Film Director as a profession has started gaining ground in the non-film industries families at a reasonably fast pace. A career which was limited to few families of Indian film industry for the last 100 years has broken open the shackles and become popular among younger generation with no filmy background.
India can boast of one of the biggest entertainment industry-comprising Cinema and TV-in the world. With its self-claimed Headquarter at Mumbai which is also known as Mayanagri or Bollywood in Indian parlance. Although not as famous not far behind, we are having a similar film industry in south India too.
Filmmaking that includes feature films, documentaries, newsreels, Promotional films, TV commercials, Music Videos etc. is one of its major aspects. All these creative works involve a lot of skilled professionals in its making like Producer, Director, Actor, Screen Play Writer, Dialogue writer, Dance Director, Photographer and a whole lot of technical and non-technical professionals. All these play their role in creating a piece of art like Feature film that helps to get name, fame and money for this bunch of talented professionals.
Although all the professionals have their own important role to make a film but the most important of all these is the Director of the film. A director leads the film unit from the front. He has the responsibility to sail the project of the filmmaking successfully which may even take years to complete. He is responsible not only to manage the material sources but also the Human resources so as to get optimum out of them.
Although Actor/Actresses take whole credit of the success of a film, in the real sense it is the Director who is responsible for the success just as a Coach of a soccer team is held responsible for the success or defeat, although it is the player that always remain in the limelight.
Thus to direct anything leave a feature film alone is not a mean task. One has to be hard working, work alcoholic and passionate about his work. He should have a high sense of imagination and foresightedness. The profession of a Director is full of pressures not only from his producer but also from his subordinates and actors. As they work on his beliefs and do whatever he tells them. Thus he should be a responsible professional that is able to work in the pressure cooker like situations.
To achieve all these qualities along with sharpening his creative skill he/she has to undergo some short-term courses and has to attain a lot of experience before plunging into this profession.
Film Director Eligibility
Educational Qualification
Though no specific Educational qualification is required to be a Director yet basic qualification of 10+2 is considered as good to have professional courses in this field.
Age Limits
There is no age bar to become a Film Director.
Film Director Required Skills
- The foremost required skill to become a Film Director is an exceptional artistic vision and creative skills. Creativity is a necessity for the directors as they have to tell stories through films. All the aspects of the film like the mood, timing and pacing and visual style require strong creative vision and imagination.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills are the other basic skills that a Director must have. As he has to deal with a plethora of people like Actor, Editor, Camera Operator, Sound Engineer, Light Man and Producer. A director must be able to convey his message to all the associated people in the film production in a clear and lucid manner. It will help completion of the movie in the fixed time and at an economical budget.
- Capacity to work for long and odd hours is the other skill required from a Director. As he may have to work for long hours during arduous conditions he must have the ability to work hard.
- Filmmaking is a very complex matter it can only be done in a successful manner if the director of the movie has a deep passion for filmmaking. This passion will help him overcome any difficulty he may confront during the process of filmmaking. Director has to manage a big team to complete a movie thus he should be a strong and confident leader. As only a strong and confident leader can get the work done from his time in an efficient manner.
How to become a Film Director
To be a Director one has to follow the given steps:
Step 1
After passing plus two and acquiring basic knowledge of various aspects of filmmaking by informal ways one may go for various certificate and diploma courses like Diploma in Film Direction offered by Dance, Drama and Film schools throughout the country. These schools provide some course in Film Directing.
However, some reputed institutes with limited seats may take an aptitude test before granting admission to their institutions.
Some of the Courses in Film Direction are:
- Certificate Course in Film Direction.
- Advanced Diploma in Film Direction.
- BA (Direction)
- Post Graduate Diploma in Film Direction
Step 2
After completion of his/her graduation in the relevant field, one can start his/her career by joining some big film house or start as an assistant director to some senior director in the project to get some on the job experience. After getting some on job exposure one can take up his own assignment of directing a movie in an effective and successful manner.
Film Director Job Description and Career Prospects
Film director's job description includes managing material and human resources effectively to complete the project in hand in time and commercially viable manner.
Film Director Salary
Film Director should be ready to work even without any monetary gains if he is being offered to assist by a good director in the industry by taking into consideration that experience is more important to him then the money he will get at the starting stage of his career.
However, Film Director salary varies between Rs.5 Crore to Rs.10 Crore depending upon the film house and the project he joins. After getting some exposure and working with some established directors there is no counting of money one can earn in this professions. All this depends upon his creative skill and amount of success he gets commercially with his work.
