Your script is ready to go and you’re ready for

The Next Steps

Although working methods vary from one director to another, there are standard techniques that all directors employ during preproduction, production and post-production. Let’s explore those techniques together as we apply them to your project, beginning with…

Step 1: STORY ANALYSIS

You cannot direct an effective film without a deep and authoritative understanding of the writer’s intentions. Even if you are the author yourself, a careful and detailed analysis of the theme, genre and setting of your story will ensure that the specific directorial choices you make will support your story rather than work against it. Once you are confident that you understand your script inside and out, we will proceed to the various stages of preparing your film.

Step 2: Visual Concept 

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of shot lists and storyboards, it’s a good idea to test the appropriateness of your intended visual style. This service includes guidance in the strategic choices that will best support the story. 

Step 3: Shot Lists, Floor Plans, Storyboards

This service will guide you through the creation of the three basic elements of any director’s prep work: the shot list, floor plans and storyboards. This service is highly recommended for novice directors and first time professionals. Nothing will impress your production team more than arriving to your first meeting with a clearly organized shot list, storyboards and floor plans.

Step 4: Character and Subtext Analysis

We love our favorite movie characters as if we know them. But the truth is, they’re not real people. They are designs and their purpose is to reveal themselves to you. As a director, your job is to make strategic choices that will best achieve that. This begins with an analysis of the subtext – the thoughts and feelings of your characters that are not being verbalized. A deep understanding of your story’s subtext will unlock your actor’s best performance and ensure that your visual choices are specific and purposeful.  

Step 5: Visual Style

As filmmakers, we are visual artists. None of us want to simply record our stories. We want to show people that we know what we’re doing visually. But when we think about how we want our films to look, the world of choices can often seem overwhelming. So let me help you identify those elements that are common to all visual images: Space, Line, Shape, Tone, Color, Rhythm and Movement, and explore how you can make choices that will result in a style that is specific to your film and demonstrates that you are a visual storyteller.

Step6: Production Design

Production design is the creation and organization of the physical world surrounding a film story. But it’s more than merely creating a pretty picture. Whether we are working with a production designer or designing the picture ourselves, it is essential for a director to have an understanding of how choices we make about the sets, costumes and props can serve to reveal deeper layers to the characters and story.  

Step 7: Director’s Production Book

No professional director steps onto the set without a complete and thorough production notebook. It is both how a director organizes their own thoughts and shares those thoughts with members of the team. As a first time director, an organized production book will go a long way toward alleviating your producer’s apprehension about working with a first timer. A director’s production book includes, but is not limited to:

•  Lined script

• Storyboards

• Overhead diagrams/floor plans/blue print

• Shot List (shot size, lens, angle, height, movement)

• Character Descriptions (backstory/bios/relationships)

• Text/sub-text analysis & Dramatic Beat Breakdown (scene objectives, conflict, dramatic beats/subtext)

• Director’s Notes (strategies for composition, lens plan, color palette, etc.)

• Production Design Plan (including photos and mood board)

If you are directing a low-budget film, you might also be your own producer and assistant director, in which case your book also includes:

• Production Schedule (day-by-day)

• Shooting Schedule (shot-by-shot)

• Locations List

• Script Breakdown – Props, Talent, Wardrobe

• Crew and Talent Contact List (including actor headshots)

• Equipment List

• Vendor List

• Budget (pre-production, production and post-production)

• Legal Contracts (Release Forms, permits, location agreements)

• Call Sheet for the 1st Day of the Shoot

It’s a lot to prepare. So let’s work on it together. Having someone to guide you through the process can make all the difference, especially for those who may not be organized people by nature, as many artists are not.

directing service fees

For a small extra fee, I also offer directing service “add ons,” additional services that will help you work in sync with your actors, editors and sound designers.