DIRECTING

 DIRECTING
By Saint-Sam 

Directing
Directing is the way of leading, guiding, ordering or giving an instruction to do something.
In film production: Directing is the process of guiding all the production process that involved in film making. It is the way by which all instructions are passed out to achieve a good success in the stage or film production
  In directing, it involve giving an instruction or order to all the crew members and all the cast involved. Crew members like production manager, assistant production manager, gaffer, sound man, make-up artist, props manager, costume manager, location manager, editor, and every other crew members.
Who is a Director: A director is the person that saddle the responsibility of giving order and instructions to attain a maximum success.
In production: A director is a person who carries all the responsibilities of the production upon his or herself, a director is the one that gives instruction to all the crew members and the cast.
A director will have watch the stage or film production to be produce on his own, how can this be possible?, it means a director will assume he or she is watching the script live on a screen. This process will help the director to perform well.
Let take for instant, the director that suppose to director a movie that is just getting the script that day, would not have enough time to read through the script and watch it live. In other word a director should have seen and correct the script where necessary before the production day. Failure to do that will mar the production.
Having the holy spirit is good, but a director should not be too spiritual to say I don’t need to see the script before the production day that the holy spirit will help, well the holy spirit can do that but remember our God is a God of plans and the scripture says the holy spirit will bring into remembrance of what you have learn (read), so if you have not read anything I don’t know what you will be remind of. The spirit of God is not a magician (he is not Merlin).
Directing is the most serious and delicate aspect of any successful production, so the director should be an experience person that is ready to give his best. I will advice that anybody that will handle any production as a director should ensure he or she see the production to be produce than the scriptwriter.
The scriptwriter would have written all he or she could write, it is the work of a director to also direct the script into screen, this means the work of a director does not begin on the day of production, it begins immediately when the scriptwriter has finished his or her work.
What a director need to know
Acting
Screenplay
Scriptwriting
Shot / Camera works
Editing idea
Make-up works
All technical aspect of production
Understand other languages

Acting: It is popular say that you can’t give what you don’t have, so also a director cannot gives what he or she has no idea of, you can only give in what you have. A director must have been trained to be a good actor or actress before taking up the responsibilities of a director. In the process of directing your cast you will need to act it to them before they can give you the best. A good director would have acted all the character in the script before the day of rehearsal or production day.

Screenplay: This is a process of writing a technical script majorly for film production not for stage drama. Screenplay involve showing the details of all the information needed by the camera man, editor, actor and the director for them to be able to perform well technically. Note: not all scriptwriter can do screenplay, but it’s very important that a good director should be able to do screenplay. In screenplay it shows all the shot, transition and the establishment of the film production.

Scriptwriting: This is another area that determines a good director, scriptwriting is the process of writing down the burden, ideal or your inspiration that you have receive down as a script.  This process involved the technical aspect of writing script, not just the method of writing only a stage play script. I have discovered that most people write stories and not scripts or let me call them summary anyway. A good director who wants to correct and direct other people’s scripts should be a good scriptwriter.
Quickly, for the benefit of those who don’t know how to write a script, let see how to write a technical script
Scriptwriting
Without script the director, editor, the actors or actress, production manager and all the crew members are handicap.

Any message received remain a mere ideal until you have put it down on paper as script.

You don’t tell people your story but you show it to them by script.

People should be able to act your script even while you are not around.

Any film production, stage drama without script is like a waste of time. Because even God himself is orderly.



WHAT IS SCRIPT WRITING
Script: Is the blue print or document that shows all the pictures, sound, speech, actions and name of the character.
Script Writing: Is the process of writing script. It is the distribution of words, speech and action for the cast or the character involved.
The process of writing script is the same either for the Gospel and Secular Drama. But the secular are worldly base while the Gospel Drama is spiritually base because Gospel Drama Minister Act the Word {Bible} according to my ministry motto: “Revealing the Word to the World”.
Let discuss how a Drama Minister can get his or her script and title.
Consult God
Through the help of the Holy Spirit
Through Prayers
Through the Word of God
Through Revelations, Visions or Prophesy {base on how God speak to you}
Note: After getting this massage / title make sure you are very familiar with it, because it will stand as the bases for you or a work sheet for you. You can as well check the meaning of the title into your own understanding; you can even translate into your own local language to get insight about the topic/title e.g. Devils shop, the scar, the stalker etc.
You can also relate it to your society, the present situation but it must be biblical or spiritually base.
Note: As a drama minister you must be smart in thinking and be brave because it takes a fast thinker to get some things.

SPICES OF A GOOD SCRIPT
These will help a lot; CUBE
C- Continuity
U- Unpredictability
B- Believability
E- Economical
Continuity: A good script must have a good beginning and ending. It must follow smoothly from opening to the last scene. Allow it to harmonies together. Build the massage around the central theme; don’t dance around the bush without any plot dominating.
Unpredictability: Ensure your script is not predicted. Not knowing what will happen at the end before the end. You can introduce surprise, suspense, flash back etc.
Believability: Your script must be believable / real
Economical: Good management of time, cast, scene and dialogue. Do not include unnecessary characters don’t try to write everything you know about the script. More so, the monetary aspect in achieving the production also should be considered.


HOW TO WRITE SCRIPT
Known your Title/Topic: First thing you do is to know the topic or title you are writing something on
Write it out: You think putting it off head will help, No write it out, so that you will not forget and you can see it when writing. So that you will not be writing story out of it.
Pray again: I believe you have prayed before getting the Topic/Title, but pray about it again for direction. James 1:7-8.
Relate the Title / Topic: Relating the title will give you full knowledge about the script you are about to write, either to relate it to the society or to your environment but since it is Gospel Drama it must be related to the scripture.
Summarize the script: First thing is to draw a plot showing the whole script somewhere. To tell you how you will arrange them into Scene and Act.
Be watching it alive: When you are set to write the script ensure that you are not been disturb and assume you are watching it live. This will help you most but i think this is a special gift, which God can also give to you as well.
Arrange to Scene / Act: The first thing is to first arrange your story into three {3} Act before the start of scene, especially when it is technical script that is for production.
Let talk on how you can divide your script into Act:
Note: Every script or story will always have a beginning of a problem that you are about to solve, so godly script start with a burden in your heart or your audience heart that you want to provide a solution to:
Act 1: The beginning or the introduction of the story / problem
Act 2: The beginning of the problem and how it started i.e how the problems actualize or surface.
Act 3: The solution to be provided and the concluding part of the whole story.
THE BODY OF THE SCRIPT
Tell the Act and the Scene: Write out the scene and write them in Capital letter at the top centre of your working sheet.
The Slug Line: Tell the reader of the script where the scene take place i.e. are we indoor {INT (Interior)} or outdoor {EXT (Exterior)}.
The Location: Tell us where that particular scene is been acted for easy directing and make the work of the location manager easy. Also include the time of the day eg.
ACT ONE
SCENE ONE
“INT”                   Palace setting”         DAY ESTABLISHING

The Occurrence: This simply means what happens in that particular scene eg.
(All the chief are sitting to discus about the New Year festival) or
(Brother Peter takes spoon to eat in a bad mood)
Put word into mouth: This is the area where you will be distributing words into the mouth of the cast. Take for example
ACT ONE
SCENE ONE
“INT”               “Palace setting”          DAY ESTABLISHING
(All the chief are sitting to discus about the New Year festival)
KING
{Comes in}
CHIEFS
{Off their caps to greet him} Kabiyesi oo!!!
KING
Stand up my chiefs may the gods of this land bless you all
CHIEFS
Ase!!!
OTUN
We have come to finalize the issue about our upcoming New Year Festival {Osi cut in}
OSI
{cut in} Beeni kabiyesi, New Yam Festival is around the corner, and there is no plan yet, is this how we are going to fold our arms?
KING
Hmmm. Otun, Osi {He look at them and the other chiefs} it is true my chiefs, it is less than 2 month to the time abi iyaloja?
IYALOJA
Beeni oko ilu, what are we going to do now?
IYALODE
To start the preparation ni o {with a smiling face } abi eyin oloye?
CHIEFS
Beeni !!!.................

IMPORTANT NOTICE ON SCRIPT WRITING
Use simple language: When you use big grammar your spiritual drama will become a jokes to the audience they will not have much interest on it any longer
Describe the mood (Parenthetical): This simply means, tell the reader of your script the mood a particular cast is into e.g

JOHN
(Looking at him franking)
PETER
(Standing up angrily) I have told you it over between us
KING
Olori !! (He looks at her somehow)
OLORI
(She was restless)
Suspense is allow: The beauty of a drama is the ability for the writer to convince and let the viewer or reader to be surprise and eager to know what will happens next, by the use of flash back, suspense and if possible the use of dreams or revelation. Make it unpredictable.
No argument is allowed after: As a good writer try as much as possible that there will be no room for argument or confusion instead of blessing.

Each plot or sub-plot must talk about Christ and must be able to bring people to Christ, since it a Gospel Film/Drama it must always leads to salvation.

Use Present Tense/Continuous Tense: Scripts is assumed been done at the time the reader is reading it, so don’t use: He came in, she sang, king Shouted at them, he woke up after the dream. But express your action in present tense eg. Looks, Comes in , Goes, Shout , Standing up, Coming etc.
Short Paragraph: Let your lines or words be very short, do not let them go more than 4-5 lines.

Extension: Is a technical note place directly to the right of the character name that denote how the character’s voice will be heard by the audience eg.  O.S i.e {off screen}, V.O {voice over}.

An off screen voice can be heard from the character out of the camera range or from another room. Some use O.C {off camera}.
V.O, think of a voice over as a narration or a character speaking while he or she is not in the screen.

Transition: It helps us to know the duration of time on how the scene will go together. Eg Cut to, Dissolve to, Smith cut, Quick to, mix to, Fade to, Fade out, Fade in, Juxtapose to etc.

Ending: It shows that you have ended the whole story and it written as


THE END

Shot / Camera works: There are difference shot in film making which is expected that a good director must know before embarking on a directing work. More so, a director must understand every work of a camera man, because part of the work of director is to direct the camera man. A director must be able to handle camera  incase the camera man disappoints or not available. Aside from the camera man disappointment, your camera man will give you  what you don’t want which may affect the professionalism of the production, though some camera man are professionally good but, as a good direct you need to understand the camera details e.g the Iso, the lens, the framing, the imaginary line, angles, plotting, weather adjustment and different kinds of shots.


Examples of shot that we have
Ls - Long shot: This is the shooting that will reveal all the details of the character from head to toe.
Ms – Medium shot: This is shooting that shows the character from head to waist, most time it can be from anywhere above the foot. The other type of this shot is called “two on a shot” this is the medium shot of two characters at the same time.
Cu - Close shot: This is the shot that shows only the face of the character from the chest to head.
Oss - Off Shoulder Shot: This kind of shot is used to achieve the close shot of a character without making the other character inactive, this type of shot is taking by placing the camera at the side shoulder of the other cast to pick the face of the other.
WS – White shot:  Is used to tell the story of the entire frame
ECU – Extreme Close Shot:
ELS -  Extreme Long Shot:
Low Angle:
High Angle:
 Ca – Cut Away
Pan:
Tint:
Forth ground:
Editing Ideal: a good director must have a good knowledge of editing; you will not do well if you don’t know anything about editing. There are time that some things will look like they cant be achieve on location but from the professional ideal of editing you know, it will help you to achieve huge success.
Make-up works: make-up is another aspect of film production that a good director must see to, when you are to direct a play and your make-up artist is not doing well by applying the necessary things on the actor, it is the duty of a director to correct the make-up artist. In most cases a director can suggest the type of make—up to be put in place in/on the character.
All technical aspect of production: All technical aspect of film production like: lighting, sound, camera stands, and every other aspect of film production like editing, make-up, consume, continuity, sound, effect, set design, location management and lot more. All these are what a good director needs to know before embarking on any work of a director.

Understand other languages: As a good director you try to know more than your mother language, because you need to direct a film to be shot in other languages, most of the time a director should build up his or her self to be able to speak and write correct English language.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A DIRECTOR
As a director you'll contribute to all the creative elements of a production and will be responsible for shaping them into a cohesive film.
In order to do this you'll need a strong creative vision and the ability to communicate your ideas to a variety of people throughout the production process. This will include your production team, crew, actors and those responsible for financing the film.
As a film director, you'll need to:
Read scripts
Work with writers and provide feedback on the further development of scripts
Select actors - sometimes working with casting directors and producers during this selection process
Monitor rehearsals
Direct actors during the filming
Select locations for filming
Draw a shooting day schedule
Hold meetings with key departments such as camera, art department and costume during the planning stages and throughout the filming
Agree the budget and schedule of the film with the producer
Be responsible for staying on budget and schedule
Supervise all creative aspects of the production
Work with the editor to present the final version of the film
Select music for the final film and/or work with a composer to decide on the musical score
Build and develop a network of contacts including writers, producers, film festivals and public funding bodies
Maintain contemporary technical skills



Skills
You will need to have:
Creative ability
Initiative and problem-solving skills
Strong communication skills
Diplomacy and sensitivity
Motivational and leadership skills
The ability to work under pressure
Strong time-management skills
Attention to detail.

What a director should be doing daily
Watching films daily
Screenplay daily
Shooting a short film daily
Seeing errors in films and correct daily
 Read and write script daily
Act Daily (mostly in front of a mirror)
Rehearse daily
Read books
Learn to be patience
Develop yourself daily


PRE-PRODUCTION AND POST PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
A director saddle the responsibility to work in the pre-production and post production process of film making.
Pre-production: This is the time before the day of location commence and your responsibility as a director
Read script and edit
Meet with the crew members
Do the casting if possible
Attend the rehearsal
Pray with the production team
Post-production: This is the period of time immediately after the location. This means your responsibility does not stop after the location.
Work with the editor
Determine the transition to be use
See that you decide the exportation format
Help in market survey
Watch the film over again before  rendering
Pray for the film

CHARACTERS OF A DIRECTOR
He/she must be born again
He/she must be friendly
He/she must be smart
He/she must be a good time manager
He/she must take to correction and stand to be corrected
He/she must  be prayerful
He/she must be rich in the word of God
He/she must learn to be watching film
He/she must be a good scriptwriter
He/she must be holy
He/she must be sensitive
He/she must not be in haste
He/she must attend all rehearsals and production
He/she must attend to details
He/she must learn to correct cast in love

LIFE STYLE OF A DIRECTOR
The life style of a good director must be the one that is born again, since you are becoming a gospel drama director, you must be born again and have the lifestyle of God in you. It is a bad thing for a gospel director to engage in secular directing, though the work is the same but light is different from darkness. You are not been trained for the secular, you are trained to propagate the word of God to the world.
You have a good relationship God
You must be spirit filled
You must be a role model
You must have a good study life
You must have a good prayer altar