Director

Whether it is a stage play, film, or audio play, a good director must always put the story first.  The storytelling has to be interesting and exciting to hold the audiences’ attention.  It is essential for a director to know the script thoroughly from any angle for every nuance, every emotion, and every beat.  The director sets the tempo of the story, just like in a piece of music. The purpose of a director is to orchestrate the production to excite and move the audience.  However, each medium calls for a different approach to storytelling.  Our director, Norman Kern, recognizes the significant differences and similarities of all mediums whether it is film, theatre, or audio entertainment.  He helps brings the story to life.

Theatre is often called the actor's medium.  Once the director leaves after the opening, it is up to the actors to continue telling the story.  To make certain that each performance is consistent, the director’s challenge is to instill in the actors the story the best way possible.  By directing the actor’s movement on the stage along with set design, props, costume design, lighting design, and sound design, the director is able to not only assure consistent performance, but also suggest where the audience should look.  By having a working knowledge of all aspects of live theatre, the director paints each scene and sets the overall mood for the performances.  Hence, the actors are well prepared to tell the story consistently on a live stage where it could be different in each performance.

Contrary to stage directing, a film director has the full control of everything the audience experiences, therefore making film a director’s medium.  Film making is a longer, larger, and much more complex process with multiple phases involving various teams of producers, artistic departments, and technical crews.  Because making a film is highly technical, the challenge of a film director is the ability to entrust his/her vision of the story with the collaboration of all people involved.  The director selects the shots and takes during filming for the final edits.  There are a lot more people assisting a film director in telling the story.

Directing an audio play is different than directing for live stage or film.  The audience relies on their hearing, not vision, to understand the story.  The emotion is created aurally.  In an audio play, sound can play various parts in the story: creating an ambience, an action, or simply setting a mood.  The rehearsal is mainly table work, focusing on the story and the emotional impact of the words written by the playwright.  Also, the director must have the technical knowledge of a sound production to foresee the words spoken and how sound and music support the story.  The director is responsible to capture the actors’ performance during the production and choose the takes for the final edits of the story without manipulating the script.  Therefore, audio play is a medium for a director as well as actors.    

Despite the differences of various mediums to tell the story, a director has to communicate with all people involved in the collaboration.  A wise director can interlace everyone’s valuable contributions to the production.  As a result, the production will make an impact, and the art of storytelling becomes magical.  This is why we do it.