Art of Directing - Research Beyond The Lectures

I wanted to research into what people thought made a good director in comparison to someone who was not very good for my research outside the lessons.

First up most people thought that a good director is someone that recruits his staff properly and effectively. Making sure that the people you hire are up for the job and are passionate about the project, if they are only there to make up the numbers then there is no point. Even on a small scale project you need to make sure that the people you hire are the right people. Even on
a 2-3 man crew you need to make sure they will improve your project. This is not something I would have first thought of when I thought of a good director but  when you analyse the best films and
tv shows the best directors are always supported by the best crew.

Making sure you are decisive is important as a director otherwise you will not get anything done. Part of this will mean having proper planning otherwise you will not know even what options you have for a scene, and you will be totally lost. However when you have two very plausible options in front of you for a particular shot or scene you need to make a decision on which is better as quickly as possible because questioning it will just waste a lot of time and you will be delayed. This is surely something that every director will come across even on short film like ours, so we will have to make those choices very wisely to make sure that the day runs smoothly.

Demonstrating confidence and being motivational in the right way is something a lot of people see in the best directors. You can tell the best directors in the business are ones who can get their staff up for every moment. It will show in the film because undoubtedly some days are easier than others and making the bad days look as good as the best will be down to the director making sure everyone is committed and up for every shot. It will show over a whole film, because once scene can ruin a great film so making sure you keep your "helpers" motivated and excited about the shoot is vital to making sure the film is great throughout.

Not taking things personally is something a lot of people like in a top director. of course they will have the majority of shots already planned out but if someone has a suggestion which is excellent you should try it instead of just saying no because you're the leader. Just because someone has an idea doesn't mean your idea was bad in the first place so not taking that personally is vital to come out at the end with a good shot. Another example of this would be if actors say they don't want to be in the film. That could be because they don't think it's good or because you won't pay enough, but making sure you don't let it get to you will be important to proving them wrong.

It was interesting to read into what people on the internet thought the traits of a good director where, I know every opinion is different and a good director could possibly be the opposite of all of these, but it is likely most will follow at least a few of these. What I really took from my research is that you need to keep motivated even if something goes wrong, make the best out of it. I also know already that the people in my film group will have interesting ideas that may counter my shots whilst filming, Whilst I will have to have the final say I really welcome any ideas because at the end of the day one of these shots could make the film and I know my group are very good at creative input.