How much artistic control does a director have over a film?

"Artistic control" is one of those tricky phrases. To best answer your question, it's important to truly understand what the role of a feature film Director really is.

The French idea of the film "auteur" (or "author") really isn't an accurate way to describe the creation of any significant motion-picture. Unlike other art forms, like sculpture or painting, filmmaking by its very nature is a collaborative undertaking requiring the creative and technical contributions of hundreds of individuals.

With that in mind, it is NOT the Director's job to impose his/her "vision" upon a story and/or screenplay. Instead, the Director SHOULD BE "directing"... meaning, he is like the conductor of an orchestra, where the cast and crew are the musicians who express their own creativity by being adept at specific technical crafts. It is his job to bring together those individuals who can complement his own understanding of the project so that everyone is working toward the same goal.

That's the theory, anyway. In most cases, that is what takes place no matter the budget. However, particularly on larger projects, some Directors don't necessarily get to do their job with as much autonomy as they would like. Some projects are put together by strong Producers who exert a significant amount of input into the creative aspects of the movie. And some Actors/Actresses manage to amass enough political strength that they can actually rewrite or discard entire scenes over the objections of anyone else, including the Producers who hired them. Plain old logistics (budget, scheduling, etc) can also be obstacles that get in the way of a Director's desires.

So, it would be too easy to suggest that a Director has most of the artistic control over the project. If he's doing his job correctly, he is willingly working WITH others who have been hired for their creative and technical abilities. In other words, he isn't just telling them what to do... he is taking advantage of their skill and experience with the intention of completing the project to its full potential. And even if he is doing that as he should, there are other landmines, like logistics and politics, that threaten to sabotage the project every day.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com