The Roles of a Television Director

Photo by: Janel Parrish

The main duties of television director include acting as vision switchers, audio operators and graphic operators in the control room. Actually, there are two categories of a television director: in-studio shoots’ director and on-location shoots’ director. The latter can be probably regarded as a film director because the location of the shooting is outside the studio. However, the overall responsibilities of them both are quite similar. For the two types, the expertise in handling all equipment is very important. An experienced director must possess excellent communication skills because he must distribute different tasks to all crew members in as short a period as possible. Another person that a director needs to communicate frequently is a producer from the beginning of the creative process. In addition, decision-making skill is also necessary since any unexpected occurrences can impede the process in case the director is indecisive. Time constraint is also a factor that makes a director necessarily have effective decision-making skill. Some programs allow only a short period for a director to prepare the whole work, so a director must take action in every step as swiftly as possible. Last but not least, leadership is indispensable. Directing a TV production needs commitment from all parties. If all members are given clear instructions and led to do their jobs effectively, the final outcome will turn very satisfactory under proper leadership of a director. A TV program with positive feedbacks clearly reflects the potential of the director and the teamwork of all.

Photo by: Wikipedia.org

Written by Ingrid Iamkhorpung

Reference:

Billings, D. (n.d.). Television Production Roles and Responsibilities. SYN. Retrieved from http://syn.org.au/sites/default/files/SYN%20Guide%20to%20TV%20Roles%20and%20Responsibilities_0.pdf

Photos:

http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2013/03/janel-parrish-pretty-little-li

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Portal:Television

Dispensable skills to manage unexpected situations

In the media world today, the career of TV director is one of the main drivers. Ranging from TV shows and series to commercials, the process of controlling all steps before a program can be launched is under the TV director. Accordingly, necessary skills are what a good TV director must possess to make all steps as smooth as possible.

Most importantly, creativity and imagination are needed. The styles in each TV program must be unique to attract the audience and make them continue to be the long-term fans. The rating of popularity can indicate this. Newly created ideas are thus under the main duty of TV director. Game shows are widely seen on TV nowadays, but only those with outstanding contents can maintain the highest popularity in the long run.

Good communication skill is also a must. The crew from a variety of backgrounds in the same team can lead to communication breakdown, and this can be an obstacle in the production of TV program. Therefore, the TV director must make a good communicator too. Clarity and good organization in verbal language is key to effectively conveying the message to the team.

Planning skill is what cannot be overlooked. Details in programs can cause confusion if there is a lack of planning. One minor mistake can lead to a major damage to the whole picture. Thus, a TV director must create a clear outline to prioritize the steps. To prevent any possible failure, a backup plan is also necessary. Some situations may not go as planned, so preparation for another plan is needed.

Calmness under pressure indicates how good a TV director is. Time constraint is normal in the media industry, so a TV director must control things to go as planned and to finish timely. Pressure is thus unavoidable. If this is out of control, the production is certainly ruined. A good director must know how to calm down himself and continue his duties properly for the best outcome (National Careers Service, 2012).

A popular program reflects how well the TV direction is organized. No matter how time passes, these skills are still indispensable to make a high-quality TV production.

Written by Ingrid Iamkhorpung

Reference:

National Careers Service. (2012). TV or film director Job Information. Retrieved June 11, 2015, from https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/tvorfilmdirector.aspx

Image taken from:

http://www.slashfilm.com/justin-lin-fast-and-furious/

How to make your film or TV program become successful?

This is the first post in my blog about how to become a professional television or film director. Definitely, to attain the goal, a person should learn and understand very well how to perform each duty in this field. Also, of course, he or she is expected to study various film and TV genres because they serve as guidelines, which help direct the way the director’s story would go. Another thing is that he or she must be able to make the film or TV programs for reach a specific target audience. Importantly, the director should notice which genre best suits his or her style to make a movie or TV program popular. To achieve the ability to do so, the director should explore every genre with full consideration first before he or she makes a decision (Grove, 2012).

A professional director needs to plan all steps first to make the production go smooth. For example, to make a documentary film about a group of people, the first thing is to contact the person or organization directly involving the story. After gaining permission, a list of questions must be arranged to receive the needed information. Next getting as much information as possible about the target group of people and the place where they live. While getting all information, other devices such as a recorder are needed to gain the necessary details. After this step, the gained data should be arranged while the memory is still fresh. All of these steps can make a documentary easy to understand and interesting to view (Fuller, n.d.).

Reference:

Fuller, F. (n.d.). Making Documentaries: A Step By Step Guide. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/making-documentaries.html

Grove, E. (2012, August 24). 10 Things Filmmakers Should Know About Screenwriting. Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.raindance.org/10-things-filmmakers-should-know-about-screenwriting/