Director For Moving Image Production

The Role Of Director

The director is, essentially, in charge of the entire production in terms of the paper to screen transition. Working with a producer, he would be given a budget to work to, which has to be split between actively building the film, hiring the cast and crew to create it, and promoting it upon completion.

His role plays a crucial part in the success of the project he is directing; he must fully understand the film in all aspects – what it is, what it means – so that he can direct it in a manner to suit; he doesn’t have to have all the technical skills of the crew to be able to direct, but be able to deliver a clear-cut story to his audience through what he achieves.

The director would usually be involved with the project from the very beginning - liaising with writers to create a script that he feels would be the most effective – before working with storyboard artists - to create the visual impression of a film – and even the cinematographer in creating the look of the film.

After his initial meetings with the producer, these two lead roles would then go about hiring the crew together, building a strong collection of skilled individuals to create the masterpiece they envision.

On set, the director is, essentially, the person in charge of everything that takes place, deciding the shot order that will take place, arranging the crew, cast and cameras into exactly the right location. He must have a close working relationship with the entire cast and crew so that everyone is aware of exactly what is required and what is to take place before, after and during the shoot.

During a shoot itself, the director ensures that actors say the right lines and hit the right marks. He may, however, have to work with some improvisational acting if it is required as a compromise to achieve the vision of his minds eye.

Initial Ideas

Medium - Web Series

Genre

• Comedy
• Romance
• Life
• Drama

Storylines

• Teenage drama; murder at a party. Paranoid, schizophrenia culprit - kills cheating boyfriend. Story follows her trying to find out why she did it, and if it was actually her. (Ongoing story arc)
• Flashback-series; looking back at situations experienced by people and how it shaped their lives - for better or worse? (Individual episodes.)
• A series of "comedy" shorts about one person experiencing unusual relationships, that people would expect to fail, but do not for a reason explored in the films.

Up until November 19, we had wanted to go with the flashback idea. Previously, we had worked on romantic comedies, and I wanted to try something new. Despite drawing inspiration from films such as Forest Gump, 5 Centimeters Per Second and It's A Wonderful Life, I could not get a solid idea for the storyline for such an idea. I found thew concept of these types of films, where the audience could find themselves reflecting on their own lives and the decisions they make to take them forward, quite appealing. However, I made several attempts at writing scripts for this; I was not happy with any of these. Thus the idea was ultimately scrapped and a new choice made.

Some thorough-brain racking was required to devise a new story - this did not come easy. Several "jokey" ideas were thrown about, but there was nothing that could be developed into a successful drama series, nor indeed that we felt we could find actors for that would be comfortable acting out these ideas.

It was finally decided that our best option would be to resort to the types of film we are good at - the "Rom-Coms". A loose idea was formed around the basis of a young, unlucky-in-love male finding his perfect woman in his dreams, and contemplating whether or not it is worth giving up on his real-world life to live in his dream with this figure of perfection.

The story would be split into two parts; the first focussing on his unhappy real-world life, subsequently discovering his ideal partner in his dreams.
The second would focus on his inner turmoil and decision on whether or not to give up on life for his dream woman. Both parts would be approximately 5 minutes in length.

Location

The character conceived by Alice, was of a middle-class type male office worker; a standard, yet not all together too 'common' a person. Many people perceive those in middle to upper classes as leading ideal lives, never experiencing any turmoil. We felt that challenging this belief could have a strong impact on the audience.

Thus, our choice of location was crucial. For exterior shots, we found that some of the local area - Emerson Park - had some impressive architecture. Mansion-style houses of all manner of designs on long, clear and quiet roads were perfect for the setting we desired.

On a side street to one of these, with homes not so impressive, but nevertheless well-presented, was a road that drove around a lake and small parkland. This was, again, ideal for some of the shots we were planning, where the leading character first meets the dream woman. A quiet, semi-isolated spot that represents the lead's loneliness.