How to Immediately Identify a Great Director

In this video essay you'll finally learn how to recognize a great director no matter how well he thinks he is hiding himself behind his discreet invisible style.
Find out here how, through Strong Frames and movement, the great directors Roman Polanski, William Wyler, Federico Fellini, Clint Eastwood and Vincente Minnelli stage a shot in a way that tells you all you need to know in an instant and fills up their movies with endless life.
Other great directors not put in the spotlight but also featured here are Kenneth Branagh, Francis Ford Coppola, Satyajit Ray, Peter Greenaway, David Lean, George Stevens, Martin Scorsese and Rouben Mamoulian (the best director you've never heard of).
Remember those Divergent movies? You'll see here how poorly directed one of them is, as well as other pictures.
00:00 Identifying one of the greats
00:43 Strong Frame
01:13 D'Après une Histoire Vraie / Based on a True Story
02:54 The Paper Chase (bad directing)
05:25 Geometrical Space Application
06:44 Jezebel
07:17 8 ½
07:43 Unforgiven
08:51 Giving LIFE to the Movie
09:14 Movement
10:19 Vincente Minnelli
10:47 Evita (bad directing)
11:48 Allegiant (godawful directing)
For those curious, here's a list of the paintings at 09:02, in order:
-Vercingetorix Throws Down his Arms at the Feet of Julius Caesar (Lionel Royer, 1899)
-The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (Paul Delaroche, 1833)
-Luncheon of the Boating Party (Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881)
-A Gondola (Julius Exner, 1859)
-Marriage a-la-Mode: 2. The Tête à Tête (William Hogarth, 1743)
-The Battle of Jena (Horace Vernet, 1836)
Copyright free photos from Unsplash
Copyright free music from Bensound
"Scheming Weasel", "Investigations" and "Circus Waltz - Silent Film Light" by Kevin MacLeod
Copyright of all photos belongs to their respective owners; no copyright infringement intended.

[@AB-yz7bo]

I can't identify a great director, but I can identify a great film critic. Your videos are excellent. I'm working my way through them.

[@yellowflash7696]

What a chump. 😂😂😂😂 these KZbin critics are the biggest idiots who know nothing about films.

[@seansweetman]

"If its smart and looks bad then its not smart." I will remember this forever as a working producer lol

[@artistsingerwriterproducer8288]

But I think not every Film now hade the same character! It exist to much Horror etc!!!

[@artistsingerwriterproducer8288]

See my lovely work to enjoy time after or between working time

[@johnnzboy]

"Think like Roman Polanski..." Hilarious (;

[@Scarlett_Azure]

😂

[@Dayvit78]

Naughty!

[@rottensquid]

For god's sake, don't think like Roman Polanski! D:

[@rooneytutoring]

That song from Gigi was well selected.

[@rc_awesome]

I think that some of your first points may be more up to the cinematographer than the director depending on how hands-on said director is with the camera. Some directing styles are more focused on working with the actors and leaving the framing work to cinematographers, which doesn’t always work out, but when you have a great cinematographer who understands the movie as well, the sense of the director’s absence is lessened.

[@IamLaniya]

Directors are responsible for directing the actual shot, angles and movements.

[@danikdude1]

Your point about the director leaving the framing composition to the DP (director of photography, aka cinematographer) is well taken - however as you pointed out, it doesn't always work out. This ultimately makes it the director's responsibility to create they shot they want. If they were satisfied with the shot the DP came up with, then it's effectively their shot. They wouldn't be able to say, "well it wasn't me, it was the DP". Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

[@IamLaniya]

I can dig it. 🙂@@danikdude1

[@BlackWinterProduction]

I think the visual aspect is just as important as acting for the director. The best directors tend to be very good at cinematography/composition (Kubrick, Polanski, Scorsese...), or even be artists like David Lynch.

[@NessyBoy64]

@@BlackWinterProductionJohn Ford, Akira Kurosawa, Steven Spielberg

[@Juggler4071]

That last scene - it's actually a nice touch by the actress to look back when she says that she can't leave as if to give the director an out - to at least imply that she was doing something. She was fighting a losing battle, though.

[@Palmieres]

This channel is one lucky day away from glory. May the algorithm get a little drunk and a little happy, and become willing to promote stuff other than the usual crap that feeds its masters insurmountable amounts of monies. Vamos lá!

[@punkyllama420]

You're hilarious. This was really good 😅❤

[@ClownWorldExplained]

Brilliant. 3rd one of your videos I've binged in a row and I've learned more about what makes films great tonight than I have in years of watching other KZbin video essays. Loved your top ten movies of all time because a) it was original - so sick of seeing the same movies in top tens as it's obvious people feel they have to put certain movies there to be taken seriously by the pretentious crowd. and b) you actually explained in an entertaining and educational way WHY you thought the movies were great c) you weren't afraid to include epics d) your editing style demonstrates that you understand how to edit well rather than just understanding theories of how to edit well. Helped me to trust you taste more than some one dimensional intellectual (not that you're not intellectual, just that you're clearly a multi-dimensional intellectual) New fan. Keep up the great work.

[@Juggler4071]

I found Every Frame A Painting a pretty good channel as well. Particularly his director videos - Fincher, Kurasawa and especially Edgar Wright.

[@trevorstanton]

I've watched a bunch of your videos already, though you I am new to you. But this one, this is particularly effective, aggressive, and noteworthy. You really not only have something meaningful to say, but you're doing it with sass, charisma, and balls. Which makes you all of a sudden stand out as a youtuber worth following. Thank you for bothering to put these videos together. I know it isn't easy and isn't quick. Good job, and good on you for balancing a coherent message with an engaging display.

[@nerd_in_norway]

Terrific video as always! In defense of James Bridges though, he was a writer first and director second, but he at least managed to hit bullseye one time as an instructor, with the effective thriller The China Syndrome.

[@Moviewise]

You are right. That shot was just in my mind at the time and served as a good counter-example. I didn’t mean to be unfair to Bridges, who’s indeed a fine screenwriter. The China Syndrome is terrific, one of Jack Lemmon’s best roles, and that’s saying a lot.

[@anthonymann5240]

Though this shot was actually quite good - it compartmentised the fractious relationship within the group and the meek position of Jonathan. It was creative and ended well with an outsider entering the room.

[@marcdraco2189]

@@Moviewise I think I'll have to run my stuff by you before I send it to the festivals so long as you don't expose me as a complete SBF (Sam Brokeman-Fraud) the failed cryptokid.

[@notmytruthTHEtruth]

​@@MoviewiseRoman Polanski is a pedophile. Pretty gross to call him a master of anything. He raped a child.

[@foe9034]

Great video. As always! Love the composition analysis, showing how the leg, the crouches and the door fit in the same frame. I love your content and would love to see you do an analysis of a good chasing scene. Cheers!

[@bensonmowrey2367]

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to reconstruct the scene from The Paper Chase. That was a fun mental exercise.

[@naughtfilms]

I'm crying! The morse code at the end!!! Genius x

[@KudoYoung]

Great criticism with good narration and pacing. The variety of comparisons yield a much better perspective. Sound effects and clips are subtle but edited and included well. Light humor is always appreciated and helps keep you interested.

[@abi03bose]

I love how youtube shows these random videos i end up watching, learning (and enjoying and subscribing!!)

[@StarChildInABubble]

This is the second video of you where I was blown away by your incredible insight. Subscribed!!

[@xii226a]

Oh hi! Just dropping by to leave a couple of well earned rofl tear medals! Also you are like the only person on YT who actually explains blocking nicely (just watched a few of ur videos, gold!) Thanks friend!

[@bingbong_luver]

1:37 When u said this my mind was blown, you perfectly captured that subconscious feeling/interpretation I had when I read the scene. I instantly thought, shes probably the mom or something, very important, talking to the daughter, the main character.

[@knurdyob]

I was enjoying the video until you started dunking on the paper film, only to then make a horrible suggestion as an alternative way to shoot the scene. The shot through the window just needed to be more worked on, but conceptually I thought it was great, not only did it isolate the characters from each other in a claustrophobic environment (which seems to be appropriate given that one of them starts arguing with the other, although I don't know the context as I haven't seen the film) it also serves as a great way to seamlessly transition into introducing the character who enters the room at the end. Your idea was so bland by comparison. They just needed to rearrange the characters in the shot and the camera's position so the characters are better presented, but again, conceptually it's far better than what was suggested in this video.

[@anthonydillon157]

I just love your videos. As a budding film director I am learning so much from you.

[@Basibasi11]

Me at the end of the video: ohhh it's already over?? 😢

[@deathbyvideo1620]

Dude that was a great video! I laughed out loud like 6 times. Keep up the great work!

[@stathisath]

Man, you are so good at this!

[@louberkman5995]

Good vid. You gotta love CATS for being a cheap punchline. I laughed every time.

[@mercurious6699]

very much enjoyed, thank you - great points made

[@ngonzale3]

Completely agree. I recently watched a cut alternate ending to John Mctiernan’s Die Hard 3. The deleted scene was more expertly directed than so many other films.

[@antonarap]

Mate, youre the best on KZbin.

[@lefantomer]

The "threatening black doorway" morphes into the Swift twit bouncing up and down in a cat suit in the abomination of a movie by the same name. Oh, thank you!!

[@swapblue]

the morse code bit was genius. Thank you for yuor videos. They are art!

[@Malfunction_54]

I won't pretend to know film, but this analysis is hilarious and eye opening.

[@RaysDad]

In this video a fabulously framed scene from Tarkovsky's The Mirror that illustrates all the properties of a good shot was given less than one second of screen time.

[@morenofranco9235]

Bloody marvelous presentations form you. Thank you so much, for the excellent humor whilst dealing with some of the worst examples of modern film making.

[@CannonfireVideo]

I'm glad someone is trying to talk about DIRECTING, as opposed to story, dialogue or acting. You probably weren't around in the '70s, so you probably missed the fact that the director of "Paper Chase" (a somewhat overrated film) was emulating Robert Altman (an incredibly overrated director) -- at least in that one shot. The camera is distant, filming through a very long lens, as if the director were a wildlife photographer afraid to get too close to the big cats. A number of actors are given equal "weight" in the frame, with no visual cues telling us who is the most important person. The framing is intentionally inexpressive. In an Altman shot, the camera is always at eyeline level -- no high angles or low angles. The camera never moves, though it may pan and zoom to keep someone in the frame. The director is simply recording an event, as opposed to creating an emotion through a visually interesting composition. These kinds of shots were very much in vogue throughout the 70s; Altman had many imitators. The whole point of this approach was to give the acting ensemble room to improvise and do quirky, unexpected things. Sometimes this approach worked. Most of the time, I hated these shots. They seemed lazy, ugly, lacking in artistry. I always felt that the job of the director was to DIRECT. An Altman shot looks more like surveillance footage.

[@rafaelc.c.]

I think you mostly talk about the cinematography. Of course, the director usually has big imput on the cinematography, not only the cinematographer and his team, but the director's job is much more than that. It is how everything blends together, how all aspects cooperate to achieve a feelilng. It's like the director of an orchestra who plays with the musicians. There comes the style and the energy of the film as well. I agree the Daniels did a good job, but Field and Spielberg and others who were not nominated like Chazelle, Cameron and Chan-wook were way ahead. Analysing directing is the hardest possible task in film anaylisis. Even though the directos overviews all aspects, you can have great directing with a decent script or with decent performances.

[@michaelfrank2664]

Way off with the scene from the Paper Chase. In that scene, there is no most important character. It's all about how they are working together as a study group. The student who is having the most difficulty in the class is the one walking in the door. If anything, he is the most important person in that scene and shortly after has a breakdown. You have to know the story as a whole to make any judgement of that scene. The movie is great, so how can there be a problem with the directing.

[@KreatedbyKrause]

Yeah, there's little strong framing happening in American movies, not since the early 1990s. You're giving voice to all of my movie pet peeves. Bravo!

[@user-td3sr7bd3x]

this was by far one of the best videos ive seen

[@philociraptor6751]

Thanks for these insights ! The last scene analysis killed me. ^^ So relevant and funny at once.

[@petrisalo6915]

Thanks for the great video and sharing your perspective.

[@BlackWinterProduction]

Thank you for the video, enjoyed it immensely and just watched twice in a row!

[@callmebigpapa]

Great video thanks for posting.This makes me want to shoot a short film for the festival we have locally.

[@nicotinefilms3514]

I had exactly the same experience with Based On A True Story. 20 minutes past I couldn't stop pausing the movie and check who directed it.

[@yunakine9468]

>googles "The Paper Chase" >checks cinematographer >Gordon Willis, multi-oscar winner, did cinematography on The Godfather, Klute, Manhattan, etc. etc. Yeah...

[@michaelfrank2664]

I'm not alone. Godfather 1, Godfather 2, and Klute, the guy knew his stuff. For the scene from the Paper Chase, you need to see more than that little clip. I think the perspective he is trying to give is of the person entering. No person who actually watched the whole movie would say there was a problem with cinematography.

[@SS-ec2tu]

I did not realize why I was bored or not interested in a movie, until you showed us why. I often blamed the actors, but found out it was the director.

[@KernelHughes]

Actually, bad writing is to blame for most film problems

[@AudieHolland]

Eating/talking scenes are always difficult. As a young kid, I noticed how in a eating scene, people would hardly touch their food or drinks. A man who had just been given his coffee, just kept stirring it, never putting the cup to his mouth. Eating while talking is a continuity nightmare if you think about it.

[@arctos49]

I couldn't agree more about William Wyler who also directed "The Best Years of Our LIves" which none other than the great director Billy Wilder said was a perfect film. I try and watch it at least twice a year. One thing that I really appreciate about it is the authenticity of the production design. Some scenes look like a picture postcard back to 1940s Middle America. Wyler even had his actors, men and women, dress in real clothing of the time. A superb film by the man who also directed "The Big Country" and "Ben Hur".

[@lukejansen3540]

love the comedic style

[@steffengerlach8395]

Brilliant. Another great video essay. May I make a suggestion though? Eventually you could consider to mar the film excerpts while playing like inserting a small line in the left down corner saying "Movie title / Year / Director" or something like on one hand giving the credits and on the other to let us identify films we do not know yet. I mean, most of the scenes I know from watching great movies... but still don't know every movie yet... That'll be very very helpful and highly appreciated. Thank you. Cheers

[@jiacooper]

This was awesome really opened my eyes.... more... more

[@emmagrove6491]

Five minutes into the film A Civil Action, I turned to my friend and whispered, "This is going to be a good movie." I could just tell from the strong, good decisions the director was making. Conversely, five minutes into Battlefield Earth I jumped out of my theater seat and walked into where Gladiator was playing instead. Crisis averted.

[@dennismason3740]

Vicente Minelli, not Vincent. I cleaned Liza's home for a year in the eighties. Once Gregory Peck called and I answered the phone. "Liza's place,", I said. He spoke. There is no mistaking that voice. He asked me to leave a message on the message pad and he left his number. Gregory frikken Peck.

[@mgummelt]

This was both accurate and hilarious, thanks!

[@cyberpunkchloe9]

Very well said👏

[@enzorocha2977]

Good for you to instantly spot a great director based on a table conversation scene, but for me, it's going to take more than basic cinematography, blocking, etc. to win that title. It will certainly intrigue me to find out more about the vision of the one who helmed it, but I wouldn't cement him right away as "great" because of it. A director also has to direct actors, among their other duties, and doing a good job is not so easily discerned. Invariably, you'll have to wait for the DVD commentary track or a journalist's article and some such to glimpse a filmmaker's thought processes and insights. For example, if it wasn't reported, how would you know the staircase scene in Kubrick's "The Shining" took more than a hundred takes? What does that have to do with identifying a great director, you ask? Well, it's not that repeated takes is the magic formula that ensures greatness; my point is, a great memorable scene isn't a happy accident (though that can happen) but rather an intentional one. There's nuance in directing, for the most part, and I'm just skeptical that one viewing of one scene will immediately nail down the stature of its director (or maybe I'm not as gifted as others). Again, for example, Kubrick wanted a certain performance from his actors and did not stop until he got it. To some, that would be insane, especially in today's production environment, but that's just integrity imo. That's one step towards being a great director _and_ knowing such as well. My 2¢.

[@bsharp3281]

I'm enjoying your work!

[@AxelRezinovsky]

the ending of this video is amazing

[@GreatGooglieWooglie]

Could this be the best channel on KZbin?

[@jlovebirch]

That's horror legend Barbara Steele at 7:27. Would like to see an analysis of Rosemary's Baby, with emphasis on the tight editing -- and a study of the incredible camera work in Jonathan (1970).

[@Smarthalayla]

13:09 From where is the orchestral music taken?

[@THEGHOSTLAB2406]

Great video ❤

[@user-gy9oj2no6r]

The dings are so much louder than the dialogue it makes me jump every time lol but love the video!

[@lucianocarnaghi3723]

What u dont realize is that not everything is movement, and center framing, and the best lighting, etc etc. Sometimes you need the oposite to tell the story. Sometime it look better sometimes it looks worst. The most dificult part is being loyal to the story and at the same time making it look interesting. But not by the classical easy ways that u describe but through what the story needs. Sometimes u need to get confused or even bored

[@saraa2495]

awesome!

[@boschulte]

Omg, so many hilarious moments… the analysis seemed really well done. 13:25…. Dying

[@isaiahgalarza3112]

You are f*cking hilarious man!! I’m marathoning everything you’ve made.

[@TheNiteinjail]

The thing that always strikes me about a good director is pacing.. a joke that lands but lands two seconds too early is fine... But good directors seem to get the maximum out of every extended moment.. you never feel like it's dragging, but every scene breathes enough.

[@LotzBotz]

BEST! CHANNEL! EVER!❤❤❤

[@lordyadi]

i love your videos....outstanding and funny!!

[@alharbi4572]

I haven't seen The Paper Chase‏ it yet, but when I saw this scene, I knew that the cinematographer of this film was Gordon Black Willis.

[@Boonehams]

What film is shown at 5:54? I know I've seen it before, but can't place it.

[@Moviewise]

The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover (Peter Greenaway, 1989). One of the greatest ever!

[@PeterPeter-]

Bravo!!

[@giulionatali3968]

Glockenspiel notes + white arrow = goodbye headphones users

[@marcdraco2189]

Oh that Polanski burn was just... "chef's kiss" my boy!

[@BenRangel]

I don’t quite understand the criticism of Paper Chase and ”we don’t know what time it is” - it’s obviously evening, right? Isn’t there a dark window on the left? No less clear about the time than the First Example which you loved

[@SAN-mi3ms]

well explained

[@miketrotman9720]

Polanski's teacher was Andrzej Wajda, a world master.

[@nerychristian]

I agree with you about he importance of having a good director. But I think it's just as important to have a good cinematographer who can carry out the director's vision.

[@elevenseven-yq4vu]

That is why Kubrick kept working with Ballhaus.

[@nerychristian]

@@elevenseven-yq4vu Greig Fraser is my favorite modern cinematographer.

[@elevenseven-yq4vu]

@@nerychristian What's a go-to film of his if you like character driven and/or small ensemble movies?

[@nerychristian]

@@elevenseven-yq4vu Lion was pretty good. So was Foxcatcher

[@nerychristian]

@@elevenseven-yq4vu Florian Hoffmeister is another talented cinematographer. His most recent movie is TAR.

[@martiniinitram]

Make this channel famous

[@ashzinho]

Terrific video

[@chejonte]

Epic ending.

[@thechairmen2015]

I think when a movie is made it's very close to director's heart. Your critiques are engaging but i think you need to take empathy into your account while disscussing em. Anyway all the best, gd video.

[@Selrisitai]

I feel like your criticism of the Paper Chase shot was arbitrary. If you had said, "We're CLEVERLY behind the door so that when he leaves, we can immediately follow the next guy in," or, "This shot, in retrospect, tells us that something important will happen outside or that will lead outside," or whatever. I think the shot is great, and I would say that if nothing else, it shows a director trying to be creative, rather than giving us tight back-and-forth mugshots for 90 minutes. I'm not looking at that shot going, "Huh? Who? Where is, why is everyone behind this door? Wha-?" I don't think anyone is. I think that if you're going to explain how something is "shit," then it needs to be something that actually makes people feel like shit (or at least bored), but I wasn't bored with this shot, I enjoyed it. So what if you were to come at it from the perspective of, "Why this composition is shit, and why it's enjoyable anyway."

[@davidwallace9416]

I thought he explained why it was shit: the mullion taking up 1/4(!) of the screen, the lighting being on an unimportant character...His suggested improved camera position made sense. So yes, the shot was shit, I didn't like it, and it could have been easily improved. So, not arbitrary then.

[@kurtisrobertson2151]

You are the man!

[@dbk78]

How much of this is the input of the DP?

[@ScottRossProductions]

i can't remember if it was john ford, but he or another fine director once said, "if the audience is paying attention to the direction, the director isn't doing his job..."

[@TeacherDanPotato]

Hello, my friend. First and foremost, congratulations on your great content. I'm a cinema lover, but my knowledge is far from being as vast as yours. I would love to interview you on my future podcast. Thank you for the awesome content!

[@danielguy3581]

This was quite enjoyable. I am now condemned to binge through the rest of the channel. One comment, though: much of this stuff can be rather attributed to the cinematographer (DP). While ultimate responsibility does lie with the director, the example shown could've simply been due to a mediocre director who had enough sense to listen to the person they hired. (at least, that's what I've gathered as a non-expert)

[@elevenseven-yq4vu]

Very good and important remark!

[@MoviesTalks-ht7vk]

Great video man, i am a beginner and had a doubt with the last shot. I thought she was in deep thought about some cult offer the guy discussed with her earlier. Wasn't she be thinking about that. Just a thought.

[@taha258]

I've just made a great discovery. This channel.

[@Scimarad]

Watching these videos I'm starting to come the conclusion that I'm obviously asleep or oblivious while watching movies! 🤣 The odd thing is that in that Detergent clip (sorry can't remember which one of the franchise it was) I think I have a tendency to do what I always do; Consruct a scenario out of basically nothing. Like, hey, she basically just a had a meeting with someone in that room (who took all their stuff with them) and she's standing there just thinking "Oh no, that was boring. What am I going to do now/What am I going to have for dinner?" and then the bloke turns up to take her away from all this excitement. Honestly, I have no idea what that movie is about...

[@dr_volberg]

subscribed!

[@dannymcconnell9009]

Hey good video man. Good points too. And really good examples. I dont always think that information giving and economy of time are the best ways to view framing or directing. I see so many technichaly extremely well composed shots and whole films that arre just emotionless pointless unfeeling garbage. I think really great directing is really about having a vision and communicating it to a crew. Even if things are not done perfectly, the most important thing to me is the feeling of harmony between the creative people working together and between the image and the feeling of the film. Its a sort of resonant truth inside the film that rings through composition and performance and score and set design and everything. Even in films where some of the technichal work is a bit ropey and it breaks many of the rules, if it has this sort of vision it will work no matter what. I think of filmmakers like werner herzog, agnes varda, john waters or david cronenberg. Anywaymy apologies, just sharing my thoughts and procrastinating from getting on with work. I enjoyed this video and obviously it really made me think and want to share. So thanks man. Good work.

[@psy_crone99]

Full video on Morse Fingers plz.

[@elevenseven-yq4vu]

Here is another comparison of directions given by staging a scene well versus directions given mainly by editing shots: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHeqqWyOqZV4e80si=rfYvpZ1JjSQWYZtG

[@MediaBuster]

What? You are comparing a standard two-shot to a wide shot of 5 people? That's a bad comparison. Also a still frame can be taken out of context when you deal with motion pictures.

[@abloshow91]

Power dynamics between characters cleaely shown through size and acting. One sloyched almost eating the other as a dragon would eat a daintu princess. lighting background foreground. Blocking. Creating a seperation between light and dark between the far right croner amd the light source.

[@IsaacNormanProductionz]

Do you think these same principles apply to animation directors?

[@cristianmatyus6682]

Yeah, this was when I realised I'll never be a good film director.

[@atenschun6254]

May I direct your attention to Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal and please compel you to compare it with the Netflix prequel?

[@Pdrock2001]

I cant judge his life actions . Its not my job to do that byt certainly cannot shy away in accepting that he is a master director .