Directing Essentials
How to direct if you’ve never tried before? Here’s a rundown on some of the basics to help you.
By Julia Schnarr
Directing is one of the most freeing experiences you’ll ever have as a creative. It’s an art form that captures what you are thinking and imagining in a tangible and visual display full of creativity, emotion, and entertainment.
Everything starts for a director, especially a writer/director, with an idea. This idea could come from anywhere; a song, a movie, or a dream. The first thing to do when you have this idea is write it down. You won’t want to forget it.
In the chance that you are directing a film you did not write, always meet with the screenwriter beforehand to understand their intentions and understanding of their script. If you’re a writer/director of a project, it’s your job to answer all the questions about the ins and the outs of the characters, the time period, the story and the emotional tone in your writing. You have to be able to answer questions like, how old is your character? When was your character born? What is their pet peeve or worst fear? Your crew will want to know, so do the fun creative homework before you get into the pre-production meeting. On set, be ready to explain your characters to your actors so they may develop and perform to the best of their ability.
Directing takes place over three production stages: pre-production, principal photography, and post-production.
Pre-Production - Before your filming
Principal Photography - During your filming
Post-Production - After your filming
When you are preparing physical plans to help execute your project, a director’s best way to visually convey an idea are a couple things. The first is a mood board, or an aesthetic college. This can consist of images that match the color palette, action, look and feel of your project to draw inspiration from. The second thing to convey your script to screen is your shotlist. Creating your shotlist with your director of photography can give you a rough idea of what shots you want to film, imagine new ideas for your story, and start to understand the emotional and physical elements to putting your film together by what the camera will be seeing.
Consider is your DP can physically perform shots, enhance shots, and come up with their own shots together as a team. Your DP is like your best friend and collaborator, so make sure you both are creating ideas together instead of on your own. When set comes around, you two are problem solving closely together as well as innovating new ways to make the shots better in the moment.
If you have trouble describing shots for your shotlist, the next tool is perfect to use. Draw storyboards of what you’re thinking! If you don’t know how to draw well, search some movie scenes, photos, or other descriptors to reference what you are envisioning. Grab LEGOS and take pictures of your characters with where you think you’d like to block your actors depending on your scenes. The more visual aid you give your collaborators, the closer to your vision you will be able to get! The next step as a director is casting. For an indie short on a smaller budget, instead of hiring a casting director, connecting with actors on Backstage or holding auditions for self tapes anywhere you can reach actors, union or non-union.
Along with your actors, you’ll be working very closely with your producer, DP (director of photography) and assistant director. This group is going to help you manage, organize, and execute your vision. Remember: filmmaking is a collaborative art. Some of your teammates suggestions could be very useful when considering your directorial choices. When directing, you want to keep a balance between keeping a cohesive project and allow suggestions and input from your team when they bring up helpful and useful points. As a director, taking suggestions is a balancing act. When in doubt, stick to your guns when an idea might not work and find a solution that best fits your film. Communication with your team is important to make sure your team is on the same page and working on your project, and a positive attitude always helps teamwork make the dream work.
After all of the planning that goes into your directing, right before you shoot, go back to your script again all by yourself. Read over your script as your characters, and leave notes in the margins on how to direct your actors in the best way to allow them to bring their best performance but also, so you know how to answer any and all questions from the cast and crew. The director with a strong vision and ability to convert their ideas to their team in the fastest and easiest way, and who’s able to know when they’re right (AND wrong) about objective things like shots and ideas is the director that will really thrive in a high intensity environment such as a film set, and who will be the best at understanding know your material really really well, and if you love directing, it will come naturally to you!
When you finish filming and are in post-production, directors will work with their editors to piece together their movies. This process involves cutting, re-cutting, giving notes and feedback, and seeing what works and what doesn’t. Editing as a director gives you the opportunity to re-shape and develop your story further through sight, sound, and working out kinks in your footage and/or technical difficulties. The director and editor will develop the final cut of the project until it is ready to be shown for the final product.
That’s a lot of work!
Directing is a very hard-working job with lots of moving parts, but can be such a rewarding outcome when you see your final product. A good director will always keep striving to make themselves and their team better, respect their artform as well as others, and enjoy the process along the way to make something great.
To all the directors out there, keep on directing!
