Film Directors

Film Directors

Some of the most famous film directors of the modern times includes Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, however, some newer directors such as Joss Whedon have also had success with their directing styles.

Steven Spielberg:

(Steven Spielberg looking through a camera)

Spielberg typically uses visuals to tell the story and set the atmosphere over the dialogue spoken by the characters. He also has constant new ideas and doesn’t look at old films for inspiration; he uses his creative flare to think of innovative directing styles.

Track-In Shots: In tracking shots, the camera moves in on the subject typically going from a medium shot to a close up. The movement of the camera is smooth and the character clear in the foreground, however, the background gives the impression of being blurred, drawing attention to a significant moment within the character’s story.

Sideways Tracking Shots: Steven Spielberg often uses sideways tracking shots, one of the classic film making techniques. He typically uses long shots with lots of visual texture by placing object and extras between the main characters.

Over the Shoulder Shot: Spielberg typically films a character over the shoulder of the protagonist using a wide lens, making them look bigger than whomever they are talking to. This conveys a feeling of power and dominance, making some characters more powerful than others.

James Cameron:

(James Cameron holding a camera)

James Cameron uses a very distinctive style of directing as many of his films are controversial and packed with varied, effective camera angles and dramatic music to emphasise certain aspects of the films. He is also a very influential director as other directors, such as Joss Whedon, has taken his approach. For example, in ‘The Avengers’, many action scenes use Cameron’s directing approach.

Visual Effects: a number of innovative visual effect techniques were used in his work, especially films such as ‘Avatar’. Motion capture technology had been use with the camera shots taken to make the film as realistic as possible.

Music: continuous music is also used in Cameron’s famous works such as ‘The Titanic’. This technique is effective as the audience can be aware of subtle differences in the tunes and how they can trigger different emotions, making more of a visual impact when watching the movie.

Joss Whedon:

(Joss Whedon directing)

Joss Whedon uses a directing style that is similar to James Cameron after being influenced by the way in which he works. Being known for his take on Marvel comic films such as ‘The Avengers’ and the new television series ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, he uses a variety of shots to make a successful filming experience.


Visuals: Whedon uses various camera angles to give effective visual aspects of action scenes. For example, in ‘The Avengers’ he uses bird’s eye views, wide shots, low shots, tracking shots and others to create a vast atmosphere, almost as if he is directing a visual comic book. The variety in camera shots make each scene different and exciting, making his directing style different to other directors.

Practical Effects: He makes sure that all the computer-generated imagery looks realistic to give better visual aspects for the audience. He typically mixes as much practical with CGI so that it is hard to tell where one ends and the other beings.

Writer: Joss Whedon has written various films from marvel comics to Shakespearean takes on movies. His writing style is different to others as he puts his own spin on the way in which the movies are written. For example, there is a theme of humour running through the marvel comics such as ‘Thor’ and ‘Captain America’, so when films such as ‘The Avengers’ were released, the audience are used to the writing style.