Behind the Scenes of Writers, Directors,

and Writer-Directors!
If we think about the key participants in a movie, there will be a long list of people to credit. However, if
we narrow down our list further so, it goes down to writers and directors since they are the ones who give
birth to a concept and make it into a reality.
We usually hear phrases like “poorly written” or “the story could have been better if portrayed in any
other way” and so on. A lot of times, when the film is criticized or praised, it is focused on the direction.
That’s why you heard of star directors like Ray Griggs, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, etc. However,
story writers are sidetracked. Does it sound fair?
Let’s dive further into the roles of writers and directors to understand better their importance in a movie!

Writer’s Role in a Movie:

The writers focus on conceiving storylines, creating the world and characters, weaving the story with
characters and personalities, writing up dialogs, and aligning them in the right order. The writers do not
fill in the details but focus on the necessary chunks for building the structure of the story.
They are restricted in figuring out the what, whom, and where while not writing about “how” it happened.
In book adaptions, the writer will use the material to distill out the right and necessary pieces of
information to be shown in the movie for effective conveying of the story.

Director’s Standing in the Movie:

Once the writer has handed over the script to the director, the writer’s job is completed until there is a
need of rewriting a scene, adding, or subtracting any part.
The director goes through the script to understand it in detail and digest it to conclude how the scene will
be displayed on the camera, which actors are needed, and make it happen with selected actors and the
production team.
The same script, if handed to different directors, will bring out different films. Similar to this, a simple
conversation scene can be filmed in multiple ways: a close-up shot or wide shot or over-the-shoulder
shot? Or, showing their lips while speaking or the whole face? What will they wear? How will the camera
move or stays still? All of such detailing is left on the director to decide.
Ray Grigg's exemplary work of direction in the short-film Lucifer and documentary I Want Your Money
shows how direction can alter and portray the whole concept.

Wrapping Up:
With the work description of the writers and directors, there is no conclusion on who is the key
participants. Both are like chefs and sous chefs in a kitchen who combined to prepare an exquisite dish.
You may also come across the writer-directors like Ray Grigg, who offer the how along with what, when,
and where to the story. However, the outcome has more of the director’s vision compared to the original
writer’s vision. This causes the director to receive more criticism or compliments compared to the writer.