Tips or advice for a first time Director

[GLow]

As has been already mentioned, taking on a feature as your first directorial project is a major undertaking. I've generally spent 3 to 6 months in preproduction for shorts, that's after the script has been completed.

The best advise I think I have been given to be an effective director is to be organized and know what your vision is. From there, all other things can be developed with the help of your crew.

BTW, I'm currently taking an on line course where we just watched and studied the silent movie Street Angel, directed by Frank Borzage. That movie is incredible. The direction in that was definitely something that should be studied. Now we're onto The Docks of New York. Another great silent.

Good luck.

 

[nycineaste]

What is the subtext of the script and does that match the subtext of the images and sounds you are experiencing?.

Joe Carnahan is good to study for this especially Narc. He creates a compositional, "visual hook" for the scene depending on its context.

for example at the end of Narc, as the criminals reveal themselves to be innocent, and become more and more "human", they become progressively lit.

he does this in almost every scene. hes kind of a genius at it.

that said tho, theres tons of ways to make movies, thats not the only one.

have you broken down the shot selection of eisenstein? studied the blocking of mackendrick? read your film theory from german expressionism to bazinian realism (yeah i know....yawn)

do you watch french art films? 70s grindhouse? hollywood? all of it? do you watch CHALLENGING movies, not just the easy ones?

moviemaking is a monstrously huge subject, a hybrid art form, incorporating elements of drama, photography, painting, etc etc etc

tons of ways to get your effects- from dialog, to composition, to cutting, etc its endless

theres countless styles and a history stretching back to the early part of of last century and encompassing the entire world

the joy of cinema is this constant discovery

every day I discover a new way to look at movies

it never ends its joyous

HHEEARRRRTTT cinema!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yadb0bFHA1g

 

[GLow]

nycineaste, I don't see anywhere in my post where I say that there is only one way to make a movie. If I did give that impression I'm sorry. And yes, I have studied and am constantly studying all eras and genres of not only movies but art, music, literature, as well as history and science. It all goes into conveying a story, emotion or idea, which is what we are trying to do. Or at least what I am trying to do when making a movie.