{"id":14568,"date":"2020-08-24T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T06:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmconnection.com\/blog\/?p=7742"},"modified":"2020-08-24T06:00:19","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T06:00:19","slug":"how-to-direct-a-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/filmconnection.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/24\/how-to-direct-a-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Direct a Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

99% of directors<\/span> are a quirky bunch. Perfectionistic, egomaniacal, and emotionally unstable one day, funny, friendly, engaging, and encouraging the next. These characteristics usually bubble to the surface while shooting scenes that demand the best from the cast and crew.<\/p>\n

Directors aren\u2019t usually in the front of the camera, they don\u2019t usually set up the lighting, or handle the boom mics. They\u2019re master delegators, telling department heads what they need with the expectation that their instructions will be followed to a \u201cT.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once a director<\/span> finds a director of photography<\/span>, editor, or even an actor that understands their vision, it\u2019s not rare for them to work with them, again and again. Why? It\u2019s just easier than trying to break-in someone new.<\/p>\n

Spike Lee, Ron Howard, and Steven Spielberg all have 30-plus years of working with \u201ctheir\u201d editors<\/a>. These relationships have garnered multiple Academy Award wins and even more nominations. Sure, the director<\/span> may be the General of the movie but they don\u2019t get very far without a few privates, sergeants, and captains.<\/p>\n

Technical Aspects<\/h3>\n

For the most part, well-known directors<\/span> have a laundry list of other Hollywood credits to their names well before getting their big break. They need to learn the guts of how a movie is made, gain some experience, and prove themselves before leading a comic book hero super movie or the next drama to sweep the Oscars.<\/p>\n

Directors may have started their careers as production assistants, editors, or cinematographers<\/a> before donning the director<\/span>\u2019s cap. These jobs are vital to understanding how to create the right shadows, explain what you need from the wardrobe department, or spotting what\u2019s wrong with the camera dolly set up.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this kind of working knowledge that keeps a director<\/span> from asking for the impossible and losing the respect\/confidence of their crew. Although there definitely are \u201cactors\u2019 directors<\/span>\u201d who usually entrust their vision to a highly-skilled DP, who tends to work with them on every project they do, directors<\/span> who are not up to speed or understand the technological advances available to them can find themselves on unsure footing when it comes to making their vision reality and creating a viable, marketable end product.<\/p>\n

Interpersonal Relationships<\/h3>\n

Those maniacal directors<\/span> from the top? It\u2019s a good bet they didn\u2019t start out that way. Win an Oscar or make a billion-dollar movie and you can direct just about any way you want. Until then, directors<\/span> need to develop the communication skills to get their point across and to motivate or persuade the actors, crew members, and producers they work with.<\/p>\n

A director<\/span> who\u2019s just getting their wings knows when to let the scene play out and when to push back. Hollywood can be full of egos, but big personalities can be found anywhere. How a new director<\/span> deals with these colorful characters will go a long way towards determining success in their career.<\/p>\n

This is especially true when working on a small independent film. When hiring crews or renting equipment, it\u2019s a good idea to ask a few in-depth questions of the veterans they encounter along the way. Not only will it make the veterans feel appreciated, but the knowledge and insight they gain during these conversations will also inevitably come in handy at some point in time.<\/p>\n

Jump in with Both Feet<\/h3>\n

Quentin Tarantino dropped out of school when he was 15 and learned nearly everything he needed to know about story and screenwriting by working at a video store. Wes Anderson and Christopher Nolan majored in subjects other than Film. Paul Thomas Anderson dropped out of NYU Film School, opting to save his money for making that first film.<\/p>\n

An expensive film degree is not the ticket to making movies on your own. In fact, getting bogged down in student loan debt, having to shell out hundreds or even thousands of dollars every month to pay back those school loans can hurt your future chance of success more than help it.<\/p>\n

Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson were production assistants when they first started out.
\nNolan worked as a script reader and camera operator before he got to direct. All of them learned as much about the industry as they could by being part of the crew.<\/p>\n

Film Connection Cinematography<\/a> and Film Production & Editing Programs<\/a> place you inside a real-word production company<\/span> where you\u2019ll have one-on-one time with an industry professional, your mentor, who will instruct you on those technical industry standards such as camera movement (establishing shots, wide shots, medium shots, Dutch angles). They\u2019ll show you how to develop a shot list, shooting schedule, a workable budget, get enough b-roll, and plan for the inevitable \u201cproblems\u201d that pop up on nearly every production.<\/p>\n

No matter if it\u2019s a feature-length movie or a short film, ultimately, the director<\/span> is in charge of all of it. In our six to nine-month programs, you\u2019ll learn about the technical, the financial, and the creative aspects of how a movie gets made. Start now and within a single week, you could be learning about lights, leadership, ledgers, and long days on a set.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s only so much we can teach you. Tarantino, Nolan, Anderson, and every other director<\/span> you\u2019ve ever admired all worked hard to get to where they are. They all held other jobs and worked with other directors<\/span> before taking the helm of their first picture.<\/p>\n

It will be no different for you at Film Connection. If you know film is what you want to do with your life but attending a traditional 4-year university just isn\u2019t for you, or doesn\u2019t sound like the best use of your hard-earned time and money, take a look at what Film Connection has to offer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Get your foot in the door by starting from inside of the industry, receiving direct one-on-one instruction, curriculum-backed lessons, career services, and academic support with us.
\nApply today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

99% of directors are a quirky bunch. Perfectionistic, egomaniacal, and emotionally unstable one day, funny, friendly, engaging, and encouraging the next. These characteristics usually bubble to the surface while shooting scenes that demand the best from the cast and crew. Directors aren\u2019t usually in the front of the camera, they don\u2019t usually set up the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":14470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-101","category-research-201"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}