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38-444: Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director , producer and writer . In the 1930s he worked as a scriptwriter, most notably with Frank Launder on The Lady Vanishes (1938) for Alfred Hitchcock , and Night Train to Munich (1940), directed by Carol Reed . He and Launder made their directorial debut co-directing the home front drama Millions Like Us (1943). From 1945 he also worked as

76-473: A film school to get a bachelor's degree studying film or cinema. Film students generally study the basic skills used in making a film. This includes, for example, preparation, shot lists and storyboards, blocking, communicating with professional actors, communicating with the crew, and reading scripts. Some film schools are equipped with sound stages and post-production facilities. Besides basic technical and logistical skills, students also receive education on

114-580: A Woman (1957), a thriller with Jack Hawkins while Launder did Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957) and The Bridal Path (1959). In 1958, they joined the board of British Lion. Gilliat directed Left Right and Centre (1959), a political satire after which Launder did The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960). Gilliat had a big hit with Only Two Can Play (1962), which he directed. He produced Joey Boy (1965), and then both men directed The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966). They worked on

152-683: A film about Dunkirk and a science fiction story but neither was made. Instead Gilliat directed The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953), then Launder did The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954). The film starred George Cole who later said working for the team meant "good scripts but terrible money. If Alastair was in the film it was even worse because he got most of it. But they were wonderful people to work with." Gilliat did The Constant Husband (1955) with Rex Harrison followed by Launder's Geordie (1955). They wrote and produced, but did not direct The Green Man (1956) and produced The Smallest Show on Earth (1957). Gilliat directed Fortune Is

190-485: A flat fee for the project, as a weekly salary, or as a daily rate. A handful of top Hollywood directors made from $ 133.3 million to $ 257.95 million in 2011, such as James Cameron and Steven Spielberg , but the average United States film directors and producers made $ 89,840 in 2018. A new Hollywood director typically gets paid around $ 400,000 for directing their first studio film. The average annual salary in England

228-655: A period as a journalist at the Evening Standard , later saying he was fired after refusing to interview a grieving widow who was too upset to be spoken to. The film critic of the Evening Standard, Walter Mycroft , went to work at Elstree Studios as a scenario editor, and hired Gilliat to write intertitles for silent films. He was fired after he was overheard criticising a producer's work. Gilliat's early screen credits were on films directed by Walter Forde including Red Pearls (1930), Lord Richard in

266-467: A producer, starting with The Rake's Progress , which he also wrote and directed. He and Launder made over 40 films together, founding their own production company Individual Pictures. While Launder concentrated on directing their comedies, most famously the four St Trinian's School films, Gilliat showed a preference for comedy-thrillers and dramas, including Green for Danger (1946), London Belongs to Me (1948) and State Secret (1950). He wrote

304-551: A recent trend of more attention to women directors in India, brought on partly by Amazon and Netflix moving into the industry. Of the movies produced in Nollywood , women direct only 2%. There are many different awards for film directing, run by various academies , critics associations , film festivals , and guilds . The Academy Award for Best Director and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director are considered among

342-568: A script, Sex and the British , for two years but had to abandon it when British divorce laws made the concept obsolete. Instead they made Endless Night (1972) which Gilliat directed. He and Launder produced Ooh… You Are Awful (1972). Gilliat married Beryl Brewer in 1933. He had two children: Joanna and Caroline Gilliat, and three grandchildren. Sidney Gilliat died in at his home in Wiltshire , England on 31 May 1994 aged 86. His brother

380-565: A solid basis for their working partnership. Gilliat, in fact, always deprecated his own comic talents, claiming that it was Launder who wrote all the jokes, though this was a huge overstatement. But certainly they did their best work together. Their speciality was the thriller-comedy. As writers, their scripts were noted for clever plotting and shrewd observation of the foibles of the English character. As directors, Gilliat tended to favour quieter satire, where Launder excelled in broader farce. But it

418-520: A yearly salary from ¥4 million to ¥10 million, and the Directors Guild of Japan requires a minimum payment of ¥3.5 million. Korean directors make 300 million to 500 million won for a film, and beginning directors start out making around 50 million won. A Korean director who breaks into the Chinese market might make 1 billion won for a single film. According to a 2018 report from UNESCO ,

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456-740: Is a film criticism concept that holds that a film director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur" (the French word for "author"). In spite of—and sometimes even because of—the production of the film as part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through studio interference and the collective process. Some film directors started as screenwriters , film editors , producers , actors , or film critics , as well as directing for similar media like television and commercials. Several American cinematographers have become directors, including Barry Sonnenfeld , originally

494-418: Is to envisage a way to translate a screenplay into a fully formed film, and then to realize this vision. To do this, they oversee the artistic and technical elements of film production. This entails organizing the film crew in such a way to achieve their vision of the film and communicating with the actors. This requires skills of group leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in

532-738: Is £50,440, in Canada is $ 62,408, and in Western Australia it can range from $ 75,230 to $ 97,119. In France, the average salary is €4000 per month, paid per project. Luc Besson was the highest paid French director in 2017, making €4.44 million for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets . That same year, the top ten French directors' salaries in total represented 42% of the total directors' salaries in France. Film directors in Japan average

570-660: The budget . There are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters , cinematographers , producers , film editors or actors. Other film directors have attended film school. Directors use different approaches. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue, while others control every aspect and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners. Other directors edit or appear in their films or compose music score for their films. A film director's task

608-676: The libretto for Malcolm Williamson 's opera Our Man in Havana , based on the novel by Graham Greene . He had also worked on the film . Gilliat was born in the district of Edgeley in Stockport , Cheshire , and was the son of George Gilliat, the editor of the London Evening Standard from 1928 to 1933. He was brought up in New Malden and educated at London University , studying English and History. He worked for

646-1123: The Berlin/Brandenburg TV station RBB (Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting) and ARTE . In recent decades American directors have primarily been coming out of USC , UCLA , AFI , Columbia University , and NYU , each of which is known for cultivating a certain style of filmmaking. Notable film schools outside of the United States include Beijing Film Academy , Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico City, Dongseo University in South Korea, FAMU in Prague, Film and Television Institute of India , HFF Munich , La Fémis in Paris, Tel Aviv University , and Vancouver Film School . Film directors usually are self-employed and hired per project based on recommendations and industry reputation. Compensation might be arranged as

684-528: The Coen brothers' Director of Photography; Wally Pfister , cinematographer on Christopher Nolan 's three Batman films made his directorial debut with Transcendence (2014). Despite the misnomer, assistant director has become a completely separate career path and is not typically a position for aspiring directors, but there are exceptions in some countries such as India where assistant directors are indeed directors-in-training. Many film directors have attended

722-572: The Pantry (1930), Bed and Breakfast (1930), You'd Be Surprised! (1930), The Ghost Train (1931), The Ringer (1931) and Third Time Lucky (1931). He also wrote The Happy Ending (1931) and A Gentleman of Paris (1931). Gillat's first major credit as a screenwriter was Rome Express (1932) directed by Forde. He and Frank Launder worked on the script for Facing the Music (1933) but they did not actually work together. Gilliat

760-422: The director ensures that all individuals involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. The set of varying challenges they have to tackle has been described as "a multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with egos and weather thrown in for good measure". It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when and how they will work again, if at all. Generally,

798-435: The director works with the editor to edit the material into the director's cut . Well-established directors have the " final cut privilege ", meaning that they have the final say on which edit of the film is released. For other directors, the studio can order further edits without the director's permission. The director is one of the few positions that requires intimate involvement during every stage of film production . Thus,

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836-478: The film industry throughout the world has a disproportionately higher number of male directors compared to female directors, and they provide as an example the fact that only 20% of films in Europe are directed by women. 44% of graduates from a sample of European films schools are women, and yet women are only 24% of working film directors in Europe. However only a fraction of film school graduates aspire to direct with

874-471: The films with which Sidney Gilliat was connected... [He] had unfailing good humour, and an unerring feeling for time, place and character. These were most noticeable in the comedy-thrillers, in which the realistic treatment disguised far-fetched plots. Another one said "Of all the tireless toilers in the ungrateful vineyards of British cinema comedy (Roy and John Boulting, Ralph and Gerald Thomas, Muriel and Sydney Box), Launder and Gilliat were least in thrall to

912-443: The insatiable jokiness of the breadwinning professional humorist, and their long collaboration has left us with a memory of unfailing good-humour and an occasional brainy prankishness." Film director The film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions and stay within

950-488: The latter for Carol Reed . For Reed Gilliat wrote on his own a thriller Girl in the News (1940). Gilliat began writing war time shorts such as Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light (1941). He and Launder worked on They Came by Night (1940), and Reed's The Young Mr. Pitt (1942). Alone, Gilliat adapted Kipps (1941) for Reed. Launder and Gilliat wanted to become producers and directors. Their first effort as co-directors

988-472: The majority entering the industry in other roles. In Hollywood, women make up only 12.6 percent of film directors, as reported by a UCLA study of the 200 top theatrical films of 2017, but that number is a significant increase from 6.9% in 2016. As of 2014, there were only 20 women in the Directors Guild of Japan out of the 550 total members. Indian film directors are also greatly underrepresented by women, even compared to other countries, but there has been

1026-480: The most prestigious awards for directing, and there is even an award for worst directing given out during the Golden Raspberry Awards . Twelve Good Men Twelve Good Men was a 1936 British crime film directed by Ralph Ince and starring Henry Kendall , Nancy O'Neil and Joyce Kennedy . It was made at Teddington Studios by Warner Brothers as a quota quickie . It

1064-548: The nature of professional relationships that occur during film production. A full degree course can be designed for up to five years of studying. Future directors usually complete short films during their enrollment. The National Film School of Denmark has the student's final projects presented on national TV. Some film schools retain the rights for their students' works. Many directors successfully prepared for making feature films by working in television. The German Film and Television Academy Berlin consequently cooperates with

1102-415: The position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. It has been said that "20-hour days are not unusual". Some directors also take on additional roles, such as producing, writing or editing. Under European Union law, the film director is considered the "author" or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory . Auteur theory

1140-407: The restrictions of the film's budget and the demands of the producer and studio (such as the need to get a particular age rating ). Directors also play an important role in post-production . While the film is still in production, the director sends " dailies " to the film editor and explains their overall vision for the film, allowing the editor to assemble an editor's cut . In post-production,

1178-555: The script and take turns directing. Gilliat directed The Rake's Progress (1945) with Rex Harrison ; Green for Danger (1946); and London Belongs to Me (1948). Launder directed I See a Dark Stranger (1946), Captain Boycott (1947), The Blue Lagoon (1949) and The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950). Gilliat directed the thriller State Secret (1950) while Launder did Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951) and Folly to Be Wise (1953). Around this time they announced

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1216-403: The sole superiors of the director are the producers and the studio that is financing the film, although sometimes the director can also be a producer of the same film. The role of a director differs from producers in that producers typically manage the logistics and business operations of the production, whereas the director is tasked with making creative decisions. The director must work within

1254-477: The stressful, fast-paced environment of a film set. Moreover, it is necessary to have an artistic eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus, excellent communication skills are a must. Because the film director depends on the successful cooperation of many different creative individuals with possibly strongly contradicting artistic ideals and visions, they also need to possess conflict-resolution skills to mediate whenever necessary. Thus

1292-561: Was Twelve Good Men (1936). They also collaborated on Seven Sinners (1936). Without Launder he did Take My Tip (1937) for Hulbert; A Yank at Oxford (1938) for MGM; Strange Boarders (1938); and The Gaunt Stranger (1938) with Sonnie Hale . Gilliat and Launder collaborated on The Lady Vanishes (1938). Gilliat wrote another for Hay, Ask a Policeman (1939), and was one of several writers on Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn (1939). With Launder he did Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday (1939) and Night Train to Munich (1940),

1330-458: Was a short, Partners in Crime (1942). Then they made the feature Millions Like Us (1943) which was a success, launching them as producers and directors. According to an obituary of Gilliat: Gilliat and Launder made an unlikely pair, both physically and temperamentally Launder spare, dark and easily excited, Gilliat stockier and with the sort of down-to-earth, practical nature which provided

1368-579: Was credited as writer on Friday the Thirteenth (1933); Orders Is Orders (1933); Falling for You (1933) with Jack Hulbert ; Jack Ahoy (1934) with Hulbert; Chu Chin Chow (1934); Bulldog Jack (1935) with Hulbert; My Heart is Calling (1935); and Strangers on Honeymoon (1936). He worked on a Will Hay film, Where There's a Will (1936), and a horror film The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936). Gilliat's first movie with Launder

1406-419: Was difficult generally to know where the contribution of one ended and the other began, even though officially they liked to take it in turn to act on each film as scriptwriter and director. Gilliat helped write Two Thousand Women (1944) which Launder directed. Without Launder, Gilliat wrote and directed Waterloo Road (1945) with John Mills and Stewart Granger. But normally both men would produce and write

1444-475: Was the producer Leslie Gilliat who worked with him. His obituary in The Times described his and Frank Launder's collaboration as 'one of the most sparkling writing, directing and producing partnerships in postwar British cinema.' According to one obituary "if wanted to give new generations, or foreigners, some idea of the way the British were in the thirties and forties, one could do no better than show them

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