Directing: A Word from Perry Blackshear

At the core of the directing track at Stony Brook is the belief that everyone should be able to make a movie. In the past, movies have been mostly made by certain groups, about certain groups, for certain groups. This is changing. One of the things I love about teaching is meeting students from different backgrounds with new ways of seeing the world and giving them the tools to bring those visions to life. We need new voices. And now there are so many ways to make a movie.

Growing up, my picture of a director was a tyrant yelling at the masses from atop their throne-like camera rig. This too, thankfully, has changed. Over the last decade, my colleagues and I have made feature films for many dollars with crews of fifty, and for essentially zero dollars with crews of one. There are intimate directors who work with family and friends, journalist directors who hybridize documentary and narrative, introvert directors who construct worlds in their backyards, and adventurer directors that grab a camera and a cat and drive off to make something awesome, any way they can. If you have a vision, my job is to help you make your movie... and make it in the way that is right for you.

In my experience, filmmaking is a wonderful combination of art and engineering, both ecstasy and laundry. My close colleagues and I have gone through many ups and downs in our careers. It is my hope that you can learn from our experiences, both our successes and especially our mistakes. I sometimes joke that learning filmmaking in the classroom is like learning how to play basketball by reading a book. Classroom time is wonderful and sacred. But the real learning will happen out in the world with your classmates, where what's in your head and heart hits reality. Your cameras will break, it will rain, it will be tough. And your new best friends will rally to get that last shot before the sunset, actors will channel the eternal and cause the entire crew to cry, and it will be incredible. Then we'll all meet in class and go over everything, so you can go back out into the world and do it again.