I've really been getting into this idea of finding out what exactly a director does on set. As I've mentioned numerous times before, I'm still kicking myself for not paying enough attention to the director's I worked with, save for when they yelled out to the crew "Alright, that's a wrap people. Break for lunch". So now I'm punishing myself by navigating the ever obnoxious system of google to see what crops up.
Type in "what is a director" and unfortunately what you'll come up with in the first 3 hits are a bizarre E-How list whose first point is to go to film school (pretty sure half the directors I know have never even stepped foot in one, let alone attended one. Save for the Brat Pack); a how to become a director from business week; and a wikipedia article about the definition of Film Director.
Always trusting Wikipedia's judgment, I browsed through the article and actually found a number of helpful topics but none which couldn't have been made up by just any random person. Scrolling to the bottom however, I hit jackpot. A link to one of the largest databases of interviews on directing from the world's most famous directors.
In relation to what a director does or how a director works on set, I came across three really useful quotes:
From Alfred Hitchock - "Well, I never look through the camera, you know. The cameraman knows me well enough to know what I want--and when in doubt, draw a rectangle and then draw the shot out for him. You see, the point is that you are, first of all, in a two-dimensional medium. Mustn't forget that. You have a rectangle to fill. Fill it. Compose it. I don't have to look through a camera for that. First of all, the cameraman knows very well that when I compose I object to air, space around figures or above their heads, because I think that's redundant. It's like a newspaperman taking a still and trimming it down to its essentials. They have standing instructions from me--they never give any air around the figures. If I want air, I'll say so."
From an interview with Lars Von Trier - "LvT: Yes, I've always placed a great importance on one being able to see on a film that I've made that it's been made by me.
SB: So what for you is unique about your signature? What is it that enables one to see a film is made by you?
LvT: Perhaps it sounds pretentious, but in one way or another I hope that you can see that every image contains an idea. It certainly sounds presumptuous - and perhaps it's also untruthful. But as I see it, every image and every cut is thought out. They are not there by chance."
And finally, from Jean Luc Godard - "I'm always doing what is not done. What I never do is what everyone else is doing. I always begin with ideas and that doesn't help with the audience. But I always prefer a good audience. I'd rather feed 100 percent of 10 people. Hollywood would rather feed 1 percent of 1 million people. Commercially speaking, my way is not better."
Taking all of this into account, I think I have to start thinking less about what it is A director does on set or for a film and more about what I can do as a director - what strengths and weaknesses I know I have, what I am capable of doing, what ideas I am comfortable to unleash upon my crew for this film. I'm only 20 but I am still finding myself which makes this challenge all the more harder but hopefully, with a little practice, I will come out on top from this.
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