Film Industry Guide: The Role of a Film Director
Before we start, we must first understand who is a director and what are some of their roles and responsibilities that make them the most important asset behind the success of a film.
What is a Director?
In simple terms, a director is a person who decides the creative vision of a play, film, television show, short films, or various other productions. They are also the mastermind behind the complete artistic control of a visual project. And aside from having an ideal grasp of technical knowledge that is taught in directing classes, they must also have an emotional or personal connection to the material they are working on.
There are three phases that divide the work of a director — pre-production, during production, and post-production. They include the following responsibilities:
Pre-Production
- Assembling a Team: The first step is to have the ideal team for the shoot. You will need a line producer, location manager, cinematographer, assistant director, and production designer.
- Creating Vision And Communicating it: Sometimes you have an extraordinary vision for the film and you want to get it just right. Hence, you will need to create a lookbook that you should fill with reference images to articulate your choice of location, framing, color palettes, etc. This way, your team will be able to better understand what you are looking to capture in your films.
- Casting Choices: There are several things you can change midway your production, but casting is the least flexible. Before casting actors, understand the story you are telling and give important roles to people you trust and are willing to be flexible with you.
During Production
- Guiding Actors: You are responsible for informing your actors on what kind of performance you want and any specific notes you want them to consider.
- Ensure Everyone is Doing Their Job: Since you are the most familiar with how things are supposed to work, you must collaborate with everyone and make sure they are handling their tasks adequately.
Post-Production
- Giving Notes to Editor: Take your time to review the editor’s cuts, checking the whole footage, finding shots and angles that will add more meaning to your project.
- Check on Post-production Teams: You will need to work with the sound design team, visual effects team, music supervisor, etc. to ensure that every decision that is being made during this stage is in line with your overall vision.
It can be quite challenging to get everything right the first time. But once you get the hang of it, you will quickly start creating some of the best films the world has ever seen — just like the highly acclaimed film-director and producer , Taiwo Oduala.
As the president of Oduataj Entertainment and member of the Directors Guild of Nigeria, Oduala started his career in 1991 and throughout his career, created some of the best films of our time. Being a revered director, he has worked in all kinds of locations such as Greece, Netherland, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and the United States, to name a few. And in these very locations, he made some of his finest films such as Lady of Faith, Moment of Joy, Romantic Touch, ILU America, My White Man, and many more.
Furthermore, his talent and hard work has led him to become a recipient of several awards — an example being the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival for best Diaspora Film for his film “ILU America” — and receiving seven official selections at the Hollywood New Directors Film Festival, Black Film Festival, Marina Del Rey Film Festival and the list goes on.