Want to be a director?
Thursday 20 March 2008
Do you have a creative eye? Would like to direct your own TV show or film one day? Find out about routes into the industry and watch our video interview with director Mark Jeavons.
What do directors do?
The directors job is to translate what’s written in the script into what appears on the screen. There's a director behind every film you see.
Directors might be responsible for a whole film or television production making decisions such as finding a scriptwriter, scouting out locations and choosing the cast and crew.
A director also controls:
- the technical elements – camera angles, sound, and lighting levels
- the creative elements – directing and motivating the cast
As a director you might find you’ll be working irregular and sometimes very long hours. You might also have to travel to different locations depending on the nature of the show or film. Be prepared for this as it comes with the job.
Learn the craft
There are many courses you could take as a good starting point if you want to become a director, some like Media studies are often available from GCSE or A level.
As soon as you start to gain experience, consolidate your best work into a showreel. This is a portfolio of your work on screen and is a tool you can use to promote your talents.
Further education
Film schools like the National Film and Television school pride themselves on basing admissions on your portfolio and offer really good, unique courses like documentary, fiction and animation direction. Famous alumni include David Yates who directed 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' so you know you’ll be in good company. The NFT offers scholarships and grants but the competition is fierce so get your stuff up to scratch before applying.
Find out about other colleges or universities and specific courses through the UCAS search engine.
Lucky break
There are now more companies out there who are willing to give school leavers and new entrants a break. The BBC's ‘New Talent’ scheme aims to find talented individuals. Sign up to their newsletter for info about upcoming schemes and competitions.
The Skillset careers website also has loads of info for film and television new entrants, plus case studies and personal advice page. They also feature different grants, bursaries and funding you could apply for.
Mark Jeavons's first film - 'The Boy With A Thorn In His Side' was made with a £5000 grant. Despite it's tiny budget, the film was shown at independent cinemas and was even screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Find out more about Mark and how he made the film - watch the n2k video above and also read an interview with the young director.
Work it
The media industry is very competitive, so gaining work experience is vital if you want to get your foot in the door. Many low budget films require runners. Runners get paid very little, but being a runner is a good way of getting a feel for how the media world works.
If you have a careers centre in your school, college or uni, it might be worth paying them a visit and asking them if they have any work experience contacts. Alternatively you could also visit your local Connexions centre.
Fame
Famous film directors you might have heard of include:- Quentin Tarantino who directed super cool movie 'Kill Bill' and Steven Speilberg who gave us the classic 'E.T.' and 'Jurassic Park'. UK directors have also made it big such as Nick Park who directed 'Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit' which impressively won an Oscar!
