10 Directing Tips

10 Director Skills

Introduction: If you want to be a director, you need to master a lot of skills. Below I will introduce 10 directing skills to you, let’s go and learn about them together!

Every detail matters

In Wes Anderson’s perfectly constructed world, you don’t want to pay attention to the extra details he created. Almost impossible. The Grand Budapest Hotel is no exception. Selective spoilers: When Lady D (Tilda Swinton) dies, we see her in the coffin wearing bright red high heels. Later in the film, we can spot her son Dmitri (Adrien Brody) pacing around the shoes. If you relax for a moment, you will miss this detail. There are many such details in the movie that are very meaningful but need to be discovered carefully. This detail tells us how greedy and stupid this character is, which is the dramatic effect that the audience loves. So make sure your movie has these meaningful details, because then your movie will stand up to repeated scrutiny.

Make a movie that people have to love

Even if you hate Wes Anderson, I believe it is unlikely that you will hate "The Grand Budapest Hotel." How to say it? Its script, characters, and other filmmaking craftsmanship are full of charm and warmth. Therefore, everyone left the cinema satisfied and recommended it to all their friends. Therefore, compared with the popular conventional plots and clues, the movie is full of addictive charm and worthy of recommendation by the audience. A piece of cake.

Comedy and tragedy intertwined

Should I make a comedy? Or filming a tragedy? Don't separate the two so widely, the two can coexist! There is no comedy in life without tragedy, and vice versa, and the same is true in movies. This is the admirable success of The Grand Budapest Hotel: at the end of the film, between the lonely Little Zero and his deep nostalgia and sadness for Gustav and that old era, you don't know whether to laugh or cry. . The overlay of tragedy and comedy in a movie gives the movie more depth and makes the audience think about and react differently to your movie.

Building a huge cast/character cast is irrelevant

Fiennes, Brody, Dafoe, Goldblum, Norton, Swinton , France, Keitel, Murray, Abraham, Wilkinson, Wilson, Ronan, the cast lineup of "The Grand Budapest Hotel" can be said to be a gathering of big names (not to mention that this is the best marketing method in the history of film). But why are these big names willing to show their faces at the Grand Budapest Hotel? 1. Script, 2. Director. They trusted Anderson's vision and knew very clearly that if they signed on, they were participating in a very special film. This trust is what you need to build as a filmmaker. You have to have very creative ideas, but if no actors are willing to work with you, your career as a director is not far off. It’s about the importance of being a visual storyteller. In addition, this also shows that so many big names must not all play major roles. There are many small roles played by famous actors. However, they understand (and you should know), Sidney Lumet once said, "There are never any small parts. Only small actors."

Let actors challenge new roles

As we all know, one of the winning keys to The Grand Budapest Hotel is Ralph Fiennes’ perfect performance. What's even more amazing is that we think he acted very well because he has never challenged this type of role. Despite his turn in the comedy "Killers Have No Day Off," no one could have imagined that the guy who played the chilling Amon Goss in "Schindler's List" would do such a great job as a hotel butler. However, thanks to the quiet performances we get now. Challenging new character types can have amazing effects on both actors and audiences. Actors all hide some of their talents. It's not that they can't play various roles, it's just that you don't know it.

Color

Color is a very important word in Anderson's dictionary. Nothing in Anderson's world is stylized, but a clear color tone is necessary to set the emotional tone of the scene. It's a pleasure to watch Anderson's films, to see how he uses color: decoration, costumes, props, etc. - everything conveys mood to us, and you have to do the same.

Everybody knows what to expect from a Wes Anderson movie. That doesn't mean he's predictable, it means he's different and makes him stand out from the general cast of directors. Make sure you have your own style while expressing your story and emotions, so that when the audience leaves the screen, your name will be ingrained in their minds even more than the title of the movie.

Use animation

Not CGI, but 2D animation. There's really no real reason to do this, except: everyone loves it, and everyone knows how much time and effort goes into it. These two factors alone can elevate your movie profile. Traditional animation is a little trick in Anderson's magic box, and it might work for you too.

The importance of the food truck on set

A good producer once told me that if you set up a complete Mars bar on the set, you will have the best movie. This is a useful technique. Keeping your cast and crew happy is essential during filming. What makes people happy? food. Beautiful things. Applicable anytime. We love food for one thing, we need it to fuel us, and it’s a shame that many producers and directors forget to provide a first-class food truck for the crew. Make your crew's food and drinks as good as those at the Grand Budapest Hotel, and you'll be very satisfied with your movie.

Becoming Gustav

Neat, ruthless, coachable, optimistic, kind, lovable, charming and funny: we should all strive to be like Gustav. The great thing about Gustav was that people gravitated toward him, respected him, and he made everyone feel special. So the next time you're about to snap and scream on set, just think: What would Gustave do? In addition to his own personality charm, your film shooting process should also prove that "in this barbaric slaughterhouse, there is still a faint light of civilization - that is human nature." ;