Film Directing Fundamentals : See Your Film Before Shooting

by Proferes

• ISBN13: 9780240805627
• ISBN10: 0240805623
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-10-19
• Publisher: Elsevier Science

Summary

Unique among directing books, Film Directing Fundamentals provides a clear-cut methodology for translating a script to the screen. Using the script as a blueprint, Proferes leads the reader through specific techniques to analyze and translate its components into a visual story. A sample screenplay is included that explicates the techniques. The book assumes no knowledge and thus introduces basic concepts and terminology. * Unique, focused approach to film directing that shows how to use the screenplay as a blueprint * Clear-cut methodology for translating a script to the screen * Case studies featuring famous films

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
PART ONE LEARNING HOW TO DRAW
Introduction to Film Language and Grammar	3	(11)
The Film World	3	(1)
Film Language	3	(1)
Shots	4	(1)
Film Grammar	5	(1)
The 180-Degree Rule	5	(3)
The 30-Degree Rule	8	(1)
Screen Direction	9	(2)
Film Time	11	(1)
Compression	11	(1)
Elaboration	12	(1)
Familiar Images	12	(2)
Introduction to the Dramatic Elements Embedded in the Screenplay	14	(7)
Spines	14	(2)
Whose Film Is It?	16	(1)
Character	16	(1)
Circumstance	17	(1)
Dynamic Relationships	17	(1)
Wants	18	(1)
Expectations	18	(1)
Actions	19	(1)
Activity	19	(1)
Acting Beats	19	(2)
Organizing Action in a Dramatic Scene	21	(9)
Dramatic Blocks	21	(1)
Narrative Beats	21	(1)
The Fulcrum	22	(1)
Dramatic Elements in Notorious Patio Scene	22	(1)
Notorious Patio Scene Annotated	23	(7)
Staging	30	(10)
Main Functions	30	(2)
Patterns of Dramatic Movement	32	(1)
Changing the Stage Within a Scene	33	(1)
Staging as Part of a Film's Design	34	(1)
Working with a Location Floor Plan	34	(1)
Floor Plan and Staging for Notorious Patio Scene	34	(6)
The Camera	40	(14)
The Camera as Narrator	40	(1)
The Reveal	40	(1)
Entrances	41	(1)
The Objective Camera	41	(1)
The Subjective Camera	41	(1)
Where Do I Put It?	42	(3)
Visual Design	45	(1)
Style	46	(1)
Coverage	46	(1)
Camera Height	47	(1)
Lenses	48	(1)
Composition	49	(1)
Where to Begin?	49	(1)
Working Toward Specificity in Visualization	50	(1)
Looking for Order	50	(1)
Dramatic Blocks and the Camera	51	(1)
Shot Lists and Storyboards	51	(1)
The Prose Storyboard	51	(3)
Camera in Notorious Patio Scene	54	(23)
First Dramatic Block	54	(5)
Second Dramatic Block	59	(2)
Third Dramatic Block	61	(5)
Fourth Dramatic Block and Fulcrum	66	(1)
Fifth Dramatic Block	67	(10)
PART TWO MAKING YOUR FILM
Detective Work on Scripts	77	(20)
Reading Your Screenplay	77	(1)
A Piece of Apple Pie Screenplay	78	(5)
Whose Film Is It?	83	(1)
Character	83	(1)
Circumstance	83	(1)
Spines for A Piece of Apple Pie	84	(1)
Dynamic Relationships	85	(1)
Wants	85	(1)
Actions	86	(1)
Acting Beats	86	(1)
Activity	86	(1)
Tone for A Piece of Apple Pie	86	(1)
Breaking A Piece of Apple Pie into Actions	87	(1)
Designing a Scene	87	(1)
Visualization	88	(1)
Identifying the Fulcrum and Dramatic Blocks	88	(1)
Supplying Narrative Beats to A Piece of Apple Pie	89	(7)
Director's Notebook	96	(1)
Staging and Camera for a Piece of Apple Pie	97	(34)
Staging	97	(3)
Camera	100	(30)
Conclusions	130	(1)
Marking Shooting Scripts With Camera Setups	131	(8)
Working With Actors	139	(11)
Casting	140	(3)
First Read-Through	143	(1)
Directing During Rehearsals	144	(3)
Directing Actors on the Set	147	(3)
Managerial Responsibilities of the Director	150	(4)
Delegating Authority While Accepting Responsibility	150	(1)
The Producer	151	(1)
The Assistant Director	151	(1)
A Realistic Shooting Schedule	152	(1)
Working with the Crew	153	(1)
Working with the Director of Photography	153	(1)
Postproduction	154	(7)
Editing	154	(2)
Music and Sound	156	(1)
Locking Picture, or How Do You Know When It's Over?	157	(1)
An Audience and a Big Screen	157	(4)
PART THREE LEARNING THE CRAFT THROUGH FILM ANALYSIS
Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious	161	(19)
Overview of Style and Design	161	(1)
First Act	162	(3)
Second Act	165	(13)
Third Act	178	(1)
Summary	179	(1)
Peter Weir's the Truman Show	180	(25)
Overview of Style and Design	180	(2)
First Act	182	(5)
Second Act	187	(12)
Third Act	199	(5)
Summary	204	(1)
Federico Fellini's 8-1/2	205	(35)
A Masterpiece?	205	(1)
The Director as Auteur	205	(1)
Dramatic Construction	206	(1)
Overview of Style and Design	206	(2)
Detective Work	208	(1)
First Act	209	(11)
Second Act	220	(15)
Third Act	235	(3)
Summary	238	(2)
Styles and Dramatic Structures	240	(17)
Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu (1953, Japan)	240	(2)
Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder (1959, USA)	242	(2)
The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo (1965, France)	244	(1)
Red, Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994, Poland, France, Switzerland)	245	(2)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Steven Soderbergh (1989, USA)	247	(2)
Shall We Dance?, Masayuki Suo (1996, Japan)	249	(2)
The Celebration, Thomas Vinterberg (1998, Denmark)	251	(2)
The Insider, Michael Mann (1999, USA)	253	(2)
The Thin Red Line, Terrence Malick (1998, USA)	255	(2)
What Next?	257	(14)
Writing for the Director	258	(1)
Begin Thinking About Your Story	258	(2)
Concocting Your Feature Screenplay	260	(1)
``Writing'' Scenes with Actors	260	(1)
Shooting Your Film Before You Finish Writing It	261	(1)
The Final Script	261	(1)
Shooting Without a Screenplay?	261	(1)
Questions Directors Should Ask About Their Screenplays	262	(1)
Building Directorial Muscles	263	(1)
Directing Exercises	263	(6)
Make A Piece of Apple Pie Your Own	269	(1)
Conclusion	269	(2)
Bibliography	271	(1)
Index	272