boundaries of the films budget. Additionally, the director may also have to ensure an
[13]
intended age rating.[14] Theoretically the sole superior of a director is the studio that is financing the
film, [15] [3] however a poor working relationship between a film director and an actor could possibly
result in the director being replaced if the actor is a major film star.[16] Even so, it is arguable that the
director spends more time on a project than anyone else, considering that the director is one of the
few positions that requires intimate involvement during every stage of film production. Thus, the
position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. [1] It has
been said that "20-hour days are not unusual".[3]
Under European Union law, the film director is considered the "author" or one of the authors of a
film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory.[17] Auteur theory is a film criticism concept
that holds that a film director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the
primary "auteur" (the Frenchword for "author"). In spite ofand sometimes even because ofthe
production of the film as part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to
shine through studio interference and the collective process.
Career pathways[edit]
Director Pedro Almodvar and actress Penlope Cruz
Some film directors started as screenwriters, film editors or actors.[18] Other film directors have
attended a film school to "get formal training and education in their craft".
study the basic skills used in making a film.
[20]
[19]
Film students generally
This includes, for example, preparation, shot lists and
storyboards, blocking, protocols of dealing with professional actors, and reading scripts. [21] Some film
schools are equipped with sound stages and post-production facilities. [22] Besides basic technical and
logistical skills, students also receive education on the nature of professional relationships that occur
during film production.[23] A full degree course can be designed for up to five years of studying.
[24]
Future directors usually complete short films during their enrollment.[1] The National Film School of
Denmark has the student's final projects presented on national TV.[25] Some film schools retain the
rights for their students' works.[26] Many directors successfully prepared for making feature films by
working in television.[27] The German Film and Television Academy Berlin consequently cooperates
with the Berlin/Brandenburg TV station RBB (Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting) and ARTE.[28]
A handful of top directors made from $13 M to $257 M in 2011, such as James Cameron and Steven
Spielberg. The average movie director makes a lot less. In May 2011, the average US film director
made $92,220.[29]
Characteristics[edit]
Fritz Lang directing a movie
Ingmar Bergman apparently examines a sheet of film, during work on Wild Strawberries.
Different directors can vary immensely amongst themselves, under various characteristics. Several
examples are:[citation needed]
Those who outline a general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue. Notable examples
include Ingmar Bergman,Christopher Guest, Wong Kar-wai, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Mike
Leigh, Barry Levinson, Jean-Luc Godard, Mikls Jancs, Gus Van Sant, Judd Apatow, Terrence
Malick, Harmony Korine, Jay and Mark Duplass, and occasionally Robert Altman, Joe
Swanberg, Sergio Leone and Federico Fellini.
Akira Kurosawaon the set in 1953
Those who control every aspect, and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions
precisely. Notable examples include David Lean, Akira Kurosawa, Steven Spielberg, Ridley
Scott, Victor Fleming, Erich von Stroheim, James Cameron,George Lucas, Stanley
Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Andrew Bujalski, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Guillermo del
Toroand Alfred Hitchcock.
Those who write their own screenplays. Notable examples include Woody Allen, Werner
Herzog, Alejandro Jodorowsky,John Cassavetes, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Quentin
Tarantino, James Cameron, George Lucas, J. F. Lawton,David Cronenberg, Charlie
Chaplin, Billy Wilder, Ed Wood, David Lynch, the Coen brothers, Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia
Coppola, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Pedro Almodvar, John Hughes, Nick Park, Edward Burns, Kevin
Smith, Todd Field,Cameron Crowe, Terrence Malick, Oren Peli, Eli Roth, Harmony Korine, Paul
Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro,Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Oliver Stone, John
Singleton, Spike Lee, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, M. Night
Shyamalan,Daryush Shokof, Paul Haggis, Billy Bob Thornton, James Wong, Tyler Perry, Robert
Rodriguez,Christopher Nolan, George A. Romero, Sergio Leone, Satyajit Ray, Joss
Whedon and David O. Russell. Steven Spielbergand Sidney J. Furie have written screenplays
for a small number of their films.
Those who collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners. Notable examples
include Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu and Guillermo Arriaga, Elia Kazan and Tennessee
Williams, 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, Yasujir Ozu and Kgo Noda, Peter Jackson and Fran
Walsh, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Robert Zemeckisand Bob Gale, Luis Buuel and JeanClaude Carrire/Luis Alcoriza, Krzysztof Kielowski/Krzysztof Piesiewicz, Frank Capra/Robert
Riskin,Michelangelo Antonioni/Tonino Guerra, Billy Wilder/I.A.L. Diamond, Sergio
Leone and Sergio Donati, Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins, and Christopher
Nolan/Jonathan Nolan/David S. Goyer.
Those who edit their own films. Notable examples include Akira Kurosawa, Alfonso
Cuarn, Mike Cahill, Jean-Marc Valle, Steven Soderbergh, David Lean, Don Coscarelli, Charlie
Chaplin, Robert Rodriguez, James Cameron, Ed Wood, Gaspar Noe, Takeshi Kitano,John
Woo, Andy Warhol, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kenneth Anger, Gregg Araki, Gus Van Sant, Xavier
Dolan, Ben Wheatley, Kelly Reichardt,Leni Riefenstahl, Kevin Smith, Rodrigo Cortes, Joe
Swanberg, Steve James, Jafar Panahi, Ti West, Joel and Ethan Coen and
many indie,Internet and arthouse filmmakers.
Those who shoot their own films. Notable examples include Nicolas Roeg, Mike Cahill, Peter
Hyams, Steven Soderbergh, Joe Swanberg,Tony Kaye, Gaspar Noe, Gregg Araki, Robert
Rodriguez, Don Coscarelli, Josef von Sternberg, Shinya Tsukamoto and Kenneth Anger.
Those who appear in their films. Notable examples include Clint Eastwood, Orson
Welles, Mel Gibson, Martin Scorsese, Peter Jackson, John Waters, John Carpenter, Spike
Lee, Tyler Perry, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Anger, Woody Allen, Jon
Favreau, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Michael Bay, Mel Brooks, Ben Stiller, Alejandro
Jodorowsky, Charlie Chaplin, Terry Jones, Edward Burns, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Sam
Raimi, Roman Polanski, Erich von Stroheim, Billy Bob Thornton, Sylvester Stallone, M. Night
Shyamalan, Harold Ramis, Robert De Niro, John Woo, Kevin Smith, Warren Beatty, Takeshi
Kitano,Kenneth Branagh and Ed Wood. Alfred Hitchcock, Abel Ferrara, Shawn Levy, Edgar
Wright and Spike Jonze made cameo appearances in their films.
Those who compose the music score for their films. Notable examples include Charlie
Chaplin, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, John Carpenter, Mike
Figgis, Alejandro Amenbar, Satyajit Ray, Robert Rodriguez and Tom Tykwer.
Another way to categorize directors is by their membership in a "school" of filmmaking, such
as the French New Wave, the British New Wave or the New Hollywoodschool of filmmakers.
Professional organizations[edit]
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 UK or
the Directors Guild of Great Britain.
In Europe, FERA, the Federation of European Film Directors, represents 37 national directors' guilds
in 30 countries.
