25 Days of SFF: Day 14 - Top 5 Directors

 Recently I’ve done several poll on the SFF Facebook group to determine the Top 5 of lots of different things. For the 24 days leading up to the 25th Anniversary (and the day itself, of course) I will be posting a new Top 5 list each day, using the highly scientific and unbiased results from those FB polls. I’ll try to make these posts short but I’m pretty long winded and like to talk so…they’re probably all going to be pretty long. Enjoy? 

 Top 5 Directors

Directors are critical to any production.  Good directors are critical to a productions success.  

Great directors can elevate a production into a work of art.  Not like weird modern art though, I just me a really good movie that immerses you into the world it creates and tells one hell of a story.  Personally I'm not into art flicks and that's obvious since my directing is nowhere near that level.  The vast majority of the productions I have directed myself, whether I wanted to or not. Luckily I didn't always have to do it myself because other people volunteered - or in some cases I volunteered them - to try their hand at directing and overall they did a better job then me! YAY!

#5 - It's a three way tie between

Russell Martin, 

James McKinley, & Morgan Thomas

The only reason I'm giving Russell the 5th spot is because I don't think he ever actually wanted to director.  I somehow got it into my head that he did but looking back on it I don't ever remember him volunteering.  I just shoved the camera in his face and said, "go shoot".  He filmed several scenes for both The Gift Bearer and Eidolon, and he did a great job, especially considering he didn't really want to do it.  I shouldn't have forced it on him.  Sorry Russell!

James directed at least one scene in Eidolon and he might have directed a couple more, I don't honestly remember.  I needed to film as many scenes as possible in one day so I had a second unit so I could do double shooting.  Who directed which scenes rotated and he was given the scene in Episode 1 where Zelda is attacked by a ghost while trying to get Maria's attention.  It's a tricky scene to film but James did a great job with it. 

I don't know if Morgan every fully directed a scene herself, but I do know that she provided a lot of insight, ideas, and suggestions and basically co-directed a few scenes.  The one I'm thinking of most is during the montage in Episode 13 where Maria and Mordecai are locked in a room together for a week.  I know she had a lot of imput on that scene.  She also assisted in directing one of the scenes at the cave in Episode 10.

#4 - It's a tie between

 Asher Johnston & Grace Graaf

Asher and Grace both took a short film camp with me in the summer of 2020 and I gave everyone in the camp the option of directing a short film if they wanted to. Asher and Grace, the two oldest in the group, both decided to accept this challenge.  We had a separate directors meeting without the other kids, then the directors held auditions.  They both directed the same script but did not coordinate on how they would do it. 

The result was wonderfully different.  The story is about a box of goldfish that eats the children who try to snack from it.  Asher chose to take a serious approach to it and directed it as a horror movie.  Obviously there's only so serious a story about a box monster can be, but the serious approach made it creepy and suspenseful until the monster was revealed.  

Grace approached the script with a much more funny and light-hearted style, making it a comedy.  It included a fight between Child 1 (Asher) and the box which involved a cat, a spatula, and more. It was hilarious! She even costumed one of the children in the script with big glasses and gave him a backstory.  

Both of them did a fantastic job with their first directing opportunities, especially considering both of them were only 13 at the time! I didn't direct my first movie until I was 16!  Clearly I'm a good teacher.  They both have innate talent, confidence, and took the project seriously from start to finish with auditions, storyboards, camera angles, coaching the actors, and more.  Also, they're my nephew and niece so I extra proud.  I like to start them young in the arts, and of course in Sine Fine Films.  Both of them had fun and said they would like to direct again sometime so maybe we'll see more of their productions in the future. 

#3 - Jacob MacLeod

Although Jacob has only directed in one production, he directed 4 short films within it. Quatrain required four different directors who directed four different scenes each.  I was struggling to get a fourth director and as the shooting weekend grew closer and closer I sent out a distress call via Facebook and at the last minute Jacob agreed to give it a try. THANK YOU JACOB!  

He was Director "C" and directed Scene 1C - the car crash monologue, 2C - performers in an audio booth, 3C - two girls in a graveyard, and 4C - two scientists with a mysterious problem.  I think he had less than 24 hours to prepare and he was director of the first scene we filmed that day so it took him a little while to get comfortable with it.  After all he'd done a lot of acting and had even been one of the writers for Quatrain, but to my knowledge he had never directed anything before - never for SFF and I don't he did for any other production either.  

I don't know if he's ever even taken a class on directing before, which means that his talent is all natural - and oh boy does that boy have talent!  His directing abilities blew me away!  His careful preparation, interpretation, attention to detail, and coaching abilities were astounding.  When I watched him filming scene 1C I noticed how much detail he put into getting everything just right, from the angle of the car, to the camera placement, to the fake blood.  He even found a way to make it look like the car engine was smoking after it crashed.

Although I wasn't there to watch him direct scene 3C I did watch the footage and was really impressed at the interpretation of the scene.  I asked Annamarie or Brittany which one had decided to go that route and one (or both) said it was Jacob's idea and I was "really"?  I couldn't say much else because my mind had just been blown.  This was his first day directing - ever as far as I knew - and he not only had the attention to detail down, he had a natural instinct for interpretation and how to coach the actors.  I can't remember how long it took to find a new fuse so my brain could start working again but it was a while. 

Scene 4 was the chance for the director to take some basic (and awesome) dialogue that could find into almost any situation and do whatever they wanted with it.  Jacob filmed his version, 4C of course, much later so I didn't get to watch him direct that either.  However, the situation he used - two scientists in a lab bickering about the sudden results of a mysterious experiment - and the way he directed it was absolutely hilarious.  Seriously, Jacob is uber talented, in many way, but especially when it comes to directing.  My goal now is to find a chance to make ask him direct another short film for SFF.

#2 - Brittany Ann Whalen

When I was filming various TV Shows with SPC-TV while at SIU in Carbondale I wanted to give other people the opportunity to try their hand at directing if they wanted to.  It's quite a huge undertaking to direct and produce a production by yourself, especially something other than a short film, so directing a few scenes or a single episode was a good way to dip your toe in the water, so to speak, and see if you want to direct more.  I had a few other people try it out but Brittany was the only one who really stuck with it.

The first thing Brittany ever directed was a set of scene in Episodes 11 & 12 of The Gift Bearer. The scenes took place at night, so we didn't get started until around 10 or 11pm and filmed until 2 or 3am. Yikes.  I don't take it easy on anyone, even newbies.  The scenes involved Katie Johnston being sassy, Russell Martin tied to a chair, and a lot of speeches so since there were no fight scenes or anything too complicated it was a good set to start off with.  Brittany did a great job with it and liked it enough to try it again later. 

She did a little directing for a big scene in Episode 14, but there were four directors total for that scene and it was a mess.  She was also acting in the scene at the time which makes directing difficult.  Her next chance to direct was in Eidolon and she directed quite a lot of scenes for that.  There was so much to film for Eidolon that I often did "double shooting" where there was a second filming unit who would film with the actors I didn't need.  

There many scenes she was able to film by herself in Northern Illinois where she lived, including a fight scene with another actor from up there so she had her first chance to direct a fight scene.  Unlike me she took the time to choreograph it so it looked really good!  I'm not sure who ran the camera for her though...

Anyway, Brittany had a lot of ideas, especially Episodes 4 and 5 and filmed her first music montage as well as several scenes.  In total I think almost every episode had at least one scene directed by her, so that's pretty awesome.  She was also the co-executive Producer with me on Eidolon AND co-edited it as well. Almost all of Episodes 4 & 5 and several scenes in other episodes were edited by Brittany.  I'll talk about that later though, because this post is about directing.  

Although Brittany has directed many scenes in various productions it wasn't until Quatrain that she directed an entire short film by herself.  Oh wait, hang on. She did direct two or three short films for SPC-TV and non SFF productions.  I almost forgot about those.  I think she even directed the first episode or two of her own show.  How did I forget about that?  I know she also directed La Bal'oon for Tape & a Stick, but none of those were SFF productions.  

The first short film she directed for SFF was the four shorts for Quatrain.  She was Director A and had some great ideas for her scenes.  I didn't get to watch her direct 1A - the monologue with a blind gipsy, but I did get to watch her direct some of 2A - two burglars - and 3A - two guys at a grave.  I was especially impressed with her idea for 2A, to set it up as if the scene was being caught on a security camera.  It worked out really well, especially since she one of the actors and it's hard to direct the scene when you're in it. 

She filmed her version of Scene 4 in Northern Illinois where she lives and I was really impressed with idea for it.  Brittany chose to do a Zombie horror movie with it and did all the work, and there was a lot to do!  Usually I was the producer and took care of the organizational things like shooting schedules, meals (sometimes), costumes, props, arranging transportation or reminding other people to bring what they had or drive.  

But I wasn't there to do any of that and she did a brilliant job.  It probably sounds really arrogant and condescending to phrase it that way, but please understand that I watched her direct her first scene (as far as I know). I taught her by example, and I have some really bad habits as a director that she hopefully has not internalized.  I watched her grow from a newbie to a pro.  

She coordinated lots of actors including more extras then I usually have, did makeup, meal prep, shooting, etc. It was a very elaborate film shoot with excellent directing.   She's probably done a ton of other directing and I just didn't know about it or see the result, so this was the first time it really hit me that she's fully, truly come into her own as a director and producer.  Clearly she doesn't need me anymore. *sniff sniff* My fledgling has flown away. She's all grown up now. *sniff sniff*

#1 - Edward Stasheff

This one is probably not a surprise, and once again it's not because he's my brother and I'm biased.  It's really not this time, I swear!  When I directed Destiny in 1996 I had no idea what I was doing.  I'd been in a lot of plays and watched a lot of theater directors but I'd never seen anyone direct a video.  Because of that I basically directed Destiny like I was directing a play on stage (except for the music montages, somehow I instinctively knew how to shoot and direct those).  It took me until Destiny III to really figure things out and even then I didn't really know how to direct I only knew how to tell the actors what to do and somehow get it on film.  

In 1999 Ed wrote and directed the movie Mind Games. Right from the beginning Ed knew what he was doing.  You might say he learned it from watching me since he had been in several of my movies including Destiny, but that was very clearly not the case because he was way better at it then me and had an instinct for how to do it right.  I had the actors look into the camera half the time because it worked okay, and somehow I never realized that's NOT HOW YOU DO IT!  The actors should NEVER look into the camera!  Edward understood that. 

He had different ideas for shot composition and used unique angles I had never thought of before. He also understood how to coach the actors and get the best performances out of them.  He scouted and arranged the location, built props, helped design the costumes, and did his best to make the set look perfect.  Most importantly he paid attention to detail, was patient, and took the time to do it right. 

Then I fired him because he was taking too long. 

No, seriously, I actually fired my brother.  To be fair we had a script that was about 80 pages and only one month to film with an actor who was in 3/4 of it.  I told him we did not have the time for him to take that long and I would film it without him.  

You see my style emerged from Get-It-Done approach.  I had a lot to shoot and very little time to shoot it.  I didn't care too much about how the actors said their lines, just as long as it was the right tone and reasonably close to the script. I filmed only the angles I needed and one shot was enough as long as there were no bloopers in it.  It was rare for me to do any blocking before hand, or even rehearse a scene before we filmed it.  One single read through of the scene, if the actors were lucky, then get it shot and move on to the next scene.  I am a terrible director.  This is the production where I discovered that because for the first time I actually got to see what a real, good director was like. 

And I fired him.  Because he took too long.  Because he cared about getting it right, not just about getting it done. After a little while he asked to come back, promising to block out the script ahead of time and film things quicker.  I said yes because I had already discovered in watching the raw footage the huge difference between our directing styles and which one of us was better.  I'm not saying this for sympathy or to get compliments or anything, he is truly -genuinely - a better director. So are Jacob and Brittany and probably Asher and Grace will be as well if they keep going the way they are now.  

I realized with Mind Games that I didn't really want to be a director, I just did it because I wanted to edit the footage and watch the finished product.  I really enjoy producing, and I love to edit, but directing? Not so much.  I do it because I have to in order to get to do and see what I ultimately want. 

Edward showed me that just by watching him direct.  When he came back he had lots of storyboards - which by the way I never do, even now.  I block out the scripts in the most basic way but I've never bothered drawing out the angles or the actors' movements.  He busted his butt to make the props, make the sets, fix the lighting, figure out how to do the special effects like using flash paper, fans, and dry ice.  He invested time and money to make Mind Games the best it could be and he did.  I think Mind Games is still the best movie SFF ever made and if he could have directed TV shows they would have been even more awesome. 

Most importantly I learned SO MUCH as a director from watching Ed.  I learned the importance of taking time to prepare more then the costumes - even though I rarely prepared as much as I should have I did at least learn how important it was.  He taught me NOT to have the actors look into the camera.  He taught me the importance and beauty of the "over-the-shoulder" camera shot and to step outside my narrow world of using three basic shots and that was good enough.  It wasn't.  It was acceptable but if I didn't think outside the box like he did my productions would never be more then acceptable at best.  If I wanted them to be good I had to follow his example.  

You can tell very easily who directed with scenes in Mind Games.  The difference in not just the quality and variety of the shots but also in the actors performances is incredible.  I couldn't bring out the level of acting that Edward could, because he understood how and more importantly took the time to coach them.  I did what I had to do get it done. My directing is utilitarian, his is art.  

Ed also returned to be Directer B in Quatrain.  It had been nine years since he directed Mind Games and he was a little rusty and a lot more busy, so he didn't have as much time to prepare.  I also don't think he really wanted to direct, but I needed people so I begged him, and since he's my wonderful, marvelous, amazing brother, he agreed.  He directed Scene 1B - the girl walking home alone at night - like a horror movie and I think it turned out really well.  His directing of 3B - two people in a graveyard with a comic twist - was pretty funny too and he chose a great location for its surprise ending.  

Unfortunately filming began a little late for Scene 2B - a guy and a girl in a pick up truck in the middle of nowhere - and 4B which he did as a continuation of 2B.  It was outside and the sunset before he was completely finished with it so the end of the scene is really dark.  Darn me and my lack of lighting!  I didn't even a flashlight with me.  

You can see the difference in my directing from before the productions I did before Mind Games and the productions I filmed after it.  I suddenly use different shots, I took a little more time to coach the actors, although not as much as I should have, actually not much at all but a little bit more.  I was still and always will be more concerned with getting it filmed then getting it right.  Now when I direct I'm more concerned with having fun.   One of my greatest wishes is to see more people like Ed, Jacob, and Brittany direct productions for SFF, and with the edition of new talent like Asher and Grace I think my wish just might come true.  

I also just want to add that Quatrain was wonderful because for the most part I was able to sit back and watch other people direct. I really don't like being the director most of the time.  If anyone wants to direct a short film, let me know!  I'm always looking for fresh blood new people to join us!