Has the role of Director changed?

[Randy E. Huckabone]

There was a time when everyone looked at the Director as the ‘Captain of the Ship’, the Leader to lead all. The Director had the answers, knew the colors, storyline, everything! Everything began and ended at the Director. The crew depended on the Director to keep things in check. That Directors film looked like that Directors film! Has the world changed, evolved to the point where the true name ‘Director’ has taken on a new and different shape?

It seems a shape not so ‘Authoritative’ but one who joins with everyone in a ‘Team Effort’ to accomplish the goal of making a movie. It seems now what is heard most of the time is the word ‘Collaboration’. I’m not referring to working together on a movie, everyone doing their jobs, but working together creatively, melding ideas, design, story, character, even the thread of the visuals that define a project. What was once the choice of a Director is now open for suggestion, everyone pooling their resources and then rolling the dice hoping for success. Holding to that very famous saying “Success breeds parents, failure is an orphan.”

Remember Sam Peckinpah, Alfred Hitchcock or even Ridley Scott? I know the names are familiar, but do we really remember them? Do we really remember who they were and what they stood for? These fine Directors, among many others, had a style all their own. You know a Hitchcock film when you see one. You would rue the day should you try and either stand in their way or change their minds concerning a visual style or presentation. Like it or not, these Directors knew their stuff and every one of them has left their intelligible mark on the world. Ridley Scott continues to burn his legend into films even today.

Has the role of the Director changed? I don’t know, just food for thought.

I’m Randy E. Huckabone and I’m a Director.