You might love films and filmmaking and have decided you would like to have a career as a director. Your choice of the type of films you would like to make might be dance movies. These are popular and a lot of fun for audiences to watch, but they are difficult and time-consuming to make for the crew. It takes more than just being a director to make the best possible movie you can.

If you want to be a dance film director, here is some information that could help.

Have A Dance Background

You might find that the majority of directors who make dance films already have a dance background. This means they were trained dancers and probably worked professionally as a dancer for many years before transitioning into other fields of work. This will give you a strong understanding of dance, how dancers move, and what they are capable of.

Also, many dance directors transitioned first into choreography before making the jump into a film. A choreographer knows how to create beautiful dances and weave them into a story. You could work in musical theater, live concert production, or even movie choreography before moving into directing.

This gives you a good dance background, and the dancers, or even non-dancers, will get the feel of what you as the director want them to do to give the scene more feeling.

Have A Production Background

If you already have a dance background, then you should get some production background, too, before moving into the director's chair. This means learning the ropes from the ground up. You can start as a production assistant and learn how a crew works together and each person's role on set. You can work your way up through learning how a production is created from the first table read, casting, production meetings, and finding the right locations to becoming an assistant director.

If you wish, you can go to film school and learn the practical aspects of directing and filmmaking, but it's not necessary to start your career there. You can learn on the job. If possible, get a job on a dance film to see how it works differently from a traditional film.

Shoot Something Every Day For Practice

Before you can really take on making an entire movie, you need to practice your filming techniques. This is to learn what looks good to your eye and what will appeal to your audience. You must learn to be critical of your own shooting skills and improve on them every day.

To this end, shoot something every day. You can use your phone camera or a digital camera you have on hand. You don't have to keep this footage, but watch it carefully and have friends watch it too. Have them review it with an honest eye and tell you what they like and didn't like about it.

Once you get a feel for your shooting style, try posting your videos online on Youtube or Vimeo. This is a good way to get other people's reactions and opinions of your work. You can also learn how to work lighting and sound into your videos effectively during this time.

Once you get to the point you are happy with your work, try shooting some dance video of a local school or theater production to get a feel for what will look the best on film and how the dancers move.