Director’s Framing Document (DFD)

Owned by Stephen Carr (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Dec 03, 2020

As part of your pre-production work we suggest you write a Director’s Framing Document (DFD) to help articulate and focus your ideas. The DFD outlines your overall vision and the creative choices you will make to achieve that vision in the production. It is a working document, meaning it will change and develop as your ideas become clearer. You do not need to submit the DFD to anyone, it is suggested as an exercise to help you on the path to directing your show and for you to refer to if you’re ever feeling stuck during the process. The DFD (1-2 pages) should clearly outline your intentions by answering all the questions under the following three headings:

1. VISION - Story Telling (Central Theme)

• What is the main story or central theme of your play?

• What is your overall concept for communicating your theme?

• Describe your overall stylistic choices e.g., comedy, drama, didactic, entertainment, musical, absurdism, farce, other etc. How do your overall conceptual and stylist choices support the realization of the main story or central theme?

2. CHOICES - Production Elements

• What influences from other directors will inform your process?

• What choices will you make with regards to acting processes? This should cover, but not be limited to, choices regarding:

• Rehearsal process

• Characterization

• Staging

• Pacing

• Dancing/choreography

• Singing

• What choices will you make with regards to design? This should cover your choices regarding set, costume, lighting, sound and AV.

3. TRANSITIONS

• What is your overall concept regarding how scenes will transition?

• How will your staging, actors and design elements contribute to the flow of your production’s transitions?

• How do your transitions contribute to the storytelling, theme, style and pace of your production?

• Do your transitions forward the action of your production?

To summarize, the Vision section of the DFD should outline what the director wants to achieve with the production and the Choices and Transitions sections should outline how the director will realize this Vision.