How to Become a Film Director? Here are some tips for beginners who want to be a film director in near future. If you think that you have creativity and the ability to tell an ordinary story in extraordinary ways, then you may be a director one day. You can consider ‘Filmmaking’ as your career.
Many people have a common idea that the job of a director is just to shoot. This idea is not correct fully. From selecting the story, casting, editing, screening — the whole process is supervised by a film director. So it can be said that directors have to take care of almost everything for making a film.
May be you have true enthusiasm to be a film director but you are confused from where to start, or else you may lack proper guideline. Then this article dedicated for you. Today I am here to provide a complete guideline for beginners about how to become a film director. Read attentively the below explained step by step guideline:
Table of Contents
1. Academic Knowledge
It is not compulsory to have educational background of film making to be a director. But I can’t also deny that having academic knowledge of film making enrich your career than others. You can complete your graduation in film studies to be a future film director. If you are already a graduate person then you can complete post-graduation in this subject. Or at least you can acquire academic knowledge of film making from any institution. Some film institutions offer short term training session or courses. This course specifically teaches technical work. Apart from that, there are also training opportunities for students through workshops. This is the first and foremost requirement to be a film director.
2. Practice Practical Work
If you have not opportunity to take academic knowledge about film studies then no worries. There are many other options to be a film director. You can start your career in film industry as an actor, assistant director or script writer. By association with film industry you can gather practical experience. It will help later to be a good director. Don’t overlook television media. If you have no chance to work in a film industry then you can work in television productions. It is also a good field to practice direction.
If you have enough money then you can also produce your own cinema where you can also direct your film. If you have not enough money then you can start with making short films or independent films. You can also open your own channel in YouTube where you can publish your work to get audience response. In short, you have to be in practice, practice and practice.
3. Watch Good Films
You want to be a director then you have to watch good films. If you watch more and more good films, one day you can also be a good director. On the other hand, if you digest bad films, you will be a bad director. So, try to follow intellectual making. Don’t watch films that are waste of time rather watch best films of all time which ranked by film critiques. Analyze those films. Follow their story telling way. You may also watch movies behind the scene video clips. Thus, you will develop a concept how a film is made. Moreover, you can watch renowned director’s interview. Listen their experience of work, read their struggling career story. You will be motivated for sure.
4. Grow Reading Habit
If you want to be a good director then you also have to be a good reader. Before going to principal photography, directors have to read the whole script of the film. Then he/she needs to prepare a screenplay where shot by shot direction is written. Besides, a director has to read so many scripts in his/her life. If you have not enough patience to read then you won’t be a successful director.
5. Try to Write Own Script
It is better for a film director to write down his/her own film script. When a director write his own script, it became easy for him to give direction because he knows about the script very well. He builds his own perception while writing a script and so it became convenient for him later. Though a director may not write his own film script, he has to have the ability to see visual of others script. Director is the man who first sees a film before making through his inner imagination.
Some Additional Tips
Above I have discussed about director’s educational or technical requirements. Now here are some additional tips about director’s human qualities. To be a good director one must foster or acquire these qualities.
i) If you want to be a director, the first human quality you need to have is creativity. You have to execute new and innovative ideas in your film. Must have strong imagination power. In other words, you have to visualize the film script once in your mind before shooting.
ii) A critical thinker can be a good director. You have to think deeply and critically. It is not right to finalize a scene just by thinking once. Rather, the more one can think of each scene, the more realistic the depiction will be.
iii) A director has to be tolerant. Just as he accepts positive comments, he also has to accept negative comments. Keep in mind, your film critique does well for you than your admirer. Try to analyze critique’s observation and make correction to give your best in next production.
iv) Film making means absolutely a team work and so a director has to be cooperative with his all team members. Directors must have excellent communication skill also as he has to associate different type of people. He must know how to interact with different occupation’s people.
v) Not only the direction but also some other skills a director has to acquire. For example, he has to know the rules of writing script, he has to know color correction and basic editing techniques and he has to know how to use brand new technologies in his film. In a word, a director has to be an all-rounder in the field of film making.
Conclusion
If you have all qualities that mentioned above then make a portfolio today. A portfolio is a collection of your artistic works like short films, documentaries, photographs, written scripts or any experimental media related works. A portfolio is needed for a beginner director in order to show skills to prospective collaborators, producers and financiers. If a portfolio is full of creative works then it is easy for a director to collect budget for his film.
Thanks for reading the whole. I hope readers will find this article informative as well as useful. Those who are not prepared yet, take your time and go ahead following above tips. Best wishes for your upcoming career 🙂
