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Under European Union law, the film director is considered the "author" or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory. Some directors also take on additional roles, such as producing, writing or editing. It has been said that "20-hour days are not unusual". Thus, the position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. The director is one of the few positions that requires intimate involvement during every stage of film production. For other directors, the studio can order further edits without the director's permission. Well-established directors have the " final cut privilege", meaning that they have the final say on which edit of the film is released. In post-production, the director works with the editor to edit the material into the director's cut.
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While the film is still in production, the director sends " dailies" to the film editor and explains their overall vision for the film, allowing the editor to assemble an editor's cut. ĭirectors also play an important role in post-production. The director must work within the restrictions of the film's budget and the demands of the producer and studio (such as the need to get a particular age rating). The role of a director differs from producers in that producers typically manage the logistics and business operations of the production, whereas the director is tasked with making creative decisions. Generally, the sole superiors of the director are the producers and the studio that is financing the film, although sometimes the director can also be a producer of the same film. It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when and how they will work again, if at all. The set of varying challenges they have to tackle has been described as "a multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with egos and weather thrown in for good measure". Thus the director ensures that all individuals involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. īecause the film director depends on the successful cooperation of many different creative individuals with possibly strongly contradicting artistic ideals and visions, they also need to possess conflict-resolution skills to mediate whenever necessary.
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Moreover, it is necessary to have an artistic eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus, excellent communication skills are a must. This requires skills of group leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful, fast-paced environment of a film set. This entails organizing the film crew in such a way to achieve their vision of the film and communicating with the actors. To do this, they oversee the artistic and technical elements of film production. The film director gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, while filming a historical drama on location in London.Ī film director's task is to envisage a way to translate a screenplay into a fully formed film, and then to realize this vision. Other directors edit or appear in their films or compose music score for their films. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue, while others control every aspect and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. Other film directors have attended film school. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, producers, film editors or actors. There are many pathways to becoming a film director. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions and stay within the budget.
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The film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized or noticed. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design and all the creative aspects of filmmaking. Film director John Badham during filming of The Godchild in 1974Ī film director is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision.
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