Film Research Guide: Directing for Film

When a film is acclaimed, the director usually gets the lion's share of the credit. Yet the movie director's job--especially the collaborations and compromises it involves--remains little understood.  The latest volume in the Behind the Silver Screen series, this collection provides the first comprehensive overview of how directing, as both an art and profession, has evolved in tandem with changing film industry practices. Challenging the myth of the lone director, these studies demonstrate how directors work with a multitude of other talented creative professionals, including actors, writers, producers, editors, and cinematographers.    Directing examines a diverse range of classic and contemporary directors, including Orson Welles, Tim Burton, Cecil B. DeMille, Steven Soderbergh, Spike Lee, and Ida Lupino, offering a rich composite picture of how they have negotiated industry constraints, utilized new technologies, and harnessed the creative contributions of their many collaborators throughout a century of Hollywood filmmaking.  

Becoming a successful director like Steven Spielberg or Patty Jenkins requires a lot more than knowing when to call "action" or "cut." In this book, readers will discover the many skills, communication, leadership, time management, and storytelling, that make a promising director. They'll learn about the different directorial positions and the difference between working in television and movies, then see how these skills work in careers outside of the film industry.

The core goal of Directing Screen Performances is to teach aspiring directors how to prepare and work with actors. In this book you will learn how to analyze a script, brief the casting director, rehearse the actors, decide on the visual treatment that enriches their performances, direct effectively on set and finesse the character in the edit. The director's process is clearly defined and augmented with illustrations, photographs and graphics, and each chapter concludes with practical exercises to consolidate the new knowledge.

This book is a "directing-altering book" as it provides high-quality learning resources that encourage and challenge film enthusiasts, aspiring directors, film students, and professionals to strive for new levels of excellence and impact in their film directing, television directing, and new media directing. This book presents a wide range of directorial concepts and directing exercises that include: ¿ Psycho-physiological regularities in left-right/right-left orientation transferred to a shot design. How directors can manipulate the viewer's perception of a character and of the journey they are on using screen direction. ¿ Methodology and visual strategy for rendering a scene based on character perspective.¿ The directorial concept of emotional manipulation. ¿ Demystifying the 180-degree rule.

Film Directing Fundamentals gives the novice director an organic methodology for realizing on the screen the full dramatic possibility of a screenplay. Unique among directing books, this book provides clear-cut ways to translate a script to the screen. A sample screenplay is included that explicates the techniques. The book assumes no knowledge and thus introduces basic concepts and terminology. Appropriate for screenwriters, aspiring directors and filmmakers, Film Directing Fundamentals helps filmmakers bring their story to life on screen.