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How to become a
Director
Who is a Director?
In the area of audio-visual production, directors manage a troupe, carrying out technical and artistic supervision functions. Directors are ultimately responsible for the audio-visual work, as the choices they make determine the artistic quality and financial sustainability of a specific project.
What does a Director do?
Directors supervise the entire audio-visual work for which they are artistically responsible, specifically:
- Analysing the script and from this creating the découpage (a version of the screenplay which includes technical and stylistic references);
- Selecting and directing the actors;
- Coordinating the artistic team (director of photography, set designer, costume designer, special effects director etcetera) and selecting the creative ideas that each of them submits;
- Defining the production plan together with the executive producer;
- Directing the entire troupe during shooting;
- supervising post-production (video editing, sound design, music production);
- selecting from the material proposed by the communication department (posters, trailers etcetera).
Which skills should a Director have?
Being ultimately responsible for the whole audio-visual work, directors should possess a quite heterogenous range of skills, for example they should have:
- good writing abilities, as these are necessary to compose the découpage, to prepare presentation material, to write and correct dialogues, etcetera;
- a passionate and effective speech, as they must coordinate the work of a great number of people and should be able to motivate the entire troupe even in the hardest moments;
- sufficient drawing ability, as this is an incredibly useful tool to communicate with the artists who are in charge of stylistic aspects (director of photography, set designer, costume designer, etcetera);
- an original and singular aesthetic vision;
- a wide range of technical skills in the area of audio-visual production and post-production (video-cameras, lens, camera movement equipment, audio-video editing software).
How to become a Director?
To become a professional Director you must engage in the creation of audio-visual works with the ability to express a lively creativity, a recognisable aesthetic style and consolidate technical expertise.
If your specific interest is towards cinema, rather than other audio-visual forms, your works would surely benefit from being acknowledged in the cinematographic festival circuit.
