Want to be the next great director? Master these five skills.
A director is the creative force behind any cinematic production, responsible for translating a story from script to screen. Columbia College Chicago Associate Professor Tom Fraterrigo, a writer and director whose historical feature screenplay, Huffman Prairie, won Bronze and Gold Awards at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, shares his top five tips for becoming the next great director:
Keep cool.
Fraterrigo stresses the importance of thinking clearly under pressure. No matter how well prepared you may be, something goes wrong during nearly every shoot. Be flexible, he says: “Every director crafts a shot list, but it’s almost always revised along the way. To make good decisions, go back to the one thing that doesn’t change: the story.”
Walk the line.
“It’s a fine line –– to both lead and collaborate,” says Fraterrigo. “As a director, you must be an arbitrator. You must respect the skill set each creative department head brings. Their visions might be inconsistent with yours. Compromise. Collaboration isn’t necessarily about getting along. Teams that always agree don’t always do the strongest work. With a collision of ideas, real creativity can arise.”
Let go.
Post-production is an opportunity for a new perspective, says Fraterrigo. “Your editor can bring fresh eyes to the project. Allow the editor the space to do a first cut without you in the room, to bring things to the story you might not have thought about.” Many young directors have less on-set experience than the actors they hire, who may be auditioning multiple times per week, he says. “Directors shouldn’t tell actors what to do. Let actors make creative choices. Evaluate and adjust as needed. Acknowledge those around you on set who are more experienced, and tap them as a resource rather than see them as an obstacle.”
Find your voice.
“When you make a film, you should tell a story that nobody else could tell,” Fraterrigo says. “Bring your unique voice to the material. That’s what builds a strong vision that can withstand a variety of obstacles along the way.”
Persevere.
“You need to just relentlessly pursue this,” says Fraterrigo, recounting a story about an advisee who shot her thesis on film, not video, and also ended up with one-third of the work out of focus. “This was devastating,” he says, but he advised her to edit it anyway, as-is. “Even though it was really hard to look at those shots, she cut the whole thing together, and we put together a plan to reshoot the individual shots she needed. She finished the film, which had a nice festival run. Now I show the film in class. When I tell that story, nobody can pick out any of the shots that were pickups. It’s completely seamless. It took determination –– the ability to weather obstacles and push a project all the way through.”
