Example Career: Directors - Stage, Motion Pictures, Television and Radio

Career Description

Interpret script, conduct rehearsals, and direct activities of cast and technical crew for stage, motion pictures, television, or radio programs.

What Job Titles Directors - Stage, Motion Pictures, Television and Radio Might Have

• Artistic Director
• Director
• Newscast Director
• Television Director (TV Director)

What Directors - Stage, Motion Pictures, Television and Radio Do

• Supervise and coordinate the work of camera, lighting, design, and sound crew members.
• Plan details such as framing, composition, camera movement, sound, and actor movement for each shot or scene.
• Direct live broadcasts, films and recordings, or non-broadcast programming for public entertainment or education.
• Confer with technical directors, managers, crew members, and writers to discuss details of production, such as photography, script, music, sets, and costumes.
• Compile cue words and phrases and cue announcers, cast members, and technicians during performances.
• Establish pace of programs and sequences of scenes according to time requirements and cast and set accessibility.
• Identify and approve equipment and elements required for productions, such as scenery, lights, props, costumes, choreography, and music.
• Consult with writers, producers, or actors about script changes or "workshop" scripts, through rehearsal with writers and actors to create final drafts.
• Select plays or scripts for production and determine how material should be interpreted and performed.
• Study and research scripts to determine how they should be directed.
• Communicate to actors the approach, characterization, and movement needed for each scene in such a way that rehearsals and takes are minimized.
• Collaborate with producers to hire crew members, such as art directors, cinematographers, and costumer designers.
• Collaborate with film and sound editors during the post-production process as films are edited and soundtracks are added.
• Create graphics for television broadcasts.
• Choose settings and locations for films and determine how scenes will be shot in these settings.
• Cut and edit film or tape to integrate component parts into desired sequences.
• Interpret stage-set diagrams to determine stage layouts and supervise placement of equipment and scenery.
• Confer with stage managers to arrange schedules for rehearsals, costume fittings, and sound or light development.
• Hold auditions for parts or negotiate contracts with actors determined suitable for specific roles, working in conjunction with producers.
• Compile scripts, program notes, and other material related to productions.
• Review film daily to check on work in progress and to plan for future filming.

What Directors - Stage, Motion Pictures, Television and Radio Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

What Directors - Stage, Motion Pictures, Television and Radio Should Be Interested In

• Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
• Artistic - Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

What Directors - Stage, Motion Pictures, Television and Radio Need to Learn

• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.