Four
Responsibilities of the Director
by Elliot Grove
1.
Directing the screenplay
A director’s first task is to read and reread the screenplay
and look for the visual details that will help to tell the story.
Then a director must decide what visual details need to be added in
order to enhance the story. The director often rewrites the script
to incorporate these ideas into a new draft, which the producer can
use for funding. Producer Jeremy Thomas will say to potential investors
that David Cronenberg has looked at the original script and has now
added his comments. This is another way that producers add pedigree
to the script. If you are a director but are not at that level yet,
be prepared to fight hard for any changes you want to make to the
script.
2. Directing the actors
Directing for the screen is different from directing for the stage.
In stage directing, you work with actors to get them to peak on the
first day of the run. In screen acting, you want a performer to stay
the same as they were during the audition process.
One of the screen director’s many tasks is to find out what
the cast can and cannot do; and what they will or will not do. This
is done during the audition process.
Running an audition
Actors will be nervous at an audition, and the director must make
them feel comfortable. Perhaps an assistant will welcome the actors
in an ante room and take their head shots and costume measurements.
Most auditions consist of a cold reading of two or three pages. The
director might read one part, the actor the other. Sometimes you will
hire an actor to read a part with the one you are auditioning –
especially if you have already chosen an actor for a role and want
to see how they compare to another face.
To see what an actor can or cannot do is fairly straightforward: either
she can drag the two hundred pound gorilla through the burning embers
or she can’t. Similarly accents, if required for the part, are
either believable or not. If the actor cannot do what is required
for the part, then they are not right. If they are right for the part,
then a good director will find out what they will or won’t do,
and find out before any contracts are offered. This is all done during
the audition process.
However well or poorly an actor reads the part, compliment them on
their reading, remembering that they are nervous, and ask them to
do it again, but give them a direction. Have them read standing up,
shouting, whispering, walking around – whatever, as long as
it is different.
Actors go to acting classes and acting school. They read deep books
on the art and craft of acting, and through their training form opinions
on how a certain emotion should be acted. If you are not in agreement
with this, then you cannot work with that particular individual. And
if they argue or challenge your direction in the audition process,
you will not be able to direct them during the rigors of the shoot.
It is useful to videotape the auditions as a point of reference. Most
actors are happy for you to do this, but it is polite to ask them
first.
The evening of the audition is the polite time to
call and tell actors whether they have been successful or not. Actors
are all too accustomed to rejection, and understand, rationally at
least, that they do not fit the part. They will usually tell you that
they enjoyed the audition and look forward to working with you on
a future project. A personal call from the director demonstrates your
compassion for them. If you are unwilling to call, then get an assistant
to call.
Not calling an actor about a failed audition is rude; however, most
film companies don’t extend this simple courtesy to the actors
who have given up their time for them.
On the shoot
Actors get over-used and worn out. There is a knack to knowing which
actor is good on the first take, which on the third. Use the slower
actor for camera tests and preliminary technical rehearsals.
3. Directing the camera
Deciding where the camera is placed before each shot is the prerogative
of the director. Sometimes a director will consult with the director
of photography, sometimes not. Once the position has been chosen and
agreed, the director places the actors and blocks the scene while
the camera and lights are being rigged.
The DoP watches this process and decides which lens to use. By showing
the director a lens, the DoP can then demonstrate the viability of
the shot. Often the DoP will suggest an alternative camera position,
which gives the director extra time to rehearse the actors while the
camera is being moved. Actors will attend the shoot knowing their
lines.
Basic shots
The film industry has terms for the different ways that a person is
framed. This makes it easy for film professionals to communicate the
type of shot that is expected.
• Master shot. This shot takes in all of the dialogue
and any new visual conceived by the director. If the camera is moving
at the same time, this is called a fluid master shot.
• Medium shot (MS). A shot that is framed from the waist
up.
• Close-up (CU). A shot of just the face or head.
• Extreme close-up (ECU). A shot of just the mouth, or
the eyes.
• Cat in the window. The cat in the window shot was named
after the shots of the family pet turning its head during 1950s American
sitcoms. This shot gave the editor something to cut to when there
was insufficient coverage to cut a scene. Hence, cut to the cat in
the window.
• Reaction shots. Shots of other actors reacting to the
dialogue or action off camera.
Hint: Allow Max Headroom. Don’t cut through
the top of the head or through major joints like elbows or knees.
Leave space at the top of the head except where you are in an ECU.
4. Directing the budget
To demonstrate the challenge of directing a low budget feature film,
let us assume that you have a ninety-page script and a 6:1 shooting
ratio, and a one week or nine day shoot. That means that we need to
shoot ten pages per day. It also means that we can ship no more than
1/9th of the film stock to the lab each day, or 5400 feet of film
stock per day.
At the end of the each day, you want to hear the script supervisor
say that you shot ten pages and the camera assistant say you have
shipped 5400 feet to the lab. That means you are on time and on budget.
If the script supervisor says you have shot nine pages and the camera
assistant says you have shipped 5400 feet, you are still on budget,
but behind schedule.
If the script supervisor says you have shot ten pages and you find
out you have shipped 6000 feet to the lab, then you are on schedule
and over budget.
It you shoot just nine pages, and ship 6000 feet, it would seem that
you are close to schedule and budget, as you are only over by ten
per cent. However, this is a fiasco, and if at the end of each day
this happens, it will most likely mean that you will run out of film
stock near the end of day seven.
When I worked as a scenic artist, we dreaded day three of the shoot,
as it was usually the day that the director was fired. Actually, directors
are never fired, they leave due to creative differences. And that
usually means that they did not understand how to direct the budget.
On the third day of the shoot, a suit would come to the set. People
in the industry dress according to their jobs. Everyone on set dresses
creative-sporting-casual as if to suggest when they woke up in the
morning they dressed not knowing if they were going to play polo or
go to the set. Anyone in the film industry who deals with money dresses
in a suit.
And when the suits came to the set, we feared negative suit burn;
referring to the damage the suits would do to the negative.
As soon as the suit would find out how many pages they were behind,
they would rip out the next two, three or four pages from the shooting
schedule, and presto! We would be back on schedule.
If you find out you are behind budget on a short, low budget shoot,
you must make some decisions immediately. It doesn’t really
matter which decision you make, just make one of them.
The options open to you are:
1. Abandon the shoot, return all the equipment and film stock, suffer
the loss of a few thousand, and regroup and come back in a few months
time when you are better prepared.
2. Offer the director and cameraperson a 2:1 shooting ratio until
they have caught up.
3. Find some more money and buy some more film stock.
4. Fire the director and direct the picture yourself. At least you
will understand the importance of shooting ratio.
Elliot
Grove is Founder and Director of the Raindance Film Festival - the
largest independent film festival in Europe - and founder of the British
Independent Film Awards. Elliot teaches professional scriptwriting
courses and weekend master-classes – including “Write
the Hot Scrip”' and “Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking”
– internationally. Former students have made commercially successful
films including: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, My Big
Fat Greek Wedding, and Memento. Elliot has produced four
features and over 70 short films.
1.
Directing the screenplay
Elliot
Grove is Founder and Director of the Raindance Film Festival - the
largest independent film festival in Europe - and founder of the British
Independent Film Awards. Elliot teaches professional scriptwriting
courses and weekend master-classes – including “Write
the Hot Scrip”' and “Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking”
– internationally. Former students have made commercially successful
films including: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, My Big
Fat Greek Wedding, and Memento. Elliot has produced four
features and over 70 short films
