Writer and Director and Disaster
Do you think it’s bad for the movie, if the story, the screenplay and directing is being done by the same person?
– Karri Tahvanainen
via IMDb
Not if that one person is extremely talented. Some of my favorite movies come from writer-directors, who carried the project from conception to completion.
But there are certainly writers who shouldn’t direct, and directors who would be better off leaving the words to someone else. For instance…
No, actually, I won’t name names. But it’s not hard to think of a few examples.
It may be helpful to compare the attributes of a writer to the life of a director.
WRITER: works alone, sets own schedule, implements notes
DIRECTOR: works with crew, follows production schedule, gives notes
The job of a writer and the job of a director are fundamentally different, which is why so few people are great at both.
But I think there are situations where the writer is justified in choosing to direct his own material, even if he is a misanthropic slow-poke who has trouble communicating with others. Some stories have such a unique vision and voice, they can really only be told by one person.
For example, Kevin Smith often gets ragged on for his directing, and I think even he’d admit that his films don’t always look that great. His camera work isn’t inspired. His staging can be awkward. But the fact is, a “more talented” director couldn’t make a Kevin Smith movie. His films rely on a certain attitude and personality that only he can provide. Terrence Malick’s CLERKS just wouldn’t be the same.
Articles
January 24th, 2006 at 9:56 am
How long will it be before someone edits together footage from Clerks and Badlands to make a mock-trailer for Terrence Malick’s CLERKS? I’m putting my money on JAnuary 31st. Any takers?
January 24th, 2006 at 10:12 am
I want to see Michael Bay’s CLERKS produced by Jerry Bruckheimer! Just kidding, of course.
January 24th, 2006 at 11:17 am
I don’t know, long lingering shots of chocolate bars on shelves would make for an interesting three hour movie. “An unflinching vision of convenience from auteur, Terrence Malick.”
January 24th, 2006 at 11:36 am
I would pay to see the Terence Malick Clerks (or a good parody)
January 24th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Kevin Smith wanted Robert Rodriguez to direct “Dogma”. Rodriguez decline because he thought Smith was the better director for the material, whereas I think another director might have known what to leave in and what to take out. Because I think “Dogma” is Smith’s best script, just very poorly executed. Otherwise I agree with Smith when he calls himself a hack director.
January 24th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
“But there are certainly writers who shouldn’t direct, and directors who would be better off leaving the words to someone else.”
Can I go so far as to suggest there are some directors who should not be directing?
January 24th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
I adore Kevin Smith but I have to agree that his movies would completely suck expletive if he wasn’t such a expletive genius. (Thought I should put that in Smithesque terms.)
January 25th, 2006 at 12:00 am
How about David Fincher’s Annie Hall?
January 25th, 2006 at 4:46 am
kevin smith rags on kevin smith for his directing. on clerks he gave line readings and on the commentary track on jsbsb, he makes jokes about him actually moving the camera. and then gave the credit for it to the dp.
but jersey girl certainly showed an improvement.
January 25th, 2006 at 11:53 am
As a writer turned writer/director I made the switch initially to protect my work. But then found that the social aspect of it was quite fun and a refreshing change from sitting alone in a room. That said, after a few weeks of it and being asked 75,000 questions (usually all at once), the solitude of my office starts looking pretty good to me. The ideal is to keep going back and forth.