How does having different directors change a film, considering they would be following the same script?
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Each director will bring their own style. The words may be the same, but the shot, the look, the timing, color, etc will be unique. Imagine Wes Anderson directing Interstellar and Christopher Nolan directing Life Aquatic.
Directors can order script rewrites. They also make choices about lighting, shot angles, music, and acting. In essence they are the CEO of the movie, telling the other departments their vision for the movie.
Most famous and recent is Zak Snyder vs Joss Whedon in Justice League. Snyder’s vision was more serious, faded color schemes, and acting. Joss Whedon came in and added funny quips, cut certain scenes, added new ones, and changed the tone.
Directors coach the cast on delivery but they’re also hugely influential on the tone and even the script.
For example, while not all directors get final cut of the film, they work closely with the editor creating multiple cuts which then go through the studio system for sign off from producers.
They also hire the crew which includes people like the director of photography who are responsible for constructing the look of shots and lighting.
Basically, on set, a good director is like Rome, all roads must pass through them.
It’s like saying that when two cooks both make a dish from the same recipe the results will be exactly the same.
First, no one follows the script exactly. Something that sounds great on the page might seem silly when you try it in real life. Second, the directors will choose different actors, who will bring different interpretations to each role. Then there’s pacing. One director might make the build up to a fight very slow, to ramp up tension, while another will cut right to the action.
“I would like you to produce a artistic representation of a rabbit.”
Now think of all the various ways you can meet that basic command. A director would get to me a good chunk of similar decisions (including on occasion altering the directions / script.)
There have been [several dozen films made of Hamlet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_on_screen ). All these movies use the same script, written by Shakespeare. You can sample many of them, and you’ll see profoundly different films. The action is different, even where the lines are the same. The settings are different and the camera positions are different. All these changes are the work of the director.
Have you ever been watching a scene take takes place in a wide crowd shot, but you can tell who the important characters in that crowd are? Or you can tell a character will be the love interest before that character even speaks? That’s directing
First, go watch this one minute trailer about Disney’s Mary Poppins movie, recast as a horror film.
A director chooses the camera angles, helps choose the music, costumes, changes the pacing of the scene, decides tone and framing, can decide about things like special effects and filters, scene composition, etc. What elements are in the scene? Do you want to add thematic imagery in the background? For example, the Xmen2 movie has a lot of shots with Xavier and Magneto (Protagonist and antagonist) and the scenes are laid out so that you get a sense of balance – one wears a dark suit, the other wears a white suit. The background is balanced, with an identical plant on either side of them. This visually conveys – without scripted words or actions – a strong sense of “these characters are two sides of the same coin, they have radically different viewpoints, but they care very much about the same things” – And this is conveyed visually without them having to actually go out and say it. This is a good example of show, not tell. Film is very much a visual media, and a director’s vision influences the entire film.
Ask 5 different artists to draw something specific.
Depending on their style and their likely good to not exactly following instructions you will get 5 very different pictures. Same as a field director
There are thousands upon thousands of decisions a director will make over the course of the film. Even with an identical script, the locations, sets, actors, pace, music, cinematography all add up to make a big difference.
A script won’t detail every single thing about how a scene will be realised. It might be quite open to interpretation. It might simply say “EXTERIOR, RAINFOREST – DAY”. The director and the rest of the production now needs to find a way of shooting it to fulfil their vision. Do they shoot on location, or build a set, or use green screen and CGI. If its a location, what parameters need to be met and where specifically do they pick?
Certain actors might give identical lines a different spin. They may, for example, find more humour in the delivery, or go for a more serious tone. Therefore decisions made at the casting stage can make a huge impact on the final film, even if the script stays identical.
This carries through the whole production with the director giving input on editing, score, visual effects, sound mix etc and so on.
So basically, anything that ends up on screen does so via millions of choices and it’s impossible for a script to really contain all of this information.
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