And I started to think like, this is the work of life, is negotiating the sense of grim comedy

and then the sense of what's actually really happening that's so much harder to negotiate and deal with and feel.

And I think that's something that funnily enough is a thread in all of our work.

Yeah. that's something that funnily enough is a thread in all of our work. Hello and welcome back to the Director's Cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.

This episode, we're bringing you an exclusive panel discussion, creating and talking tone with your team, presented by the DGA's special projects committee. While tone is probably the strongest element that defines a project, it surprisingly is often the least

discussed on a feature film, pilot, or first season of a television show.

Last month, directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Ferris, Karn Kusama, and David O. Russell met to discuss techniques

for determining and subsequently communicating the ever-elusive but critical aspect of tone

in a conversation moderated by Director Valerie Weiss.

During the event, panelists discussed how the topic of tone is implemented throughout their projects, and shared their advice on how to achieve tone through different methods like music, casting, and opening shots.

Listen on to hear what has and has not worked on their productions.

Good morning. Good morning. The poet Robert Fost once observed that the tone of a voice can mean more than words.

Now I don't think we're talking about that kind of tone. It's going to be a bit different discussion.

In fact, I actually remember the very first time I ever heard the word come to a tone meeting.

I directed a bunch of features.

I had done movies for television and episodic TV, won an Emmy for that.

And now I was stepping into a room for a tone meeting. It was on a show called West Wing, and I didn't quite understand it.

Tommy Shlami had already created an incredible visual style.

Aaron Sorkin had written a brilliant script and was incredible actors.

So what was this tone meeting?

Now, I still don't remember much, but we're going to find out a lot more about what tone

meanings mean and how they have evolved since back then.

...