A Director's Classroom
Resources, Apps, and Insights From a Debut Director
Dear Reader,
As you read this newsletter, I am on set directing short film #3. In one week, I will be on set directing short film #4. The last couple of months feel a bit like learning the steps to a half-remembered dance, and now we’re off to the ball.
Short film #3 holds the distinction of being the first script I will direct that I did not also write. A few months ago, I chatted with a friend who wants to produce her own films. As I was similarly at the beginning of my directorial career, we struck up an enthusiastic partnership.
That is the nature of this business: when we step out into our dreams, we empower others to step out into their dreams. I read her script (which she also wrote) and was immediately hooked. Not only that, but I believed in the message of the story. Erie how the right stories tend to find exactly the story-tellers. When she sent me the headshots of her cast, I couldn’t stop beaming. We were off to the races.
Preparing to direct this 10-minute short with a full cast and crew, my research took on a more frenzied — ehem, I mean — intentional undertone. Amazing how quickly you can learn skills when you know you’ll need them in only a few weeks. Being a new director, I want to demystify this process and provide some resources to other newbies looking for a roadmap into directing.
Study
Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics
This textbook has been invaluable to my independent learning. Rabiger and Hurbis-Cherrier break down the process into bite-sized pieces; cultivating your voice/vision as a director, choosing the right script, casting, crewing up, directing on set, all crew positions and responsibilities, all the way through to post-production. Thankfully, the chapters are concise but deep, going into basic concepts from not crossing the 180, to what lens sizes are needed for which shots, to the fundamentals of lighting. Reading the chapters I needed before I needed them, and then putting the knowledge to immediate use, concepts clicked and the projects glided forward.
This textbook lays out with direct and perceptive insights exactly what a director’s job is, and what it is not. At many points, I felt as though Rabiger and Hurbis-Cherrier were speaking directly to me. I was reassured to find that my thoughts, fears, and questions are not isolated to me, but the communal experience of all those who chose to step off the cliff with the mighty cry; “I will direct!”
Production Management Software
Managing the pieces of film production, even on a short film, is akin to managing a construction project. Your architectural blueprint is your script; you have vendors/contractors/contact lists to maintain; there’s a schedule, a timetable, and a budget; there are supplies to purchase and equipment to rent. One could conceivably manage all of this in Excel documents, but one could also choose to drink bad coffee when good coffee is available for an appropriate fee.
There are several online software built for this purpose, and after some research I found Studio Binder to fit my needs. Here’s a snapshot of the dashboard of “Roommate Generation,” the short I am producing in one week. (To read the short story version of this narrative, check out my April Newsletter.)
Designing a Shot List
While every part of production demands the attention of the director, the director must work closely with the director of photography (DP) to construct a shot list. This determines the coverage, meaning all of the angles and shots making up the visual frame of the narrative. To the uninitiated, this is close to playing four-dimensional chess. My brain works in images and so this is an arena in which I thrive, however, there is a steep curve to learn all the angles, jargon, character blocking, and so on to merely capture the story on screen. In the midst of all this, you must not lose sight of the tension, drama, and higher emotional meaning you seek to convey in the narrative.
Thankfully, I was gifted with highly competent and knowledgeable DPs, Christine Mouton for short film #3, and Anais Bernard for short film #4. Both came with a myriad of filmography apps up their sleeves. But both were adamant about Shot Designer, a software that allows you to lay out your set, create characters who move through a scene, and design camera angles. This software takes four-dimensional chess and makes it tangible to all collaborators working in the time-pressured expensive constraints of a film set. Best $20 I ever invested in my career. After some classes on YouTube University, I gained a basic grasp of the functionalities. Below is a snapshot of one of the scenes for “Roommate Generation.”
Another invaluable app is Scriptation, which allows you to annotate and break down scripts on set, and keep notes organized and neat. We used it to pre-line the script according to our shot list, making sure we had full coverage of every part of the script.
Observation on Set
In the midst of prepping all the pieces for these two film shoots, I was hired to work as an extra on a big studio movie: 600 extras for background. With glee, I packed a suitcase with wardrobe options, grabbed my directing textbook, and headed to Hollywood. The learning opportunity couldn’t have been more golden if I’d brought actual gold to set. It ended up being a fourteen-hour day, with two A-list movie stars, and the majority of the filming taking place in a high school auditorium.
Settling into my comfy wooden seat, textbook propped open in between takes, I watched the cast and crew, trying to determine crew positions based on behavior and instructions. The most vocal leader was a tall woman, and so I decided she must be the director. However, she kept going back to another person.
Belatedly, I realized I was sitting only a couple of yards away from the director and his monitor, his script supervisor right next to him. My eyes bugged out. With a clear line of sight between me and the AC’s monitor, I watched the shot unfold on the screen as a massive camera crane glided over our heads.
This, this was the director: Kogonada, a South Korean-born American filmmaker who directed After Yang in 2021. Here, before me, in the flesh, with two A-list actors I had seen in films earlier that week. I watched Kogonada like a hawk and was surprised to see how quiet he was. He wasn’t shouting orders, but quietly conferring them to his first AD and DP. Every once in a while he approached his lead actors to give them notes. The close connection between actor and director was evident, and through all of this I realized that while the director’s responsibility is to oversee the whole film, it’s vital that he or she trust the creative professionals around them to do their jobs, and focus primarily on directing the actors. The director’s top priority is the emotionality and dramatic integrity of the narrative.
This much was confirmed in my reading in between takes:
“A student Director is often using an untried crew and wants to personally monitor everything the crew does. Desist. You won’t direct your cast adequately unless you let the DP and AD lead the crew. Know what you want from your cast and work unceasingly to get it. This will take all of your attention, and then some.”
( Rabiger, Hurbis-Cherrier, p. 444-445)
Setting Out
The last couple of months of pre-production threw me back to my early days as an art teacher. As any teacher knows, you can (and should) study and prepare as much as humanly possible, but at the end of the day, you learn to teach by getting into the classroom and teaching. You discover which lesson plans are killer and which lessons you should kill; what classroom management technique bomb and which ones rock. In the midst of managing that circus, because you have no other choice, you discover your inner voice, that inner strength. The confidence and tone that makes students listen to you, lean in eager for the next tidbit of knowledge, and receptive to your constructive criticism because they are certain of your care and respect for them. They come to know deep down that you have a vision, trust your leadership, and believe that with your coaching, they will shine to their fullest potential.
I’m sure some of you are wondering how much this all costs. While much of the early days of indie filmmakers run on favors as all of us work on building up our craft, there are certainly still expenses; Crafty, meals, props, equipment rentals (not cheap), and more. If you would like to contribute to this new director, I welcome your support! For everyone who contributes $50 or more, you will get a special thanks in the credits of “Roommate Generation.” For everyone who contributes $200 or more, I will send you an invite to a special pre-screening event of the completed work, or a link for those who cannot make it in person. Thank you in advance!
Over the next two weekends, keep me in your thoughts and prayers for these productions. By next month, I will have two new films shot!
Adventure Awaits,
Book Recommendation:
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S. C. Durbois Newsletter
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Congrats. Looking forward to seeing them!
Very interesting