2. Film Directors
Top five thriller directors:
Sir Alfred Hitchcock
• Hitchcock was a British film director/producer (1899-1980). He was often referred to as the “master of suspense”. After he
was awarded best British film director, he moved to America in 1939 and in the year 1955, became an American citizen.
Hitchcock played an extremely big part to the development of the thriller genre and created many of the codes and
conventions still used today. His films are so widely recognised due to his unique ‘style’. Even after talkies became a thing,
Hitchcock still choose to keep dialogue secondary to the image of telling a story. As he continued his films in this way, it
helped him stick out compared to other directors who were not enjoying the use of sound and dialogue. For example, in his
film the Lodger Hitchcock had a glass floor made up and shot the lodger pacing backwards and forwards from below. By
superimposing this shot over one of the ceiling - with the swaying chandelier further emphasising the force of the lodger's
steps - and intercutting between this image and the reaction of the family below, Hitchcock creates an effect more interesting
and more powerful than he could have achieved using sound. Hitchcock’s top four rated films are: Rear Window (1954),
Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958) and Shadow of doubt (1943).
Steven Spielberg
• Steven Allan Spielberg born in 1946 (age 69), is an American film director/producer. His career has lasted over four decades,
and in this time he has covered various film genres. He is viewed as one of the most popular film directors in film history. The
gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing director in history. One
of Spielberg's most well appreciated and used shots is the track in shots, in this type of shot the camera physically moves in on
the subject, typically going from a medium close-up to a tighter close-up. The movement is smooth, the background is
blurred, and it is typically used to draw attention to a significant moment in a character’s story. There are many examples of
this shot in Steven Spielberg’s films. Another great example of his directorial style is framing characters from foreground
objects. In the opening sequence of “Minority Report”, a young boy is framed through a chair in the foreground, it is a
powerful technique as framing a character through an object really tends to focus our attention on that character. It is much
more visually compelling than a clean frame. Spielberg’s top four rated films are: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the
extra Terrestrial (1982), Jaws (1975) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
Martin Scorsese
• Martin Charles Scorsese was born in the year 1942 (age 73). He is an American film director/producer and also participates in
acting. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors of all time. His career has span for over 45 years – over four
decades. Many of his films are notable for their depiction of violence and profanity. In Scorsese crime films like Casino
(1995) and Goodfellas (1990), it has been noticed that he has collaborated with actor and close friend of his Robert De Niro.
Scorsese has also been noted for his collaborations with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, having directed him in five films,
beginning with Gangs of New York (2002) and most recently The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Scorsese has used the freeze
frame many times in his films, in Goodfellas alone there are several great examples. It is a narrative function and signposts
moments that Scorsese wants to draw our attention to. His four top rated films are: Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976),
Raging Bull (1980) and Departed (2006).
3. James Cameron
• James Francis Cameron, born in the year 1954 (age 61) is a film director and producer from Canada. In total Cameron's
directorial efforts have grossed approximately $2 billion in North America alone, and $6 billion worldwide. Cameron’s
Titanic and Avatar are the two highest grossing films of all time. He first found major success with the science fiction action
film The Terminator (1984). In 1997, Cameron took on his biggest film, Titanic. After this, he began a ten year project to
make his science fiction film avatar (2009) which he then received three academy awards. Cameron had a very distinctive
style of directing; his films were all packed with dramatic music, which was something that Cameron was very good at. In
Titanic, James Cameron strived to, and successfully did, make the viewer's feel as if they were encountering the experience of
being on a sinking ship through the careful and effective use of sound effects and music. James Cameron's purpose in Avatar
was to show destruction versus peace, which was again successfully shown through useful sound and techniques. He uses
convincing sound affects to make the audience feel as if they are living through the experience that is going on in the film at
the time. His top four rated films are: Titanic (1997), Aliens (1986), Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment day
(1991).
Quentin Tarantino
• Quentin Jerome Tarantino, born in the year 1963 (age 52) is an American film director/producer and has acted in many of his
films. Quentin Tarantino has trademarked the trunk shot camera angle and he's used it in every movie he has directed. He also
uses reverse trunk shots with characters being watched from outside the trunk. Tarantino grew up as a devoted film fan and
worked at Video Archives, a video rental store, while training to act. His career began in the late 1980s, when he wrote and
directed My Best Friend's Birthday. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of
Reservoir Dogs in 1992; regarded as a classic and cult hit, it was called the “greatest independent film of all time” by Empire.
The use of the 360 shot is used frequently in Tarantino’s films, as he noted his use of this shot was inspired by Director Brian
DePalma who often used the 360 shot to emphasize the “feeling of love and togetherness.” It can also be used to emphasize
confusion which was one of the main reasons Tarantino used this shot. Tarantino’s films have gained much success. He has
received many industry awards, including two academy awards, two golden globe awards as well as two BAFTA awards. In
2005, Tarantino was named on of the 100 most influential people in the world. In December 2015, Tarantino received a star
on the Hollywood walk of fame for his contributions to the film industry. His top 4 rated films are: Pulp Fiction (1994), Kill
Bill Volume 2 (2004), Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Kill Bill volume 1 (2003)
