DIRECTING IS THE ART OF BEING YOURSELF

The great thing about being a filmmaker is that it is an expression of self.  I know, you are thinking what does he mean by that? what is he getting  At? It is like a dream. no two people dream the same way. the problem with most films these days is that we spend too much time trying to copy the work of others. sure, Quentin Tarantino gets away with it. in fact, becomes famous for doing so. does not excuse the fact that is always best to be oneself.

 you have spent most of your life watching films and if you are reading this a good part of that life wanted to become a filmmaker. the first time that you pick up a camera you will try to imitate one of your Heroes. This is no different than in sports. with all imagined myself to be that ball player, we grew up watching. we swing the bed shoot or kick the ball in the way that they did it. it is only through months and years of practice that we finally find our way of doing it. this will be the same when you make your first truly original film.

 I am here today to talk about two of my heroes. they are ranked as two of the greatest filmmakers of all time. not just directors for filmmakers. you say there are people who go beyond the act of Simply directing a film and they become creators. that the film in the act of creating the film becomes one and the same. you just don’t go to the movies to see a movie you go to see a movie directed and sort of created by that particular filmmaker. The modern-day filmmakers who fall into this category are Quintin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan,  and a few filmmakers from Korea and Japan.

 the two filmmakers I wish to talk about today are John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock. 

First and foremost  Alfred Hitchcock is considered the greatest director/filmmaker Of all time.  I know that some of you would debate this. we are not here to debate who’s the best. We are here to study filmmakers.

 the second filmmaker is John  Ford.  John Ford is known for making sweeping westerns. Some of the most iconic westerns ever filmed.  but if you were to examine his career you would notice that he did a great many films and other genres.  films such as How Green Is My Valley, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Quiet Man, These films are some of the greatest movies ever made but despite this, he is not listed among the greatest directors of all time by many modern film credits and fans are film in general. this is an oversight that I hope that you as a reader and possibly a future view of his films will correct. there is a Mount Olympus of filmmakers or perhaps a dozen filmmakers live in Tower over all those who come before and I will come after them. John Ford is one of the Gods of filmmaking sits on top of that mountain. perhaps Alfred Hitchcock is Zeus sitting on the Throne of these filmmakers but if there’s a God of the West as if there was a god of the sea  then that God would be John Ford. Take a day to watch his John Wayne collection of films see, these films are amazing beginning with Stagecoach and ending with the Searchers you will see a director collaborate with a star in a way that few directors in the history of film ever found the perfect Muse the convey their dreams to the world.  and if westerns are not you’re saying you can spend some time watching films like The Grapes of Wrath, especially in a time when people talk about recessions and depressions this film it’s perhaps the most poignant of them all. the book is one of the greatest books ever written in the film is one of the greatest films ever filmed. I personally have seen The Grapes of Wrath half a dozen times and each time I said I discover something new.

 it would be easy for me to spend paragraph upon paragraph telling you about how he shoots the scene and how he frames a shot but I will allow the videos to tell you that instead.  videos that will illustrate the fact that these directors took almost opposite approaches to how they would tell their stories but in the end, they arrived at the same destination.

 What is the destination?

  Clarity.

In the case of Alfred Hitchcock whether a film was a short as psycho or as hypnotic is vertigo Hitchcock was the ultimate visual storyteller. even if you had the manipulate every single frame of footage he put in front of you he told his story his way. Hitchcock was the master I’m showing you the things he wanted you to say when he wanted you to see them and how he wanted you to see them. He took you by the hand and led you down a path to the predetermined destination in there was only one way to get there even though when you look back it could have taken a thousand different directions if he had chosen to.

 Ford on the other hand-painted on a grand tapestry. he is famous for sweeping Vistas. his gift as a storyteller is the willingness to allow you as the audience the pick and choose the things that you would focus on.    while Alfred Hitchcock is a dictator John Ford is a guide. 

 here are clips from some of the most famous films. once you are aware of what they are doing you can never unsee the things that you say in their styles of filmmaking. 

Next the Searchers:

Hitchcock and Rear Window:

The Birds,(Perhaps his best Scene):