Filmmaking – directing with a purpose only became a true story in the early 1910s with films

like the ‘The Great Train Robbery’ by Edwin S. Porter and ‘A trip to the moon’ by Georges
Méliès. These introduced narrative, highlighting some of the first directorial debuts. These
films stand on their great use of camera movement to create tension and the creative skill to
paint over the film to add pops of colour. The Great Train Robbery was a breakthrough for its
time, the release in 1903 shocked audiences with its uses of different locations and multiple
scenes pieced together, he created special effects using double exposure. Although these two
are great pioneers in the history of film and are recognised as bringing narrative to
filmmaking, the first film that really follows a story is The Cabbage Fairy by Alice Guy-
Blaché in 1896. She was the first female director and a true inspiration to all filmmakers
today. It has only been in the past few years that her work has been rediscovered due to the
feminist film scholars who are writing women back into history. She started her career when
she was 22, working as a secretary for Léon Gaumont, who’s company made short films with
cameras they developed. She struggled to convince Gaumont to let her film but after her first
few films he made her head of film production at his company where she produced hundreds
of films. After personal and career struggles Blaché wrote of her life: “It is a failure; is it a
success? I don’t know.” We will never really know how she felt about her career, whether
she really got to create the best of what she was but at least we can appreciate what she made.

The technological advancements in film have changed the business forever. The first major
camera, used to film ‘A trip to the moon’, is the Lumière Cinématographe; this camera could
be mounted on a tripod or carried by the cameraman. The inspiration for this camera came
from the kinetograph created by Thomas Edison. The Lumière brothers created over 40 films
of everyday life in France as well as the first newsreel with this camera. This technically was
the start of cinema as this camera allowed groups of people to watch these motion pictures
together, really creating an audience for directors to come. The compact hand-cranked Parvo
camera was first made in Paris by André Debrie in 1908, it was the most-used film camera of
its kind by 1920s. During the early 1900s there were non-stop advancements in all parts of
film. The Technicolor was found in 1916 by Daniel Comstock and Burton Wescott, it
recorded images in two colours (red and teal) using only one lens. Then in 1935 The
Technicolor 3 strip was developed by Comstock, Troland and Ball, MIT students. In 1927
Alan Crosland premiered his black and white film ‘The Jazz Singer’ using the Vitaphone,
which allowed recording soundtracks and spoken texts on disks. This equipment was
developed by Bell Telephone and Western Electric and was popularised by the Warner
Brothers in mid 1920s. The issues that these sound equipment's had is that there were
difficulties when synchronizing the film with sound. Many advancements came after this, but
the game really changed with digital cinema. Digital first came with audio transition with the
Dolby Digital audio coding standard in 1991, so cinema in the 1990s typically combined
analog video with digital sound. The first digitally filmed and post produced feature film was
Windhorse shot in Nepal and Tibet on a prototype of the Sony DVW-700WS and the
prosumer Sony DCE-VX1000. Digital technology has made film production a lot easier and
viewing more accessible, creating opportunities for anyone with a creative vision.

To talk about directing through history I feel we must mention the first Oscars, where the best
director went to Frank Borzage for Seventh Heaven in 1927. This was a classic damsel in
distress story where a Parisian sewer worker saves a homeless beauty from despair, based on
Austin Strong’s Broadway play. 7th Heaven shows Borzage’s distinctive style, he used
expressionistic design and lighting to create mood and different camera movements to help
the audience immerse themselves in the drama. This eccentric style would go on to inspire
millions. His perfect techniques make the film a great mix between romanticism and
modernity, making it far more appealing for a modern audience then other films from this
era. Borzage’s work needs to be remembered for his theatrical style when creating simple
dramas. This is what brands him a pioneer in cinema, other than his work with some of the
most famous actors and actresses, such as Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell.

The first female director to win an Oscar was Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for ‘The Hurt
Locker’. The film follows an American bomb squad that disables explosives in Iraq in 2004.
Prior to her win only three other women have been nominated for best director: Lina
Wertmueller for ‘Seven Beauties’ in 1975, Jane Campion for ‘The Piano’ in 1993 and Sofia
Coppola for ‘Lost in Translation’ in 2003. Chloé Zhao was the first female director of colour
to win the best director Oscar in 2021 for her film Nomadland. Born in Beijing Zhao’s
impressionist style and the way she uses her environment to react with the characters is what
makes her a standalone director of the 21st century. What makes her an inspiration for other
directors is that she gives actors creative freedom in a way that allows them to work off their
surroundings, enhancing their characters and story. Her editing choice forgets continuity, it
feels more like a collective of scenes that intertwine with each other. Using every element at
her disposal to communicate with the audience is what makes her interesting and fresh. I
think what makes her award-winning production so exceptional is the fact it had a low
budget, small crew and creative mind.

Other great directors of our time include one of the global favourites Quentin Tarantino. He
will forever stand out in film history for his multiple classics and trademarks. He uses the
same types of shots as everyone else, the POV shot, tracking shot, the extreme close-up and
the slow push-in. However, it’s when he decides to use these shots, usually during the most
pivotal scenes and moments in his films. It’s really a combination of many things that make
the Tarantinesque style, the 60s and 70s aesthetics, the God’s Eye view that forces the
audience to watch his world from unfamiliar perspectives, the extreme close-ups when
introducing a new character and his trademark POV shots. He makes you look, makes you
pay attention because the story is in the composition and camera movement. He is
unforgettable and his work will forever be appreciated.

Another modern director with a unique style is Tim Burton, born in California, he studied
animation at the California institute of arts. He worked as an apprentice at Walt Disney
animation division, throughout his career his partnership with Disney brought so many
incredible films such as ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, ‘James and the Giant Peach’,
‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ and ‘Dumbo’. He once said
“Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else’s dreams”.
Burton is known for his burton-esque directing style of gothic and dark fantasy films. His
personality and childhood really reflect in a lot of his work, he spoken in the Times how in
‘Frankenweenie’ the main character Victor resemble his as a child, as he is isolated in his
own world feeling like an outcast. Then the inspiration for ‘Edward Scissorhands’ came from
his feeling of being tortured throughout his teenage years. His work shows people they
shouldn’t be afraid of their own emotions and that expression comes in all forms. He
understands people and life in way that no other director ever has, his perspective on the
world it what makes his work outstanding.

You may think these directors are all very different, which they are, but the inspiration we
should take from them is their unique styles, the way they have made a name for themselves
and the way they will be down in history forever. To stand out in the filmmaking world today
you need to have a style, something that will be linked with your name, your brand. It will be
the reason you have a following, people like the perspective you have on the world, whether
it’s new or not it will be different to what they are used to.