A director is responsible for what the finished film is: how the story is told, what it looks and sounds like, and what the performances are. They make the creative decisions in every department, work with the actors, decide how each scene is covered, and stay with the film through the edit until it is finished.
What they do not do is run the set, manage the schedule, operate the camera, or shout at people. Those are all other people's jobs, and directors who take them on are usually doing their own job worse.
Prep is most of the job
The public image of directing is a person on set making decisions in the moment. In reality, the quality of a shooting day is mostly determined weeks earlier.
Working the script. Whether or not they wrote it, the director develops it into the version they will shoot: what each scene is for, what the film is actually about, what can be cut.
Casting. With a casting director, and it is arguably the highest-leverage set of decisions in the whole process. Casting well removes problems you would otherwise spend the shoot solving.
Designing the look. Conversations with the DP, the production designer and the costume designer, running for weeks. References, tests, palettes, lenses, the rules of the film's visual language.
Scouting. Choosing locations with the location manager and the DP. A location is a set of constraints on how a scene can be shot, so this is a creative decision disguised as a logistical one.
Shot listing and blocking. Deciding how each scene will be covered. See what is a shot list. This is the single most valuable preparation a director does, because it converts a hundred on-the-day decisions into ten.
Rehearsal, where the schedule allows it.
Answering questions. An enormous, relentless volume of them. Every department needs decisions: what color, which car, how much blood, what is on the wall, does she wear the coat in this scene. A director in prep spends most of their time being asked things.
On the day
The actual sequence for a scene, repeated eight to twelve times a day:
- Blocking rehearsal. The director walks the scene with the actors while the DP, the first AD and key crew watch. Where people move, where the emotional beats land.
- Marking and lighting. The crew takes over the space. This is the longest part and the director is often working with the actors elsewhere.
- Rehearsal on set, then shooting. The director watches, gives notes between takes, and decides when they have it.
- Moving on, which is a decision with a schedule attached and is made in consultation with the AD.
Note who is running the room: the first AD. They call the roll, manage the crew, and keep the day moving. The director's attention is on performance and on frame. This division is deliberate, and directors who try to do both do neither well.
The first AD calls for quiet, calls the roll, and hands over. The director calls "action" and "cut". The reason the AD does the rest is that keeping ninety people quiet and coordinated is a full-time job requiring a loud voice and a schedule in your head, and the director needs to be watching an actor's face at that moment. On a small crew one person may do both, and it is noticeably harder to direct a performance while also managing the room.
In post
The director's involvement continues, and the shape of it varies by contract and territory.
The edit. After the editor's first assembly, the director works with them, often for months. Many directors say the film is genuinely written for the third time here.
Sound and music. Spotting sessions, working with the composer, the final mix.
The grade. Setting the final look with the colorist and usually the DP.
Notes. From producers, financiers, distributors. How much the director has to accept depends entirely on the deal, and the phrase "final cut" refers to who legally decides. Most directors, most of the time, do not have it.
What directors do not do
Worth stating plainly, because the misconceptions cause real problems for first-timers.
They do not run the set. That is the first AD.
They do not operate the camera. That is the camera operator, and on many productions the DP does not operate either. Directors who take the camera are usually doing so at the cost of watching the performance.
They do not light the scene. They describe the intent; the DP and gaffer achieve it.
They do not manage the budget or schedule. They work within it. Requests for more time go through the AD and the producer.
They do not have to know how everything works technically. Useful, not required. What is required is knowing what you want and being able to describe it.
They do not need to shout. The loudest person on a set is almost always the least effective one, and calm directors get better performances.
The authority question
Directors have enormous creative authority and almost no formal power. They are typically hired by the producer, working to a budget they did not set, on a schedule they did not build.
Their authority comes from something else: everyone on a film wants it to be good, and they will follow someone who clearly knows what the film is. Conversely, a director who cannot answer questions loses the room within days, because forty people need decisions and will start making their own.
The single most useful directorial skill is not visual taste. It is being able to say what you want in a way that another specialist can act on.
Working with actors
The part most technically-minded first-time directors neglect, and the part that shows most on screen.
Some principles that hold widely:
- Direct behavior, not results. "Try it as though you have already decided to leave" gives an actor something to do. "Be sadder" gives them a result to fake.
- Talk to actors privately, not across a crowded set.
- One note at a time. Three notes between takes produces a worse take.
- Know when you have it. Actors often peak in takes 3 to 6, and directors who go to 15 out of anxiety are usually printing take 4.
- Cast well and get out of the way. The most common note from experienced actors about good directors is that they created the conditions and then trusted them.
On a small film
On a short, the director frequently also produces, writes, and sometimes operates. This is normal and it is a real cost, and knowing which part is being sacrificed helps.
If you are directing your first film, the two things that will most improve it are both prep: shot list everything, so that you are not designing coverage while the crew waits, and rehearse with your actors before the day, because it is the only time you will have to work on performance without a clock running.
And find a good first AD, even if that is the only crew position you pay for properly. The difference between a run day and a chaotic one is almost entirely that person.
Next
The person who actually runs the set. Next: the first assistant director, the most operationally important job on any production.
Get new posts by email
New posts and free templates by email. Unsubscribe in one click.