What does a director do?

As part of unit 2, I was given the opportunity to direct an animation, with a team for the first time. It was incredibly daunting as I have never directed anyone but myself, so having a team to direct was something that I had no clue how to do.

What ended up happening was a period of time that was very stressful, but inevitably has made me believe that I am more capable than I thought. As I learn more about animation I want to explore the idea of what makes a good director. I was initially attracted to animation as a subject because it’s fun, it’s magic, and I want to learn how to tell stories in a visually beautiful way.

As research into this topic I’ve listened to the podcast ‘Directors cut – Animated Vision”, “what is a director?” episode, hosted by Animation Directors Dave Osborne and Stuart Evans. These are the points that I’ve gathered from what it is to be a director:

• A director needs creative vision, to have a strong sense of how the animation should look, feel, and be able to keep it cohesive, even with multiple different talents working on it at the same time.
• A director needs to be good at communication. To be able to steer a team and inspire them. If you can’t communicate, how can any changes get made?
• The most effective teams are not necessarily the biggest. Sometimes on a smaller project, members can have a bigger sense of ownership and want to put in the extra time.
• In order to be an effective director, it’s good to be familiar with the whole production pipeline. By having a background in working in as many different roles as possible, a director can have a better understanding of what’s achievable, and how best to get that.
• That being said, a director is not limited to the medium that they originally trained in. The beauty of being a director is that they can create a team of animators who are highly skilled in a medium that they aren’t able to do (such a 2D trained director making a CGI film). The animation principles are the same.

From what I have gathered, the important skills to becoming a director is flexibility, communication, and a strong sense of self. I’d really like to move forward improving my animation skills, as well as in story writing, and communication.