Filmmaking / Directing : Director teachers? by Ruben Whitter

Mostly by watching & paying attention to some really great Directors. I've been on a few sets where Hitch was the Director - he was not my 'mentor' nor did I ever work directly with/for him - but I learned a HELL of a lot from him. I was just fortunate in that's just how the dice landed. My advice is just to wiggle your way onto a project where you can watch & learn - you got to do it for yourself.

Lots of watching films and scenes over and over again. Making films and listening to feed back, trying not to fear failure and keep trying to push myself. Reading screenplays, studying at University and NYFA and just trying to keep focused on completing the next project. I don't think that there an exact way of doing it, just to keep trying.

I started off by reading Sydney Lumet's book

I'm still learning. I read Directing Actors and The Film Director's Intuition by Judith Weston, and Directing by Michael Rabiger. We need more than books to learn directing, but those three books pointed me in the right direction, and gave me somewhere to start. I highly recommend them.

"Learn as you are doing." I took film making classes in college, and they were helpful to a degree. I find the shortest route to becoming a good director is to write the material. You get to know the characters as you write and develop their parts, so no one will be more sympathetic to them as you will be. No one is more qualified to communicate their essence and motivation to the actors than the person who dreamed them up to begin with. As a director, everything you do will be focused on getting those characters across on the screen, and that will be the heart of your film.

For myself, answering this threads question, there is something above and beyond both learning as you go and finding a mentor. The main factor is the initial passion to want to be a director, the desire to follow the dream, and the vitality to carry it through. Then both learn as you go AND find mentors, combining the two factors with deadly agenda. Around 2014 I decided I wanted to devote my time to the craft of film directing, bringing characters alive, " myself" being the catalyst between the world of story and the actors. I so desperately wanted to do this, I surrounded myself with high calibre mentors, who excel in their craft. This is a game where you cannot find yourself surrounded in a ship of fools, particularly if money is being shelled out, in order to gain knowledge. I trained under many directors but to name a few, Chris Thomas, Simon Hunter, Josh Appignanesi, Tim Fywell, Jonas Grimas and more recently David Pope. I also had to tackle my weakness, a fear of using technical equipment., because I'm clumsy with my hands in front of other people. A film director does not have to operate equipment but its essential to know what everyone in the room is doing, and what they themselves have to work with because its a collaboration with light and sound. Its wise to have some gadget knowledge, to get across your message EXACTLY to other people of the look you want for each scene. With regards on going hands on practicality, I get this anywhere and with anyone I can EG From time in a professional studio or just a networkers basement, where Indie filmmaking equipment is stored. My advice for non budget "would be" directors is to gather all of the FREE information available on the net, and get together with like minded people, and start making post card shorts on their phones. Build the post card shorts to bigger and bigger shorts. Making an audience FEEL is not dependent on expensive equipment, but make sure its a universal theme eg First Date, Family Death, or something emotional. I'm getting into a whole other topic now, sorry, so will sign off before I rant another six pages. One last thought, is that with cross platform multi media storytelling, directors are no longer dependent on large studios to hire their unique talent. And don't forget u tube and Netflix. JUST DO IT. Happy weekend All.

Debbie - Good answer for yourself and anyone else too.

These are all great answers! I started in the theatre. I took a directing class in college and then was offered, as my senior project, the full resources for the spring production. I then went on to study with several excellent mentors and directed dozens of plays. I read all of the foundational books on the craft, such as Harold Clurman's On Directing. I have also taught many classes and workshops. I began directing short films a few years ago--my first won an award--and a lot of what I learned from decades in the theatre translated well. I then read books by great film directors--including Sidney Lumet's, which Brian mentioned--and watch films and TV with a critical eye. Stage 32 posted an article I wrote for beginning directors on the blog last month: https://www.stage32.com/blog/Seven-Less-Talked-About-Pre-Production-Esse.... I would be happy to help. Send me a friend request and an email. I am launching a YouTube channel this week where I will be teaching storytelling from the point of view of actors, directors and writers.

Larning to direct is a skill. What makes a good director is vision and being able to move people. Watch behind the scenes on the DVDs and watch the movies with the directors commentary.

@Joey Excellent link. I really admire your heart and soul attitude to teaching. I also started in Theatre. When I was young I did Guildhall and LAMDA, passed all the exams and then was in theatre for some years Film is completely different but although the execution of the art is worlds apart, the feeling is the same. The story needs to come across to the audience, whether by camera and film or bodily on stage,