Template talk:Rian Johnson

Feature films vs. short films

Since I want to avoid continuing an (apparently long, drawn-out) edit war with TheMovieBuff, I just want to clarify a few things.

He states that episodes should not go in director's templates. I can't find the WP page that lists all the things that are appropriate/inappropriate for director's templates (though I'm sure someone will post it), so I'll take his word for it, fine. I will also take his word on not inserting red links into (director's) templates.

However, I find it quite silly to claim that Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!! was Rian Johnson's first feature film. There is a very distinct difference between short films and feature films, as they are entirely separate categories. Lumping it in with the rest of the films only serves to confuse readers. Furthermore, if you actually visit the page for that film, it's an extremely short stub article. I could just as easily create the articles for his other short films in a few minutes, with practically zero substance, and they wouldn't be red links anymore. Would you still remove them/try to classify them as feature films then? I find it a little disingenuous.

I'm making one last edit to the template to separate short films vs. feature films, but I won't add the TV episodes or red links. If you can find the WP article I mentioned, that'd be great.

— SolarStarSpire (talk) 01:54, 7 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It is silly to separate the one short film. If the director had more than many short films I would agree with the separation but it is not necessary with only one.--TheMovieBuff (talk) 20:06, 12 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

According to IMDb, Rian Johnson has directed three short films and edited an additional one. I agree that it looks silly to separate feature films and short films when only one of his short films has an article, but I think it's more important that the distinction be made to prevent reader confusion. And again, I have to re-iterate that the one short film that has an article is a stub-class article with very little content. Since I consider myself an inclusionist, I'm not arguing for the deletion of that article; rather, I'm wondering if we would be having this conversation if his other short films had stub articles and were included in this template. — SolarStarSpire (talk) 23:25, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

To the best of my knowledge, there is no policy stating whether episodes should be included in directors' templates. It's something that gets edited back and forth quite a lot, and I can't recall any proper discussion of it before now.

On television, the creator/showrunner is seen as the primary author, and directors generally leave less of a mark than they do on film, so I can understand that objection. It's not uncommon for a director to make dozens of episodes of a show, so bloat could also be an issue.

Personally, I think we should include episodes in director templates when the director is primarily known for their feature work. Episodes like Ozymandias (Breaking Bad), Boardwalk Empire (episode) and Deep Breath (Doctor Who) are commonly discussed in relation to their directors' body of work.

I think it would also be wise to reach a consensus for shows like True Detective (TV series), The Stand (TV miniseries) and The Knick, where entire seasons are directed by (and widely discussed in the context of) well-known filmmakers and should logically be linked to their body of work in a template. —Flax5 20:36, 12 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]