Director James Cameron

Having looked at James Cameron before at his screenwriting work I felt that I should look at his work more closely looking at his directorial skills as he is considered more as a director. I want to develop more research into James but keeping it relevant too.

James was born in Canada but moved to USA shortly after.

Along with being a director, James is also a producer and a screenwriter.

His films have been widely popular and gained a lot of success.






James started out with short films whilst building his reputation to become one of the most popular Directors in the world. His first feature film as a director was Piranha part two (1981). The film had positive reviews.

It was 1997 when James really grew his fanbase with Titanic. This was a huge film for James to direct as it was based on the real events of Titanic and fictional elements to build it. The famous film features Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. It made a worldwide gross of $2 Billion making it the highest grossing film of all time, this lasted for 12 years until Avatar was released in 2009.

Motion capture with left being finished result.

Avatar made good progress, popular with the visual effects and new motion capture technology. The 3D experience also helped make Avatar successful.

It is these new and exciting features that James uses to direct his films. His directorial style is to use new technology and bring it to life in his films. James wanted to film Avatar a lot sooner but the motion capture technology wasn't around yet. Titanic was filmed mostly on a set but relied on visual effects for hitting the iceberg and sinking.

Along with effects and editing, James likes to use a lot of techniques when shooting the action. His trademarks include scenes filmed with deep blue colours. We can see the blue colours in his films especially Titanic and also Avatar. With blue colours many of his films has ocean or water as a theme. He likes to bring the camera in and gather close up shots especially during conflict and fighting scenes.
James uses tracking shots when following a chase, getting close up of wheels or feet running.

James has much trademark to his name and it can be clear in his films. It works very well and is proven to be successful. I like his work and have watched a few of his films. When I direct I tend to include smooth camera tracking/steady shots and pull focus. For my project I will use my own style to direct and make it 'my work' at all times.

Shameless TV Drama

My chosen TV Drama series is Shameless.

Shameless started out in 2004 till 2013 and is a British comedy drama series. It follows a story of a large family 'Gallaghers' living on a fictional council estate 'Chatsworth' in Manchester. It shows the young siblings pretty much being abandoned by their parents while surviving on their wits and humor.

'Frank Gallagher'

In 2005 the show has won best drama series at the BAFTAs and best TV comedy drama at the British comedy awards.

Shameless was created by Paul Abbott. It was directed by Paul Walker and David Threlfall from 2006 to 2013. Johnny Campbell directed 3 episodes in 2004 and Dearbhla Walsh did 7 episodes 2004 to 2005. These were the first directors of the show. David Threlfall, along with directing and producing the show, also plays the main character, Frank Gallagher who is pictured above. Frank has appeared in all but 3 episodes of the show. (139 episodes).

At the start of each episode a title sequence is played with Frank talking about his family and introducing them.

The sequence is just shy of two minutes.


I enjoy watching Shameless. I like the camerawork and sound design, it is directed very well. For my project I want to use smooth, tracking camera shots instead of the gritty handheld used in the show. I want to enhance the colours slightly without changing the concept of the scenes. The pace of the drama changes a lot so I want to pick a scene that has a good steady pace but still with conflict.

Prep Project Red Riding

Task for directions unit.

Cast-

Eddie Dunford- Eddie Redmayne

Bill Hadley- Bill Nighy

Maurice Jobson- David Tennant

Kathryn Tyler- Sian Gibson

Barry Gannon- Benedict Cumberbatch

Bill Molloy- Philip Glenister

Mrs. Kemplay- Belinda Stewart-Wilson

Crew-

Director of Photography- Balazs Bolygo

Production Designer- Brian Sykes

Editor- Colin Fair

Locations-

Leeds: Leeds.

Leeds Skyline

Dawson Construction site: Construction site in Kent.

Construction site

M1 Motorway: Thanet Way.

Thanet Way

Wakefield Police Station, Conference Room: Build set in a studio.

Conference Room

Tone/Style-

Handheld, gritty, action packed feel. Low-saturation. Dark, naturalistic feel. Natural lighting. Realism.

E.g.:

Ripper Street (2012-present)

Life on Mars (2006-2007)

Sound-

Similar vibe to the visual. Natural sound.

Construction site: Nighttime ambience/foley.

Motorway- Radio in car. Traffic noise. Rain on windscreen. Sounds of car accelerating.

Conference Room- People talking. Phones ringing. People typing (type writers or computers?).

Directions - Chosen drama series

As part of our directions unit we have to choose a scene or number of scenes from a drama series, in which we add our own style of direction.

• Series chosen:  Shameless

• Directed by:  Paul Walker (2006-2013), David Threlfall (2006-2013).

• Created by:  Paul Abbott.

• Format: Comedy/drama set in Manchester. 11 seasons between 2004-2013 on Chanel 4. 

• Logline: A young group of siblings are pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits and humor on a rough council estate in Manchester.

• Why I picked Shameless:   Having watched Shameless a few times I feel it is the perfect drama for me to direct. I like the comedy within the story. When watching it I see my own vision of what the scenes should look like, using different camera shots than what Paul or David chose and set a different perspective for the audience.