DIRECTIONS UNIT: FARREN BLACKBURN

One of my Directors that I researched into during this Unit was Farren Blackburn. The reason that Farren interested me as a Director is because he opened my eyes more to what it is to be one. Farren has directed Marvel's Daredevil, Iron Fist and also is going back to direct 'The Defenders', he's also directed Doctor Who, Luther and he has directed a Feature Film called 'Hammer of the Gods'. Farren didn't study film at University but went on to do a Master's Degree in film. Farren didn't start off as a Runner and work his way up. He was always determined to be a Director and made many short films until finally getting a chance to work with directors. He has built up higher and higher and now is a successful Director with Marvel.

After meeting Farren, he inspired me as a director, not only for his work but also with the way he works as a Director. probably that more than his actual work he has done. Farren worked on a series called Shut In which is a surreal series about Heaven and Hell. After watching that, I began to see a similarity in Farren's work. They're all very nitty and gritty and in some ways quite dark works. Even his episode of Doctor Who had a very dark feel to it with the monsters that were in the episode and the story behind it as well.
But what helped me as a Director with Farren was what he said about Directional Style, which was that he doesn't have one. Throughout this entire unit I thought that I needed to find my directional style and had to very seriously plan out my shots but Farren showed me that you don't. A Director works how they want to work, just making a shot list is planning and allows you more freedom with the shots which was why I chose to do a shot list over a storyboard. As well, he explained that Director won't find their 'style' until they have done lots and lots of films and productions, Farren himself still doesn't know what his style is but knows how to work as a Director.