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How did Cecil B. DeMille describe the director's role as a storyteller?

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Director Sir David Lean sits atop a ladder beside a film camera, surrounded by crew and equipment on the set of Doctor Zhivago (1965) under a blue sky. — film David Lean (sitting atop a ladder) during the filming of *Doctor Zhivago* (1965).

In his contribution to the 1929 Encyclopædia Britannica, Cecil B. DeMille defined the director as, above all, a storyteller.1

DeMille described the director’s role as the art of synthesizing the contributions of various other artists into a single, cohesive creation. While a director may not have originally conceived or written the story, DeMille argued that they must internalize the narrative, making it a part of themselves before translating it to the screen.1

Central to this process is the director's responsibility to balance these various artistic elements to ensure the "true symmetry of the whole." Ultimately, DeMille emphasized that the value of a film rests upon the force, clarity, and artistry with which the director tells that story.1