How to Immediately Identify a Great Director

[@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

[@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

[@johnnzboy]

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

[@6EndlessNameless9]

😂

[@Dayvit78]

Naughty!

[@rottensquid]

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

[@rooneytutoring]

That song from Gigi was well selected.

[@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 😅❤

[@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.

[@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.

[@louberkman5995]

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

[@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.

[@rome8180]

I would like to watch Based on a True Story. It's been out seven years and I didn't even know it existed. Unfortunately, you can't find it anywhere in the US. I know you said it was mediocre, but Polanski is one of my favorite directors. The most recent movie I've seen of his is The Ghost Writer, which I loved.

[@bensonmowrey2367]

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

[@OMG-KMB]

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!

[@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

[@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.

[@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!

[@lukejansen3540]

love the comedic style

[@swapblue]

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

[@antonarap]

Mate, youre the best on KZbin.

[@AxelRezinovsky]

the ending of this video is amazing

[@3djimmy]

The amount of just straight forward truth in this video is jaw dropping. So glad I found you BEFORE I started storyboarding my screenplay. Looking forward to binge watching everything on this channel.

[@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.

[@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.

[@user-td3sr7bd3x]

this was by far one of the best videos ive seen

[@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!!

[@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¢.

[@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.

[@DavidMcMillan888]

Funny thing, many years ago I realised that I know if a film is at least “good” from the first scene. Woody Allen - movies Annie Hall and onwards. Even if a movie of his didn’t amount to anything much, I still had the comfort of knowing everything I was about to see was intentional and planned by someone who knows film. Crap movies are jumbled and very dependent on competing interests like time, budgets, rewrites and poor actors badly cast. You can tell it’s as though made by a committee that phoned their work in. Kubrick, of course, is another and I’d bet you could come up with a list of reliable, talented and thoughtful DPs, production designers, scorers, editors, writers and directors who could be booked for a job and whatever they produced would be watchable.

[@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.

[@abi03bose]

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

[@stathisath]

Man, you are so good at this!

[@anthonydillon157]

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

[@mercurious6699]

very much enjoyed, thank you - great points made

[@cyberpunkchloe9]

Very well said👏

[@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

[@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".

[@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.

[@Basibasi11]

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

[@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.

[@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).

[@user-gy9oj2no6r]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@gregsaunders7042]

Funny, entertaining, perceptive. Keep em coming.

[@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.

[@Malfunction_54]

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

[@deathbyvideo1620]

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

[@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.

[@jcon654]

Ha ha brilliant! New subscriber. Incredible information thank you 🎉

[@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!

[@philociraptor6751]

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

[@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.

[@boschulte]

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

[@marcdraco2189]

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

[@callmebigpapa]

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

[@StarChildInABubble]

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

[@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

[@miketrotman9720]

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

[@BlackWinterProduction]

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

[@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.

[@dulindorka]

4:54 you just earned my like

[@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.

[@taha258]

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

[@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.

[@GreatGooglieWooglie]

Could this be the best channel on KZbin?

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@petrisalo6915]

Thanks for the great video and sharing your perspective.

[@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.

[@IsaacNormanProductionz]

Do you think these same principles apply to animation directors?

[@THEGHOSTLAB2406]

Great video ❤

[@isaiahgalarza3112]

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

[@Smarthalayla]

13:09 From where is the orchestral music taken?

[@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.

[@jiacooper]

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

[@psy_crone99]

Full video on Morse Fingers plz.

[@giulionatali3968]

Glockenspiel notes + white arrow = goodbye headphones users

[@adamethancrow]

Just found the channel - it's fuckn brilliant 😂😂😂😂😂

[@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!

[@ramjam-zv7mi]

Lolita is made by kubrick but i see your point

[@saraa2495]

awesome!

[@biffstrong1079]

Yes don't think exactly like Roman Polanski. Think about directing like Roman Polanski. 😊😊

[@elevenseven-yq4vu]

🧠👍

[@mgummelt]

This was both accurate and hilarious, thanks!

[@abeerkhan123]

I love paper chase.

[@ashzinho]

Terrific video

[@Jessesfilmjourney]

“If it’s smart and looks bad then it’s not smart” is pretty bad advice tbh look at festen great film also most gritty films like tangerine, bad lieutenant, dead man’s shoes , Julien donkey boy. quality in cinematography doesn’t matter so much

[@PeterPeter-]

Bravo!!

[@martiniinitram]

Make this channel famous

[@thegirlwithmemes]

But wouldn't most of these techniques be relying on the dp?

[@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!

[@lordyadi]

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

[@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.

[@samuelprocter7606]

I never thought I'd see a video use baby Shark that is not only not cringe, but actually made me laugh

[@bsharp3281]

I'm enjoying your work!

[@dbk78]

How much of this is the input of the DP?