If you’re interested in pursuing a career as a director, learning about directing is the place to begin. Whether you want to direct for film, stage, or TV, your first step is understanding what directing involves. In this article, we explore the 10 commandments of good directing offered by Alejandro González Iñárritu. This Mexican filmmaker is one of the most successful directors in the world right now. His work on films like "Birdman," and "The Revenant" won him Best Director and Best Film Editing awards at the Academy Awards in 2015. Moreover, he has worked with some of the finest actors in Hollywood: Michael Keaton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Edward Norton, and Emma Stone.
Good directing is about finding the voice before you find the story
The first thing to understand about directing is that the director’s job is to find the voice. So, the first step is to find a way to express the story. The task of the writer is to find the story and the task of the director is to find the language of the story. The process of finding the language starts with the sound design, the music, and then finding a visual style. It’s about finding the tone and rhythm of the story, and this is something you should do before you start shooting. It’s when you have the script in hand that it’s time to figure out how to tell the story visually.
Directing is more editing than choreography
The director is responsible for shaping the story and guiding his/her actors to tell that story. The director is essentially an editor. The director’s job is to cut the film together and give the film shape. It’s about taking a ton of shots and finding the best shots to tell a story. That’s why some of the greatest directors are also the best editors. Directing, at the end of the day, is an act of editing. It’s about taking a lot of pieces and putting them together in a way that makes sense and works.
Good directing is when you can hear what the actors are saying
This is an important aspect of directing actors. It’s when you understand what they’re saying, and they know what they are trying to express. That’s the moment when you know you’re directing because you’re not imposing your ideas on the actor, you’re just trying to channel and understand the actor and translate their ideas.
A good scene is built on trust and authenticity
For a scene to really work, it needs to be a collaboration between the director and the actors. At the same time, the director needs to respect the actor’s process. The director needs to let the actors feel safe, feel relaxed, and feel like they can explore things freely. The moment you try to impose your ideas on the actor, the moment you try to tell the actor how to feel or how to do things, you’re losing the authenticity of the scene. That’s when a scene stops being real and starts becoming something else.
Good directing is also about knowing when to let go
The director is the one who’s shaping the story and must decide what to keep and what to leave out. However, that doesn’t mean imposing his/her ideas on the actors. That means letting the actors explore and finding the best takes. It means letting the actors discover things. You have to be able to let go of takes you love because you must be able to tell the story with the best takes. You should let other things go, and in return, what you want to take from the actor has to be real and authentic. You can’t impose anything on them. Let the actor explore, be themselves, and do things freely.
A good director knows the difference between art and commerce
The two go hand in hand, of course, but as a director, you must be conscious of the fact that content is first and commerce second. The most important thing you can do is choose the right story to tell and make sure all your decisions flow from that choice. There are artfully done films that have no commercial value. Yet there are films that have commercial value but are not artful. You must look at both aspects and make a choice. You must accept that the choice you make will affect your life.
Don’t Wait for the Perfect Moment Don’t
One of the most common traps for young directors is waiting for the perfect moment before taking action on any project. Everything is too perfect before production begins, and then once you’re on set, something always goes wrong. Crisis and pressure bring out the best in people, and sometimes the best takes are made in the midst of a ticking clock and a need to get things done. Don’t waste time waiting for the perfect moment; get going and things might just work out for the best.
Dialogue is King
The most important thing in directing any scene is how you handle the dialogue. A lot of directors will spend a great deal of time on the camera and the lighting and the blocking and the details of the set; and then when it comes to the actors and the dialogue, they’ll say, “Oh, let’s just improvise.” If you’re going to direct, you must do it in a very specific way. You must know exactly what you want from the character, and where the character is coming from. You should know what the intention of the scene is and understand the language of the camera. And then you should be able to communicate all of that to the actors in a very clear way.
Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Camera Position
Another mistake that directors make is being afraid to change their camera position. This happens a lot in dramas, where you see one camera position for the entire show. You want to avoid that at all costs. You want to use other camera positions to engage your viewer and make them feel like they’re in the scene. You want to be constantly moving the camera and changing your angles. There are shows where you want to capture the action in a very straightforward way. The camera position should be obvious so that the viewer can understand what’s going on. But in a drama, you want to be more thoughtful and expressive with your camera position and change the way you shoot each scene. You're not just trying to film what something looks like; you are trying to film what it feels like. Let the camera breathe with the actors and navigate with them emotionally.
Art Direction is Key
Another mistake that directors make is not engaging the art director enough. You should be in constant contact with the art director and discuss every aspect of the set you’re going to use and be as involved in the creation of the set as possible. You also need to work closely with the costume designer, the hair stylist, and the makeup artist and get them to understand the emotional and psychological aspects of the character. Directing is a constant process of creating and collaborating. You want to bring your vision to the table, and you want to be an active participant in the creation of the film from beginning to end. You should discuss every aspect of the film, from the color palette to the music, to the type of camera you’re going to use.
Next Steps?
There’s only one way to learn how to direct, and that’s by doing it. Find an opportunity where you can direct someone else’s work and get some experience under your belt. Once you’ve done that, you might find that you’re bitten by the directing bug and can’t stop.