Great Television Directors

Im talking about tv directors with their own distinct style. Alan Clarke's work for the BBC had a very distinctive style. In todays age, are there any tv auteurs? Tim Hunter (Rivers Edge) has made some great movies in the past but his work on Mad Men doesn't seem any different to any other directors work on the show.

Tim Van Patten is always great for all the HBO shows he's worked on.

TvP seconded. His name at the start of a Sopranos episode was always extra exciting.

Don Scardino, from Molly Dodd to 30 Rock.

Alan Ball's directing work on Six Feet Under was usually first class, but his self-written/directed series finale for that show is one of my favourite pieces of television and str8 up wonderful - don't think I've ever been more moved by any episode of any show.

The Shane Meadows directed episodes of both the This is England TV runs felt like a natural continuation of what he did with the film, and very much of a piece with his regular style as well.

Long list from live US TV in the '50s, starting with... Delbert Mann? John Frankenheimer?

How much film work takes you out of the club? I mean, is David Lynch in the list?

Edgar Reitz's three Heimat films may have been intended to be shown in cinemas, but in practice they've mostly ended up being shown on TV due to their length.

I'd say the bulk of your work should be in TV, or at least a solid phase of it.

David Chase
Tim Hunter
David Lynch
Leslie Linka Glatter (Twin Peaks, Mad Men, AND Freaks and Geeks!)
John Brahm (Twilight Zone)
Douglas Heyes (ditto)

okay axe Lynch then

xp

Peter Kosminsky fits this well. He's done most of his work for TV, and his style is very much anti-establishment, thorn in the government's side kind of thing.

Clark Johnson

Adam Curtis obviously

this goes back to the TV vs movies discussion in the sandbox, the fact that movies always have an upper hand because television rarely (if ever) achieves real beauty in its images or individual scenes. a good tv director is one who provides really solid, professional work within the set confines of the show in question, rather than that sort of beauty. (hope this begins to change soon)

Wasn't Bertolucci's "The Spider's Stratagem" made for TV?

movies always have an upper hand because television rarely (if ever) achieves real beauty in its images or individual scenes.

agree that it's not the norm but it DOES happen and has been since the medium's inception

among sitcom artists:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Sandrich

not calling him 'great' by any measure but some studio should probably give fred savage a shot at a feature

agree that it's not the norm but it DOES happen and has been since the medium's inception

examples please! i'm not denying it, i want to watch every suggestion.

i think louis ck's editing technique is truly a reflection of contemporary zzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Alan Taylor's been very good but he's moving on to Thor 2.

Alan Clarke

clarke is mentioned in the opening post. ken loach and mike leigh did some of their best work for tv.

michael apted's 7 Up is obv better than any of his movies.

molly dineen. nick broomfield.

I wanna give props to Pamela Fryman, who has directed all but 9 episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

not calling him 'great' by any measure but some studio should probably give fred savage a shot at a feature

Fred Savage directed Daddy Day Camp, I don't think studios will be knocking down his door again any time soon.

i think louis ck's editing technique is truly a reflection of contemporary zzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

― calum-y maybe (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, July 13, 2012 12:59 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not sure exactly what ur gettin @ w/ 'editing technique', but i think it's put together the way it is v much cuz it's shot mostly? all? w/ the RED camera so what hes working w/ is largely super close-up hi rez shots of faces, no depth of field, etc etc. i always relate that 2 peter berg/FNL

examples please! i'm not denying it, i want to watch every suggestion.

you want me to list specific images/scenes that achieve "real beauty"...? you realize this is going to be completely subjective

my immediate go-to references would be things from The Twilight Zone and the Twin Peaks/Sopranos/Mad Men axis, plus some of Dennis Potter's peak stuff (altho I dunno the names of his directors)

with Potter, some of the directors (eg Jon Amiel of The Singing detective) 'graduated' rather quickly to mostly undistinguished theatrical films.

I was thinking more of the final scenes in Pennies from Heaven and certain parts of Lipstick on Your Collar (both of which I've always enjoyed more than Singing Detective, which I think I just don't "get")

you want me to list specific images/scenes that achieve "real beauty"...? you realize this is going to be completely subjective

yes of course? which is why i want to pursue your suggestions to see if i agree? certainly you had examples in mind when you made the statement, i would like to know them.

twin peaks is interesting though. i've wanted to rewatch it for a while just with the imagery in mind.

well some obvious ones:

- initial black lodge/dream sequence in Twin Peaks
- "reveal" scene of the Twilight Episode "After Hours" where the main character remembers she's a mannequin
- similar "reveal" scene "Mirror Image" episode where main character sees her doppelganger
- season 5 finale scene from Mad Men w/Draper walking away from the ad set
- old dudes at the foreign office breaking into song in "Lipstick on Your Collar"
- closing scenes of "Pennies From Heaven"

was actually considering starting a thread with this question in mind bc seeking it out inevitably leads you to like, joblo.com's 'greatest moments in television', 90% of which would be either plot twists or cliffhangers (about half of them coming from lost). but that might be redundant w/this thread.

- Paulie Walnuts angrily driving his car over to Chrissie's house to fuck up his lawn

William Asher, Director of Classic TV Shows Including 'I Love Lucy' and 'Bewitched,' Dies at 90

I just started watching Breaking Bad and the scene towards the end of Season 1 where Walt is describing how he and Skyler met to his in-laws while they're eating outside and she starts to cry probably belongs here

(ep 6 directed by Bronwyn Hughes)