Transitions: Role As Director
In this transitions unit, my assigned roles is as director. Something thats really inspired my directing was a masterclass I had last year where British award-winning director for film and TV is screenwriter Farren Blackburn came in and discussed his professional career in directing. I felt very inspired by what he had to say and it influenced my 'Directions Unit' Project at the time.
When having meetings to discuss new projects, Blackburn often uses mood boards to show how he wants things to look like and refers to different movies, but he never uses stills from movies to say exactly how he'll do it. I too for my project designed a storyboard for how I wanted my promotional video to go, as it would help me visualise how I wanted my piece to look.
Farren Blackburn
However, he doesn't use shot-lists or storyboards unless it's something big, visual effect. "I know my blocking and I know my action. I know what I want when I go on the floor and work with the actors, but I'm also flexible if they have any inputs. The reason why I don't do shot list and storyboards is to avoid being locked to a set up."This is very unique for a director, as storyboarding can be key. I feel my project is big enough to justify a storyboard as I technically have to make three separate videos (One 90 second promotional video, one website banner video [promo video cut down] and three 20 second clips of specific areas).
Blackburn said towards the end of his presentation that he doesn't think any director has a specific trademark or signature voice, like we are lead to believe. He said he used to worry about that in the beginning of his career but since felt that he needed to have a trademark to be a director. But that trademark and that"voice" is something subconscious that you probably won't even know that you have before you have done loads and loads of work. He believes that a lot of your signature voice is portrayed in your work through your own character and what you are like as a person. I agree with this and even have researched other directing masterclasses and one that I really enjoyed was 'Ron Howard Teaches Directing; Ron Howard made his first film in 22 days with $602,000. He is known today as the Oscar-winning director of Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind. One think he says is “We all have an instinct; Back up that instinct with craft”. This makes perfect since, we all do have instinct but we don't all have the craft to back this up. However, the point that relates most to my project was “It doesn’t matter how big your crew is. It doesn’t matter how much money you have to spend. Its what you’re capturing inside the frame-lines thats gonna have this impact on the audience”. I have little to no crew. I have resorted myself an animator and asked one of my peers to help me with setting up lighting etc to go around with me on the shoot.
Another useful masterclass to directing was one I found online, The Ron Howard Teaches Directing Masterclass. Here he says “As a director you have to move beyond your intuition”
Confrontational two shot- Masterclass "This 50/50...is a great confrontational angle"
Overall, my research has lead me to be inspired by the greats; people who have studied their craft for years and not been afraid to push the boundaries. Being a director is all about pushing boundaries and knowing how to communicate with crew and team and to remain patient and calm at all times (something I have learned through practice and improved confidence). Teamwork is the most key asset, and one I as an individual am also responsible for:“effective teamwork isn’t only a group skill set; it’s also an individual skill set.”(Christopher M. Avery, Meri Aaron Walker, Erin O'Toole Murphy, Page 202).
As director, interpersonal skills are fundamental in communicating with the rest of the team. “The Director must possess considerable technical understanding and…communicate effectively with the rest of the crew” (Singleton-Turner, 2011:65) . This meant keeping calm at all times, especially when when things go wrong.
References:
Singleton-Turner, Roger. (2011) Cue & Cut: A practical approach to working in multi-camera studios. Manchester University Press
M. Avery, Christopher (2001) Teamwork is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done when Sharing Responsibility. San Francisco. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, inc.
When having meetings to discuss new projects, Blackburn often uses mood boards to show how he wants things to look like and refers to different movies, but he never uses stills from movies to say exactly how he'll do it. I too for my project designed a storyboard for how I wanted my promotional video to go, as it would help me visualise how I wanted my piece to look.
Farren Blackburn
However, he doesn't use shot-lists or storyboards unless it's something big, visual effect. "I know my blocking and I know my action. I know what I want when I go on the floor and work with the actors, but I'm also flexible if they have any inputs. The reason why I don't do shot list and storyboards is to avoid being locked to a set up."This is very unique for a director, as storyboarding can be key. I feel my project is big enough to justify a storyboard as I technically have to make three separate videos (One 90 second promotional video, one website banner video [promo video cut down] and three 20 second clips of specific areas).
Blackburn said towards the end of his presentation that he doesn't think any director has a specific trademark or signature voice, like we are lead to believe. He said he used to worry about that in the beginning of his career but since felt that he needed to have a trademark to be a director. But that trademark and that"voice" is something subconscious that you probably won't even know that you have before you have done loads and loads of work. He believes that a lot of your signature voice is portrayed in your work through your own character and what you are like as a person. I agree with this and even have researched other directing masterclasses and one that I really enjoyed was 'Ron Howard Teaches Directing; Ron Howard made his first film in 22 days with $602,000. He is known today as the Oscar-winning director of Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind. One think he says is “We all have an instinct; Back up that instinct with craft”. This makes perfect since, we all do have instinct but we don't all have the craft to back this up. However, the point that relates most to my project was “It doesn’t matter how big your crew is. It doesn’t matter how much money you have to spend. Its what you’re capturing inside the frame-lines thats gonna have this impact on the audience”. I have little to no crew. I have resorted myself an animator and asked one of my peers to help me with setting up lighting etc to go around with me on the shoot.
Another useful masterclass to directing was one I found online, The Ron Howard Teaches Directing Masterclass. Here he says “As a director you have to move beyond your intuition”
https://www.masterclass.com/classes/ron-howard-teaches-directing?utm_source=Paid&utm_medium=YouTube&utm_term=Aq-Prospecting&utm_content=Video&utm_campaign=RH
Confrontational two shot- Masterclass "This 50/50...is a great confrontational angle"
Overall, my research has lead me to be inspired by the greats; people who have studied their craft for years and not been afraid to push the boundaries. Being a director is all about pushing boundaries and knowing how to communicate with crew and team and to remain patient and calm at all times (something I have learned through practice and improved confidence). Teamwork is the most key asset, and one I as an individual am also responsible for:“effective teamwork isn’t only a group skill set; it’s also an individual skill set.”(Christopher M. Avery, Meri Aaron Walker, Erin O'Toole Murphy, Page 202).
As director, interpersonal skills are fundamental in communicating with the rest of the team. “The Director must possess considerable technical understanding and…communicate effectively with the rest of the crew” (Singleton-Turner, 2011:65) . This meant keeping calm at all times, especially when when things go wrong.
References:
Singleton-Turner, Roger. (2011) Cue & Cut: A practical approach to working in multi-camera studios. Manchester University Press
M. Avery, Christopher (2001) Teamwork is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done when Sharing Responsibility. San Francisco. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, inc.
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