Filmmaking / Directing : Transferable skills by Tony Fisher

It's good to be organized. I could post some motivational BS like, "Shoot for the moon!". Instead I'll ask, what do you know about jobs in the film industry? For a couple of bucks, pick up a used copy of Gaffers, Grips and Best Boys on Amazon. Describes most every role in the business. See what skills are transferable and what training or study you'd need for the role you're interested in.

That's brilliant advice. Have ordered a copy, with so many different roles its difficult to fully understand how pre-existing skills can be used.

In my experience, any roll benefits from people skills. I know, vague term. But being able to communicate clearly and play on a team as leader or just one of the crew is major. I have been fortunate to work with a number of people that are all ready to "jump in the boat and row" as well as row in the same direction as everyone else in the boat. So never underestimate the power and value of being personable.

'...business management and team leading...' My guess is the skills you acquired in these areas will apply most closely to producing. Depending on your personal ambitions, I think you will have to address the following issues. How do you know when a script is 'right' (so that you should get involved)? Gut feelings? Reading a lot of scripts? Probably both. If you want to direct, probably more important than management skills, although those certainly don't hurt, is that you develop what I'll call 'visual creativity'. In other words, the best directors can take a scene from what is already a good script and figure out how to shoot it in a way which intrigues and involves the audience. They literally elevate the material. A very difficult thing to do and not an easy skill to acquire. I happen to like writing and producing but have no personal interest in directing. So I do what I like. So my suggestion is figure what you like to do and then work on it. (The book you ordered may help with that.)

D.E.M. said, " ''...business management and team leading...' My guess is the skills you acquired in these areas will apply most closely to producing. " I say those skills would translate into being a Best Boy. I can see a truck with a place for everything and everything in it's place.

You definitely have the skills necessary to produce. If you are a good writer with vision and are able to carry out that vision with people you may have success in directing projects you have written. I would say start with small projects to see how well you do. Good filmmaking is difficult and if you serve as the producer, it's best to bring in people that have the skills you lack.

I believe a passion for film, watching films, and film studies would be a necessary thing to augment any skills you already have to consider directing. And that means watching lots of films many have never heard of. The Sight and Sound Poll is a good reference, followed by reading and studying the likes of David Bordwell and his blog Observations on Film Art. And speaking of art, that's what you want to study. Things like film grammar, alternative film grammars, mise-en-scene, rhythm and timing, metaphor, symbolism, art direction, empathy, subtext, etc.

You may have producing abilities but directing is more than just leading the army, it's knowing how to tell the story with the camera: what each angle camera move, framing, etc means when the audience sees it. My basic director test: Camera close to the ground dollies forward to the actor and tilts up to keep the focus on his/her face... what does this make the audience feel? A director needs to understand the language of film... which can be learned.