What Does a Director Actually Do on Set?

I've been thinking a lot recently about directing my first feature film. But what intimidates me the most about the endeavor is the idea of all the nuanced things a director does on set, aside from actually peering through a viewfinder and shouting "Action!".

And look, I've been on a real set, and I know that's not what they really do. It's so much more cerebral than that.

But I've found it hard to put into words.

That's why I was so stoked to find filmmaker Tanner Browning's video essay pulling apart what a director really does on set.

Let's dive in.

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The CEO of Vision

The way I like to think of a director is that they're the CEO, and the movie is the company. They don't need to deliver the mail, but they should be okay allocating the right people to manage each of the departments, and communicating with them regularly to make sure things are going well.

The job is about making fast and decisive decisions to keep things going. And it's to have a vision for what the finished product will be, and to know how to communicate that with people on set.

You are in charge of making a ton of decisions, from the texture of a rug in a background shot to the specific lens flare a DP is chasing. The director’s job is to ensure every one of those thousand tiny choices aligns with the project’s DNA and their overall vision.

The Guardian of the Sacred Space

Here's one of those more nuanced jobs. The director helps handle the actors and makes the space safe for their work, which is collaborative.

The director is the only person allowed to make performance adjustments. They need to have a rapport with the performers to help them find their characters, blocking, and even give them leeway to come up with ideas on their own.

This is a very delicate balance, but it's where someone like an "Actor's Director" shines.

You're the CEO, but you're also a sculptor helping things take shape.

Managing Tone and Mood

A little thought experiment is the idea that if you swapped Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan on the sets of Barbie and Oppenheimer , you wouldn't just get different movies; you’d get different universes.

That's because the director’s primary output is tone and mood.

CREDIT: photo by Avel Chuklanov

Every choice, from aspect ratio and color palette to the rhythm of camera movement, is a tool the director uses to articulate a specific feeling.

These are the feelings you want the audience to get when watching the movie.

You don't need to know how to rig a C-stand, but as Quentin Tarantino famously put it, you must have a vision and the ability to express it clearly enough for others to build it for you.

The Surrogate Audience

The most overlooked job of a director is acting as the first audience member.

While the DP is watching for focus and the Script Supervisor is watching for continuity, the director is watching for truth.

They're watching to make sure what's coming together is part of their vision and one that will translate to the screen for the audience.

You are the one who has to decide when "we’ve got it."

It takes a massive amount of discipline to look past the stress of a falling sun or a dying battery and ask: Does this take actually make me feel something?

That feeling is what sums up all the director's jobs in one. It's the main reason certain people are hired for certain projects. __

Summing It All Up

Directing isn't about doing everyone’s job; it’s about making sure everyone is doing their job. You find your own style doing all of these things. And you find ways to honor your vision and find people who can see what you can see when you close your eyes.

Let me know what you think in the comments.