As the director, it is my vision that is shaping the movie. It is my passion that is guiding and inspiring all of the other artists. I am the storyteller and I am telling this story through the medium of film, which means I must collaborate. I must rely on the skills and artistry of others in order to achieve my goal. So I surround myself with very talented people that share a common understanding of the art of film. I communicate my vision to the actors, writers, producers, designers, cinematographers, editors and composers. My job is to not only guide, but to inspire each of these artists to do his or her best work on the film.
I make films in order to make an emotional connection with my audience through a story. It’s my emotional connection to the characters and the story, that is my guide for every choice I make. I know the audience doesn’t care about the camera angle, lens size, framing or depth of field. They are only there for the emotional ride. And they will respond to everything I put up there on that screen. My job is to stimulate that response as best as I can. I spend a lot of my time on the set with my eye glued to the viewfinder. Watching the action through the lense gives me an intimate connection to the movie and helps guide my artistic visual style.
At the core of every film is a story and it is the characters in the story that captivate us, hold us and take us on a journey. This fact makes the actors the most important element in my film. Every director will have their own style, and I use my unique approach to deal with the complex challenge of working with actors. If I ask my actors to simply express a particular emotion in a scene, then I am only asking them to focus only on the result of the action, not on the action itself. That is why I cast great actors that fit the roles – and give them a safe place to be stimulated creatively. Then I don’t need to direct my actors on the set, I only need to direct the characters in the story.
