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The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London.

A film director directs the artistic and dramatic aspects of a film. The role typically includes:

In practice the director will delegate many of these responsibilities to other members of his film crew. For example, the director may describe the mood she or he wants from a scene, then leave it to other members of the film crew to find a suitable location, or to set up the appropriate lighting.

The degree of control that a director exerts over a film varies greatly. Many directors are essentially subordinate to the studio. This was especially true during the "Golden Era" of Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1950s, when studios had stables of directors, actors and writers under contract.

Other directors bring a particular artistic vision to the pictures they make (see auteur theory). Their methods range from some who like to outline a general plot line and let the actors improvise dialogue (such as Robert Altman and Christopher Guest), to those who control every aspect, and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely (such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick). Some directors also write their own scripts (such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino), while others collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners (such as Billy Wilder and his writing partner I.A.L. Diamond.) Finally, certain directors star, often in leading roles, in their films, from Orson Welles to Woody Allen to Mel Brooks.

Directors often work closely with film producerA film producer is a type of producer who oversees the making of movies. In the early 20th century, the producer tended to wield ultimate creative control on a film project. However, with the collapse of Hollywood's studio system in the 1950s, control begs, who are usually responsible for the non-artistic elements of the film, such as financing, contract negotiation and marketing. Directors will often take on some of the responsibilities of the producer for their films (e.g. Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE (born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a Jewish American film director whose films range from science fiction to historical drama to horror. He is noted for the patriotism of his work and, in recent years, for his wi), or work so closely with the producer that the distinction in their roles becomes blurred (as is the case with Joel and Ethan CoenJoel and Ethan Coen commonly called The Coen Brothers in the film business, are United States directors best known for their quirky comedies like Fargo and Raising Arizona the brothers write their own scripts and alternate top billing for the screenplay.). The early silent film director Alice Guy Blaché not only produced her own pictures but actually created her own highly successful studio purple monkey

The official American film directors' trade union is the Directors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America (DGA) is the union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry. As of 2003, the union rolls had about 12,700 members. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936 (DGA). In DGA pictures the creditThere are several variations of the meaning of the word credit but they all relate to the central concepts of approval, praise, value, or confidence. In finance As a financial term, used in such terms as credit card, it refers to the granting of a loan an for the director will always be the last credit in the film's title sequenceA title sequence in a television program, is shown at the beginning which displays the show name and credits, usually including actors, producers and directors. A montage of selected images and/or a theme song are often included to suggest the essential t.



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