Directing | Research

Through our lectures, we are given a variety of information about skills that we need to help us in our projects. For this unit we have been learning and discussing the skill of directing and what a good director is. In addition to this information I have decided to do some more research into directing and here is what I have found:

When an audience is watching a film they tend to go through steps without really knowing it.

1. They pay attention to the screen.
2. They perceive what is being shown and they identify what things are.
3. They then read the signs as characters are performing actions and they follow the story while starting to identify with the characters that they like.
4. They start to make connections to the meanings.
5. They guess what will happen next and where the story is possibly leading.
6. They then start to worry about the characters and the outcome, adjusting their predictions according to the new information given.
7. And then finally, at the end of the film, they feel emotional closure through surprise and the fact that it ended the way they thought but not in the way they expect.

One of the key things to take from this discovery is that once the audience starts to connect the pieces of the story together, they start to feel emotions towards the story and mainly the characters.

When you watch a movie, you have to watch it twice before you really understand it and can analyse it. This is due to the audience getting "lost in the story". You mentally can't pay attention to the construction of the film because you're involved with the journey of the story.

The most important thing about making a film is it must be abut something big, important and significant. It doesn't have to be a big story but it should evolve through big issues such as family, fatherhood, motherhood, honor, friendship, punishment, prejudice, wealth and poverty, freedom and roughly first world problems. The story must answer the big questions in life. Once you have your story you have to show your audience what is at stake. Don't tell them, show them. We remember things better when we see them or even when we're emotionally involved.
The characters drive the story must have to make a big, sometimes life threatening, decisions. The audience follows the characters emotionally through the ups and downs of the plot.
Drama involves exaggeration. Tell stories about characters we care about going through intensely challenging experiences that we can live through. The audience wants to know what will happen to them.
Storyboards are the most important step and should be created before you start filming and editing.