Directing actors is the hardest thing faced by both beginning and experienced directors. Filmmaking hardware like cameras, lenses, and editing machines do what they are told. Actors have minds of their own, often making directors lives miserable. Here is an inspired and insightful must-read for directors at all levels of their craft, which is based on the extensive experiences of veteran Director John Badham, as well as no-holds-barred, out-of-school tales from such celebrated directors and actors as Sydney Pollock, Michael Mann, John Frankenheimer, Mel Gibson, James Woods, Jenna Elfman, and many more. Beneath the entertaining and instructive war stories lies the truth: how directors elicit the best performances from difficult and terrified actors. You’ll learn how to use proven techniques to help actors give their best performances, including the ten best and ten worst things to say and what you can do when an actor wont or cant do what the director wants. Its all here, put into print by a renowned director with stories to tell and lessons to impart.
Every great filmmaker has role models and films which inspired him or her to greater and greater heights. Here, for the first time, is an awe-inspiring guide that takes you into the inner workings of classic scenes, revealing the aspects that make them great and the reasons they have served as inspirations.
An invaluable resource for the screenwriter, cinematographer, actor, director and editor, Pepperman’s book uses examples from six decades of international films to illustrate what happens when story, character, dialogue, text, subtext and set-ups come together to create cinematic magic.
Use this book to emulate the masters and watch your films rise to new heights.
Dialog is one of the best known, and obvious, elements in a film. But the language of cinema is more subtle and sophisticated than dialog alone. From Metropolis to Kill Bill, this remarkable reference guide reveals 100 of the most potent storytelling tools of the medium, compelling cinematic devices beyond dialog for screenwriters and directors to pump up action, develop characters and energize a motion picture’s plot.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
17 basic building blocks of cinematic language
100 examples of cinematic techniques that create layering and more powerful scenes
100 definitions of cinematic tools
How to use sound, picture and camera motion as storytelling devices
How to show character change without using dialog
How filmmakers marry story and technique
All this and more illustrated by over 500 frame grabs and 76 script excerpts from the most memorable moments in film history.
The mastery of cinematic storytelling unites all successful film artists who share a fluency in the sight, sound and motion of movies. If you want to take your screenplay or your film appreciation to a higher level, this book will get you there.
The film director is the guide, the inspiration, the focus that can shepherd hundreds of artists into the creation of a single work of art. The challenge is to collaborate effectively to realise a single vision. This book takes the reader step-by-step into the process of film-making, including reading scripts to find their core, determining vision and then communicating with writers, actors, designers, cinematographers, editors, composers and all the members of the creative team so that the vision reaches the screen.
Cinematic Motion has helped directors create a personal camera style and master complex staging challenges for over a decade. Since digital technology has revolutionized filmmaking, this second edition adds chapters on digital visualization and script breakdown.
The book uses extensive illustrations to explain how to create extended sequence shots, elaborate moving camera choreography and tracking shots with multiple story points. Interviews with top Hollywood craftspeople demonstrate how to bring sophisticated ideas to life. Readers will be able to follow links to the MWP website and interact with the author’s original storyboards, built in 3D with the latest storyboard software.
Steven D. Katz, who lives in New York, is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. He is also the author of Shot by Shot, the now classic text on cinematic style and technique.
How to make your breakthrough movie.
A first time director needs a survival guide, not an encyclopedia. Gil Bettman tells you everything you must know about the easy stuff — preproduction and postproduction — so you can convincingly discharge your duties as a director in those areas. More importantly, he arms you with the information and strategies to kill the demons that will be coming at you right and left on the set.
You’ll learn how to:
This book will enable you to pull form from chaos and make the best film possible —no matter your resources.
This book is an invaluable and inspirational material for the film, television and theatre professional. It helps directors, actors, writers, designers, producers and executives tap into the imagination and instincts, which will help them create the films they always dreamed of. Weston's first book, Directing Actors, is on reading lists of all the major film schools and film studios, and on the bookshelves of working directors in Hollywood and around the world.