{"id":1396,"date":"2025-04-01T15:31:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T15:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/?p=1396"},"modified":"2025-04-01T15:31:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T15:31:17","slug":"emerald-fennell-directing-style-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/emerald-fennell-directing-style-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Everything\u2019s Perfect; Now, Let\u2019s F**k It Up\u2019: Emerald Fennell\u2019s Lessons for Filmmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Much like the characters in her movies, writer-director Emerald Fennell is a fan of learning the rules, if only to deliberately (and oh-so-deliciously) break them. In \u201cPromising Young Woman,\u201d Cassie Thomas uses intimate knowledge of sexual violence to expose perpetrators; in \u201cSaltburn,\u201d Oliver Quick studies the elite world of the carelessly wealthy so he can manipulate it for his own nefarious purposes; and in her filmmaking, Fennell finds a bold balance between control and creativity by establishing structure, then purposely dismantling it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some key takeaways from her uniquely disruptive approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation is key.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Fennell\u2019s directing follows a specific pattern, starting with intensive preparation before evolving into brazen risk-taking. She wants everyone on set to feel that \u201cwe\u2019re super, super prepared, we know where we are, and we trust each other,\u201d she says. Once there\u2019s a foundation of trust, she advises doing the boring take first, \u201cthe one we know is going to be in the movie\u2014beautiful, subtle, audition acting.\u201d The meticulous preparation becomes a safety net, helping actors feel secure in their performance choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the rules are set, \u201cfuck it up.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Just when that security is established, it\u2019s time to throw some entropy into the equation: \u201cEverything\u2019s perfect; now, let\u2019s fuck it up,\u201d Fennell says. \u201cLet\u2019s do some really bad acting. Let\u2019s do the worst acting we can do.\u201d While this may seem counterintuitive after a technically perfect take, the Academy Award winner finds that emotional veracity\u2014what makes a film interesting\u2014stems from messiness. \u201cIf you do your homework and everything is there, then you can break it,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd it needs to be broken a little bit, because otherwise, it\u2019s not interesting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embrace the unpredictable.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Fennell rejects the notion that a character must remain consistent throughout their arc. \u201cI\u2019m obsessed with this idea we have of character inconsistencies,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m not a consistent character in my life. Nobody I know is consistent.\u201d Instead, she welcomes her characters\u2019 incongruities, which often become the breathing heart of her films. Just think of how Cassie abandons her careful methods in the film\u2019s painfully direct final confrontation, or how Oliver oscillates between vulnerability and calculating lust, as perfectly manifested in the disturbing grief- and lust-fueled grave-humping scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can mean a complicated paradox for filmmakers. \u201cThat\u2019s the trouble, often, when you\u2019re making something: You have to always remember that the more subtle it is and the more painstakingly true to life it is, the less real it feels,\u201d Fennell explains. Rather than try and resolve the contradiction, however, she thrives in it, by embracing both nuance and melodrama. \u201cSo much of the time, what you want is subtlety; you want [actors\u2019] incredibly brilliant instinct, because they are geniuses,\u201d she notes. At other times, though, \u201cyou need to let people be obvious or react to news in a really shocking way.\u201d It\u2019s this willingness to accept the subtle with the shocking, the instinctual with the obvious, that creates the visceral moments emblazoning her movies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For filmmakers at any stage in their career, Fennell\u2019s approach offers valuable insight: By preparing and setting up structure first, you engender a space in which actors can make astonishing\u2014and astonishingly wonderful\u2014choices.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This interview was originally featured on <\/em>Backstage<\/mark><\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emerald Fennell\u2019s filmmaking technique follows a specific pattern, starting with intensive preparation before evolving into brazen risk-taking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":1399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEmerald Fennell\u2019s Advice for Filmmakers | FilmFreeway<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here\u2019s why filmmakers should learn the rules, then purposely break them, according to Oscar winner Emerald Fennell.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/emerald-fennell-directing-style-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emerald Fennell\u2019s Advice for Filmmakers | FilmFreeway\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s why filmmakers should learn the rules, then purposely break them, according to Oscar winner Emerald Fennell.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/emerald-fennell-directing-style-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmFreeway\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-01T15:31:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-01T15:31:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/emerald-fennell-scaled-e1743454270232.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1357\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jalen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Suzy Woltmann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/filmfreeway.com\\\/articles\\\/emerald-fennell-directing-style-advice\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/filmfreeway.com\\\/articles\\\/emerald-fennell-directing-style-advice\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jalen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/filmfreeway.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/591baa98fd782d61dc5f30b220dba9c1\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Everything\u2019s Perfect; 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