Directing is...

[slipknotrocks]

Over in the Peter Jackson returns to the fantasy genre, A intresting topic formed on what directing is. So I ask you, What is Directing in your opionion?

 

[Shuley]

Over in the Peter Jackson returns to the fantasy genre, A intresting topic formed on what directing is. So I ask you, What is Directing in your opionion?

the director does everything,he deceides what the characters look like,the pacing,the storytelling,picks out the score for the film,has a big hand in editing ect... Everything that a movie is in how it looks to how the lighting is,it's cause of the director.Thats why when a movie bombs...they blame the director.

 

[Mic]

di‧rec‧tor  /dɪˈrɛktər, daɪ-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-rek-ter, dahy-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person or thing that directs.
2. one of a group of persons chosen to control or govern the affairs of a company or corporation: a board of directors.
3. the person responsible for the interpretive aspects of a stage, film, or television production; the person who supervises the integration of all the elements, as acting, staging, and lighting, required to realize the writer's conception. Compare producer (def. 3).
4. the musical conductor of an orchestra, chorus, etc.
5. the manager or chief executive of certain schools, institutes, government bureaus, etc.
6. Military. a mechanical or electronic device that continuously calculates firing data for use against an airplane or other moving target.

 

[Fried Gold]

di‧rec‧tor  /dɪˈrɛktər, daɪ-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-rek-ter, dahy-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person or thing that directs.

LOL

 

[xwolverine2]

well.......

this thread was quite educational...

 

[sithgoblin]

The director decides how the material is going to translate to the screen. He decides on the look and feel of the film. On set, he works with the actors to get their best performance, and chooses the shot framing.

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

And don't forget editing and post production. Although there is an editor, the director can oversee the process and has final decisions regarding pacing, length of scenes, deleting of scenes, and other aspects. Also, the director can oversee the adding of special effects to scenes that require it.

 

[sithgoblin]

Exactly. Films can be completely restructured in editing, and directors are a big part of that.

Pretty much, films have two areas: the artistic side and the business side. The director is head of the artistic side, and makes all the creative decisions.

 

[Cyrusbales]

I can give you a first hand in use definition of directing:

It's deciding how things look, are shown and how things transpire. Sometimes directors will give costume dep, or SFX the ability to roam free within certain constraints.

However the producer has the final say so always.

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

Pretty much, films have two areas: the artistic side and the business side. The director is head of the artistic side, and makes all the creative decisions.

True, but I'd also say that there is a techical side, where people with NO artistic or financial expertise can make a trade with everything from moving dollies to operating complex cranes for particular shots to creating the latex for a particular mask. But that's just my opinion on filmmaking.

 

[Darth Elektra]

Awsome thread.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

the director does everything,he deceides what the characters look like,the pacing,the storytelling,picks out the score for the film,has a big hand in editing ect... Everything that a movie is in how it looks to how the lighting is,it's cause of the director.Thats why when a movie bombs...they blame the director.

He doesn't do everything. He TELLS people what to do, and they do it for him.

"Re-write this script to be darker."
"Make this costume more flamboyant."
"Show more emotion in this scene."
"Put more CGI spaceships in this shot."

Etc.

 

[Manic]

He doesn't do everything. He TELLS people what to do, and they do it for him.

"Re-write this script to be darker."
"Make this costume more flamboyant."
"Show more emotion in this scene."
"Put more CGI spaceships in this shot."

Etc.

But the director does have a hand in all of it. Some directors even take part in some of those tasks (going as far as to come up with their own costume designs, writing or co-writing the script, ect). The director has to make sure the rest of the crew and talent are doing their jobs the way they want them to do their jobs.

It's like when a parent tells their kid to clean their room. They have an idea of what "clean" looks like, and will tell said kid to keep working until it meets their expectations.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

But the director does have a hand in all of it. Some directors even take part in some of those tasks (going as far as to come up with their own costume designs, writing or co-writing the script, ect). The director has to make sure the rest of the crew and talent are doing their jobs the way they want them to do their jobs.

It's like when a parent tells their kid to clean their room. They have an idea of what "clean" looks like, and will tell said kid to keep working until it meets their expectations.

Yep. That's the point to where it becomes the argument of a good or bad direction. I doubt Steven Spielberg for example signs onto a project and just tells people to do things without having some part in it or overseeing it. Sometimes directors just take a horrible direction example Joel Schumacher doing such great films as A Time to Kill, Flatliners, and Falling Down to movies like Batman Forever and Batman and Robin.

 

[sithgoblin]

Directing can vary from director to director as well. Some come from a camera background and are very specific in the shots they want, specifying things like the aperture, shutter angle, shutter speed, filters, etc.

Others come from a theater background and don't know such technical details, so they describe the look they want to their DP and let them decide.

I heard somewhere that Scorceses came from a costume department background and likes to choose the material for the costumes himself. Kevin Smith edits his own films. Kubrick did some of the DPing on Spartacus. Etc.