how do two directors work on the same movie? (1 Viewer)

[felix_suwarno]

one of my favorite movie was shrek, and i found there were two directors! it reminded me of the farelly bros.

i really want to know how they work. i just cannot imagine how they share their vision on the same story.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Sometimes they're brothers (The Farelly Brothers, those brothers that made the Matrix) and have a life long relationship that makes collaboration possible. Animation by it's very nature is more collaborative, more team based than the work of a single auteur. So it's probably a mixing pot of the two people's ideas. Like the arguments that go on within the director's head, only now they're vocal

 

[Andrew Chong]

That's right! Maybe it helps when two directors are family: Coen Brothers, Wachowski Brothers, Hughes Brothers.

 

[DaveBB]

I've wonder that too. I recently noticed that "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" had two directors.

Maybe it's a split like "You handle the action sequences and I'll do the rest."

I've noticed that Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich often seem like a tag team duo even though Emmerich only gets the Directing credit.

 

[Patrick McCart]

For animated films, there are several directors. For a film such as Fantasia, each sequence had a director (although, I think some of the directors worked on a few at a time). For the "sequel," Eric Goldberg directed both the Carnival of the Animals sequence (and did all the animation single-handedly!) and the Rhapsody in Blue segment.

About live-action films...

The Wizard of Oz needed a few directors because of scheduling conflicts. Victor Fleming directed the existing Technicolor footage, King Vidor did the opening and closing scenes, and George Cukor had a short term directing, but only some of his suggestions were kept rather than footage. The same thing goes for Gone With The Wind, although Richard Thorpe directed a few scenes, I think.

The Z-A-Z movies, like Airplane! or Top Secret! had the Zucker brothers and Jim Abhrams work at the same time. They basically directed together as sort of a group concept. This is similar to how silent comedies (with the exclusion of Keaton and Chaplin) were done. Basically, there were a dozen gag men on board who basically came up with what would happen. Harold Lloyd often used this method. Buster Keaton would come up with the entire plot and gags, but have someone co-direct with him.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

WEST SIDE STORY was directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. My understanding is that Mr. Robbins directed the dance numbers and Mr. Wise did everything else. They did NOT get along. This was discussed in the supplemental materails of the Criterion laser.

Side note: what about films that have NO director? I believe a couple disney films, possibly BAMBI and SLEEPING BEAUTY have several 'sequence directors' but no 'Director'.

 

[BarryS]

That's right! Maybe it helps when two directors are family: Coen Brothers, Wachowski Brothers, Hughes Brothers.

Unlike the Wachoski and Hughes Brothers, the Coen brothers do not share directorial credit. Joel is the director, Ethan is the producer and they both write the scripts. They may actually collaborate as directors, but Ethan has never been credited as director or co-director.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Good question. I'd be curious to know how much directing Bill Murray did on Quick Change. (Yeah, he has a co-directing credit with Howard Franklin.)

 

[Guy Martin]

FWIW the Hughes brothers divide the duties with one of them handling the actors and doing the blocking while the other oversees the cameras and other technical matters.
- Guy

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

On Gone With The Wind, the first director, George Cukor, was fired. His replacement, Victor Fleming, was nearing completion of The Wizard of Oz, and was taken off of that project to salvage GWTW. He had fights with producer David O. Selznick, and supposedly quit (though at the time it was said that he was exhausted), and was replaced by Sam Wood. Fleming returned to the production after a week, but filming was so far behind that Wood stayed on to direct a second unit, and William Cameron Menzies, the production designer (who had already directed the burning of Atlanta sequence before the cast was finalized) directed a third unit, all at the same time. The imdb lists eight uncredited second unit directors.
The unifying vision of David O. Selznick, combined with William Cameron Menzies' stunningly detailed storyboards, ensured that the finished film does not seem to be a patchwork quilt, even though it is.
And yeah, I watched The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

Maybe it helps when two directors are family: Coen Brothers

they arent both directors. joel directs, ethan produces. although that is just how they are credited, im sure they are both involved in each aspect.

CJ