Solomon Howard
DIRECTING
RUNNING: WHY DO PEOPLE DO IT?
As mentioned in the 'Editing' section of this website, this short documentary was my final project in my second year of university, and was another one I took from pre-production through to the final edit. Being a documentary, it presented very different challenges compared to the rest of my work as a director and taught me some very valuable lessons. For example, it showed me the importance of making your talent, whether they be interviewees or actors, comfortable and confident for being on screen. As well as directing, this shows off my presence in front of the camera, and ability to engage an audience with my likeable personality
THE THINGS YOU LEFT BEHIND
Also to be found in my editing section, this was my final graduate film for my filmmaking course, it was a passion project I carried through all stages of the production process, including writing the script. I held auditions to find the perfect cast for each of the three roles, which taught me a lot about the importance of having great actors to bring the words on the page to life. I also worked extensively with the actors during rehearsals, which meant both myself and the cast had a strong idea of what we wanted when photography began, which made my job as director a lot easier. I also had to manage a set of around 10 crew members, and provided cast and crew with lunches, drinks and snacks on set, which greatly boosted morale.
'SMALL POTATOES' - THE MERANOS
This music video can also be found in the 'Cinematography' section of this site; however, I also had an Assistant Director credit on the production, which I believe greatly undersells my contribution to the running of the production. I created a production schedule/shooting plan for both the run-and-gun outdoor shoot and the studio-based performance section shoots, and was the primary voice in giving the artists/performers notes on their performances of the songs and the narrative sections. This provided a very different challenge compared to short films, as I couldn't rely on character or story to shape the performances, and had to think about how best to portray the band and the narrative section without dialogue even.