5 Tips for Film Directing

Aside from being incredibly creative and coming up with novel ideas, what can you do to be a better, more effective film director? Here are five simple and actionable tips that will up your directing game!

00:00 Intro
00:32 Tip 1: Pre-production
01:17 Tip 2: Collaborate
02:06 Tip 3: Be decisive
02:58 Tip 4: Be a leader
03:33 Tip 5: Learn to work with actors

#filmmaking #shortfilm #director #cinematic #educational #film #directing

[Richard_Nickerson]

I've never directed, but I've been on many sets, I've acted a little, and I've done lots of post-production work.
I'd agree with everything here.

[areapictures]

Word of advice. Working with actors is NOT hard. Just pick great ones. Scorsese said 90% of directing is casting right. Wasn't kidding. That is what is most important : pick ONLY the people you get goosebumps and/or dream about, in front of & behind camera. If you get that part wrong, that's when all the problems start to happen. It's all stuff that's avoidable. Be intense about that part.

As Mike Nichols said, "Just love them. That's it." There's little things like giving them "business" or not doing line reads as a "default" method, but that's easy. Paul Thomas Anderson said, too: "I just try to be their biggest fan." Also: Actors (if you've cast right) are WAY better at performing than you are. Don't even try to hide shit from them. Yes, have some common sense, keep a positive vibe, but transparency is an incredibly underrated quality, way more than "Don't show them when you're scared." Strength is shown in many different ways. Just persevere, show your crew you are persevering. Not that you aren't human. I'm a bit against the grain on this, but I think (within reason) hiding yourself from your collaborators is bush league. Show them you're human, don't hide mistakes. What NOT to do: give up / flail around panic outwardly / freak out. (Watch Terry Gilliam in "He Dreams of Giants", that's what not to do.)

Directing actors isn't a "technique". It's a human relationship, sometimes even a friendship. Yes you can teach basis social graces, but it's more about letting them teach you. I've taken "directing actor" classes at AFI and worked with some amazing talent and genuinely, so much of those classes, and of the mystique around "directing actors" is rubbish. Each actor teaches YOU. They each have their own school, their own methods, their own needs. Just meet the actor. Get dinner with them if it's not weird or too early in the process. Just ask them up front how they like to work; what kinda shit they like / don't like when being directed. And literally that's it.

There's nothing more to it that isn't common sense.