Posts Tagged ‘directing’
Drama.
Practices for our annual church drama start tonight.
Last year, I had the pleasure of directing “And Then There Was One.” While it was nice to work with the actors to develop their performances, I’m looking forward to spending my time acting this year.
Historically, I have been interested in directing. But, having been on the set of an independent film, and having directed some local dramas, I have decided that it requires more administration than I prefer. I’m convinced that I actually prefer to either write or act. I think it’s an issue of ownership – and possibly autonomy. As the writer, you own the content; as the actor, you own the performance. As a director, you are managing other people’s content, and managing other people’s performances. You have control over the final product – to an extent.
The director’s role is vital, and I know that it becomes more so when working in film. Having read numerous interviews with screenwriters, it is interesting to see how much a script gets pushed, pulled and trampled before it ever hits the screen. A seasoned director will often make script changes on the fly while shooting the movie.
Being in a business where my final product is frequently trampled, I have grown to accept that I can’t let that get to me too much. Things are changed for a variety of reasons, and hey, I always have a copy of the original that I may still think is best. If I were a professional screenwriter, I like to believe that I could be open to input and change, and know that sometimes things are changed for a good reason – or at least a good enough one.
After this performance, I’ll start working on a script contender for next year’s drama. Looking forward to that also.
