January 27th, 2012
There are those who wish to be caught on camera and win accolades for the same and then there are those who wish for nothing more than to be behind the scene barking orders and getting a film made with their direction. While acting is an intricate art in itself, it is less technical than that of the other aspects of making a movie such as directing and producing.
These positions require special training and education that can either be achieved through bookish knowledge or through practical knowledge. Some of the best directors over the ages have not come out of film school but rather have learnt their trade by being assistants of great directors themselves and watching what they do and why they do things in a particular manner. This is the best method to learn the art. However, for those who are really interested in mastering the art of making movies, take the example of Alfred Hitchcock who had a distinct style of directing. While directors did not bother with anything that did not require their direct involvement, Hitchcock used to envision what each scene would look like and work with each department actively so that the dream of a particular scene was realized.
This is what allowed him to truly transform the images in his mind into reality on screen. In fact, his first movie was a flop from which he summarized that to get what he wanted he needed to know how to do almost everything associated with making a movie and went about for a few years learning how to produce, direct, different camera angles, the special effects, make up and much more.