Research into a Director's Commentary

A director’s commentary is (normally) a piece of footage in which the director explains their intentions within the media product that they have created. This usually includes the director talking about what their aim was within a scene and why they chose a particular location, colour scheme, costume etc as well as what they intended to achieve and portray to the viewer because of their choices. A director’s commentary can also more simply include the director talking the viewer in more detail about everything that happens within a scene in order for them to understand what is going on. Director’s commentaries are really useful as they allow both the director and the public to get an insight into what inspired the director at specific points in their media product and most importantly what the director wanted to achieve and create a sense of in their media product.

It also gives a chance for the director to review their work from their own perspective and talk specifically about what they thought was successful or unsuccessful within their piece of work. Director’s commentaries are usually footage of a director talking directly into the camera with the footage of their media product being inserted at the necessary points for the viewer to see. Another popular way is having the footage of the director’s media product playing on screen and having a voice over of the director talking about their work. This provides the audience to follow what the director is saying more successfully.

Example from Doctor Who:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/videos/p00hcrml