The profession of a director belongs to the category of creative ones, and its essence lies in guiding the creative process of creating a work - a film, a play, a circus performance, a variety show, etc.
A representative of this profession is responsible only for the creative side of creating a work. This differs a director from a producer who raises money for a project, solves financial, technical, and organizational issues. However, there are masters who combine both roles and avoid possible conflicts of interest (commerce and creativity).
Film editor
The profession of an editing (or film editing) director hides an ordinary editor, who brings together the pieces of shooting into one work (film, TV show, commercial, clip). Of course, this is not an ordinary technician who presses buttons on a computer, but a specialist who works side by side with the director, who knows all the subtleties and nuances of the future picture and, in addition, is able to perform all the technical functions.
The main task of the editing director is to do at the exit what the main director expects.
Before the advent of cinema, the profession of a director belonged to the theatrical sphere. At all times there were people who staged plays, performances and various shows. These could be playwrights, actors or someone else, but they were the progenitors of future directors.
The popularity of the theater, more complex productions around the second half of the 19th century gave birth to the profession of a director. The place of her birth can be considered the Meiningen Theater, which was directed by Ludwig Kroneck.
In cinema, directors appeared almost immediately after its appearance: in the documentary genre - the Lumiere brothers themselves, the inventors of cinema, in the fiction genre - Georges Méliès, in the animation genre - Emile Reynaud.
Over time, this activity became more diverse, not only film and theater directors appeared, but also circus directors, organizers of major public events, etc.
The list and scope of specific tasks and responsibilities of the director can vary greatly depending on the direction and specifics of the activity. For example, a movie director does the following things:
writes or selects a script;
determines the general artistic style of the picture;
selects and directs actors;
supervises the work of decorators, costume designers, screenwriters, cameramen, editors, assistants and other specialists;
supervises the installation procedure (sometimes participates in it).
For comparison, we will describe some of the functions of a television director who creates programs and broadcasts:
creates scripts;
accepts ready-made plots and programs;
participates in the editing of TV programs and advertising video materials;
works live.
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