In October of 2015, the article “So You Want My Job: Film Director” interviewed the film director John Dowdle over what it takes to become a film director. In the article, Dowdle argues that if a person wants to be a film director, it is best not to master in anything else-- “The people who seem to stick with it are the ones who have no other marketable skills.” (Dowdle, ln 13). John Dowdle is a film director, who is known for the horror film Quarantine and the action film No Escape, which starred Owen Wilson. Despite claiming that the majority of directors have little to no other marketable skills, Dowdle admitted that he originally wanted to be a writer, but that changed after he went to the University of Iowa, and took a film class.
At a very young age of eight, David Fincher’s passion for cinema grew when he was inspired by the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Born in 1962 Denver, Colorado, David Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon in his teens, where he graduated from Ashland High School. During high school, he directed plays, designed sets, and managed lighting after school. One summer, he and a friend attended the Berkley Film Institute’s summer program, where he hoped to learn film as a true art form but instead was taught the technical production. Either way he was happy to engage is this and as his early film industry career started, he was a production assistant at his local television news station. Years went by as he directed propaganda films followed by becoming a well-known music director until his first movie feature debut Aliens 3 in 1992. However, the American director David Fincher didn’t become a modern 21st century visionary until his creation of the film Se7en (1995). The huge success from this film started Fincher’s popularity in the film industry. From there he continued to make ironic movies we know today such as: Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), Gone Girl, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
For more than fifty years, Clint Eastwood has been actively defining and redefining cinema as an art form. His experiences as an actor on television and in film have greatly influenced his directing style. Across his films, Eastwood incorporates several issues and techniques that help the audience to identify said films with Eastwood's directorial style. Eastwood's aim in his films is to tell stories of the human experience. Francois Truffaut and Andrew Sarris have aimed to define the qualities that make a director an auteur whose works stand out above the rest. The qualities defined by Truffaut and Sarris can be seen in Eastwood films including Unforgiven (1992), Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Changeling (2008) and help to establish Eastwood as an auteur.
Due to the lack of budget, many directors made films that were more personal and self-reflective. One example would
Being a writer and director are challenging positions. A writer and director must be in-tune with their audience in order to capture
Some may say he is intelligent, while others may say he is courageous. Big words are just insufficient to describe this actor/director/screen-writer/producer. This two-time Oscar winner and nominee of numerous awards, has proven that Hollywood is not just a money making workshop, but it offers well profound characters that deserve the attention of connoisseurs. More importantly,
Before becoming one of the most iconic figures in silent film, D.W. Griffith failed as an actor and writer. If it wasn’t for a friend, Griffith wouldn’t have even worked at Biograph. In fact, Griffith had no training in film prior to Biograph. That is what makes his legacy so fascinating. Griffith was ambitious to act and write, but found his true identity in directing. Without any prior knowledge of directing, Griffith rose to fame, creating over 450 films, revolutionized film with his use of parallel editing, and was responsible for defining the Classical Hollywood Style of film.
As one who has been devalued and ridiculed my entire life for not doing what my peers deem as acceptable, I suppose I am consistently drawn to those who "march to the beat of a different drum." I admire John's outlook on film and the way he explores stories in unique and unusual ways. Moreover, the fact that he recognizes the value of being nice to everyone in the business and gleaning wisdom from the older generation causes John to rise even higher in my estimation. For him, filmmaking is a passion in which he tells a story in such a way that it causes the viewers to think in an unconventional way. And in a society where conformity is king and cookie cutter ideas are often lauded, his viewpoint is a breath of fresh air. While I have not had the opportunity to view any of his works to date, this is one time when reputation and what others say about a person carries a great deal of weight with me. I say that if Tammy thinks he's a fantastic filmmaker, a stellar person, and a true professional, that's enough of a recommendation for me. Furthermore, his responses are authentic, humble, and certainly pragmatic. He has no grandiose views of his self-worth, and he comprehends the value of community and being a team player. Therefore, I ask that all my readers consider visiting the links below and even perchance following him on social media. Without indie filmmakers like John, our movies choices would be quite limited in the cinema, and even if his films are not necessarily your cup of tea, there is no denying that he is one of those trailblazers who is continuing to find new ways of telling stories in the world of entertainment. And for that, he has my eternal gratitude, and I hope that I will have the opportunity to view one of his works very
The Australian film industry is currently in a point of crisis due to the lack of audiences attending Australian films, hence creating a decline in the revenue received towards our national industry. However, this is not due to the lack of creative talent, it is rather the many underlying issues that don?t allow the Australian public with the awareness and accessibility of these films. These problems are within the distribution, marketing and funding of these Australian films, allowing the national Australian community to not seek for films made by people within their nation due to negative pre-conceived notions and the convenience of going to see a Hollywood Blockbuster. These issues are seen through the poor release of both critically received films, Jennifer Kent?s The Babadook (2014) and Hugh Sullivan?s The Infinite Man (2014), both not gaining a wide audience. Through these issues within the industry, Australian filmmakers have not been able to create the revenue needed for these films to branch out to be easily attained by the public.
As one of the most widely acclaimed and influential directors of the postwar era, Stanley Kubrick enjoyed a reputation and a standing unique among the filmmakers of his day. He had a brilliant career with relatively few films. An outsider, he worked beyond the confines of Hollywood, which he disliked, maintaining complete control of his projects and making movies according to his own ideas and time constraints. To him, filmmaking was a form of art and unlike Hollywood, not a business.
Alfred Hitchcock is arguably the greatest director of all time. Many of his films are considered standards of American cinema and inspired many of today’s directors. Even though Hitchcock is known as timeless director, he had an understanding of philosophy that was beyond his time. Hitchcock had a brilliant perception as to how the mind works and human reaction. Hitchcock’s understanding of philosophy can be seen in his film Vertigo and illustrates how many theories can be debilitating in everyday life.
My entire life I have been fascinated with film and commercials. As a kid, I would stop what I was doing to watch a commercial. This has not changed through the years. My goal in life is to work in the film industry and work with video. This may have developed from my brother’s short term love for the video arts. Like most little brothers I followed in his footsteps through a lot of things and most of them would not stick. As I grew older I developed my own different ideals and likes. But, video just stuck with me. Even if film production doesn’t work out I have always had a childlike excitement for fighting fires. Being the person to save the day is something that everybody wants to do, but not everyone peruses this dangerous career.
on August 26, 2015. No Escape is about an American family, the Dwyers, who move to an unspecified Southeast Asian country because the father, Jack Dwyer, gets a job there. Shortly after their arrival, they find themselves amidst an insurgency and struggle to survive. The film largely focuses on how this rebellion impacts the Dwyers rather than Southeast Asians, whom this insurgency affects more. Dowdle’s most popular films have been horror films (IMDB). In No Escape, he successfully terrifies the audience throughout the film in a way similar to horror movies. Director John Erick Dowdle works with his brother Drew Dowdle, who is the producer of the film (“Drew & John Erick Dowdle: NO ESCAPE”). In 2007, John visited Thailand shortly after it experienced a peaceful insurgency; during his trip there, he began to wonder what would happen if he was stuck in a foreign country in a more violent insurrection, which inspired his idea for No Escape (“Drew & John Erick Dowdle: NO
The intention of this essay is to discuss the romantic notion of a film director who has etched their own cinematic vision into the body of their film work, and whether the theory and practice is dead and an infringement of the spectator’s imagination and is it the spectator who finds meaning in the film. I will be closely looking at critical material, primarily André Bazin and Roland Barthes and applying them to several case study films directed by Christopher Nolan including The Following (1998), The Prestige (2006) and Inception (2010), to examine whether Nolan possesses the qualities of an auteur and if so, does that imply an ideological view of what the auteur resembles or an artistic one.
The film I picked for my critique is Red Tails, a historical World War II drama. The movie starred Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard and Gerald Mcraney, was written by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder, better known as the creator of the comic strip “the boondocks”, from a book by John B. Holway, directed by Anthony Hemingway and produced by George Lucas . In this paper the author will show how all elements of filmmaking
There is no straightforward answer when one asks the question of: “What exactly makes a great director?”. The truth is that it can be an array of different factors, from the director having a distinctive or original way of shooting scene, to him or her having a well-written script. But what separates a great director from an iconic one, is how their films inspires not only the current, but also the new generation of filmmakers. The well-known Quentin Tarantino is one of those iconic directors. Born Quentin Jerome Tarantino on 27 March, 1963, he is arguably one of the most famous/influential modern directors of our generation to such an extent, that his name alone can sell a movie. Just as recognisable as his name, is his directing. Renowned