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10 Renowned Directors Offer Their Advice on Filmmaking

Justin Minich

11.14.12 @ 9:08PM Tags : advice, director, filmmaker, filmmaking

As artists, we know that to some extent all our creative ventures are based on what has come before. Although, much like the biological evolution, the utilization of creativity recombines and mutates what has been established, ultimately resulting in work that is uniquely yours. The same can be said about the wisdom of veteran filmmakers. It’s helpful to have a framework on how to approach the filmmaking process based on years of collective experience to build on and incorporate into your own approach to filmmaking. Here I’ve put together a list of videos from 10 well-known directors to help you do just that:

I want to start off with an interview with Fritz Lang, director  of Metropolis; a film from one of my favorite eras of cinema history: German Expressionism.

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Kevin Smith on storytelling and walking the fine line between being reasonable and unreasonable (contains some NSFW language).

David Lynch addresses multiple aspects of filmmaking (even that bane of every sound person’s existence: airplanes).

Sidney Lumet briefly talks about working in film and why he prefers working with prime lenses .

Martin Scorsese talks about his experience in film school, his influences, and 21st century filmmaking.

George Lucas gives a speech at the Academy of Achievement on how following his various passions led him to becoming filmmaker.

I think it’s also important to include this clip featuring a younger (and in some ways wiser) George Lucas discussing visual effects and storytelling.

Steven Spielberg also gave a speech at the Academy of Achievement, where he talked about how he got into film, considering the audience in the filmmaking process, and listening to intuition.

It seemed appropriate after a clip of Spielberg to have this video of Terry Gilliam comparing the resolutions of Spielberg’s films and the mysterious endings of Kubrick’s (and by extension his own) films.

Michel Gondry discusses his philosophy on in-camera versus digital effects.

Ridley Scott gives his advice to first time directors, and talks about his approach to editing (Contains some NSFW language).

What do you think of the advice from these directors? What advice from other directors has been especially helpful to you as a filmmaker?

Links:

• Filmmaker IQ: A Rare Interview with Fritz Lang by William Friedkin
• Filmmaker IQ: Great Advice for Filmmakers from Legendary Directors
• BoingBoing: Terry Gilliam: the difference between Kubrick (great filmmaker) and Spielberg (less so)
• Film School Rejects: 6 Filmmaking Tips from George Lucas
• YouTube: Searchlab Lecture Series

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3. Terry Gilliam on the Importance and Power of Storyboarding