Film Directing Fundamentals

by Proferes; Nicholas

• ISBN13: 9780240809403
• ISBN10: 0240809408
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-07-03
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

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. Using the script as a blueprint, the reader is led 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. Appropriate for screenwriters, aspiring directors and filmmakers, Film Directing Fundamentals helps filmmakers bring their story to life on screen. * Unique, focused approach to film directing that shows how to use the screenplay as a blueprint for rendering the script to the screen * Features new sections on "Organizing Action in an Action Scene", and "Organizing Action in a Narrative Scene", to complement the first two edition's emphasis on Dramatic Scenes * Written by an author with 25+ years experience teaching directing and who has worked extensively in the film industry as a director, cameraman, editor, and producer in both documentary and dramatic/narrative films

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Film Language and a Directing Methodology	p. 1
Introduction to Film Language and Grammar	p. 3
The Film World	p. 3
Film Language	p. 3
Shots	p. 4
Film Grammar	p. 4
The 180-Degree Rule	p. 4
The 30-Degree Rule	p. 7
Screen Direction	p. 8
Film-Time	p. 9
Compression	p. 10
Elaboration	p. 10
Familiar Image	p. 11
Introduction to the Dramatic Elements Embedded in the Screenplay	p. 13
Spines	p. 13
Whose Film Is It?	p. 14
Character	p. 15
Circumstance	p. 16
Dynamic Relationship	p. 16
Wants	p. 16
Expectations	p. 17
Actions	p. 17
Activity	p. 17
Acting Beats	p. 17
Dramatic Blocks	p. 18
Narrative Beats	p. 18
Fulcrum	p. 19
Organizing Action in a Dramatic Scene	p. 20
Dramatic Elements in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious Patio Scene	p. 20
Notorious Patio Scene Annotated	p. 21
Staging	p. 28
Patterns of Dramatic Movement	p. 30
Changing the Stage within a Scene	p. 30
Staging as Part of a Film's Design	p. 31
Working with a Location Floor Plan	p. 31
Floor Plan for Notorious Patio Scene	p. 31
Camera	p. 36
The Camera as Narrator	p. 36
Reveal	p. 36
Entrances	p. 36
Objective Camera	p. 37
Subjective Camera	p. 37
Where Do I Put It?	p. 38
Visual Design	p. 40
Style	p. 41
Coverage	p. 41
Camera Height	p. 42
Lenses	p. 43
Composition	p. 44
Where to Begin?	p. 44
Working toward Specificity in Visualization	p. 44
Looking for Order	p. 45
Dramatic Blocks and Camera	p. 45
Shot Lists, Storyboards, and Setups	p. 45
The Prose Storyboard	p. 46
Camera in Notorious Patio Scene	p. 49
First Dramatic Block	p. 49
Second Dramatic Block	p. 53
Third Dramatic Block	p. 57
Fourth Dramatic Block and Fulcrum	p. 59
Fifth Dramatic Block	p. 63
Making Your Film	p. 67
Detective Work on Scripts	p. 69
Reading Your Screenplay	p. 69
A Piece of Apple Pie Screenplay	p. 70
Whose Film Is It?	p. 75
Character	p. 75
Circumstance	p. 75
Spines for A Piece of Apple Pie	p. 76
Dynamic Relationships	p. 76
Wants	p. 77
Actions	p. 77
Acting Beats	p. 77
Activity	p. 78
Tone for A Piece of Apple Pie	p. 78
Breaking A Piece of Apple Pie into Actions	p. 78
Designing a Scene	p. 79
Visualization	p. 79
Identifying the Fulcrum and Dramatic Blocks	p. 79
Supplying Narrative Beats to A Piece of Apple Pie	p. 80
Director's Notebook	p. 86
Staging and Camera for A Piece of Apple Pie	p. 87
Staging	p. 87
Camera	p. 89
Conclusion	p. 115
Marking Shooting Script with Camera Setups	p. 116
Working with Actors	p. 123
Casting	p. 124
Auditions	p. 125
First Read-Through	p. 126
Directing During Rehearsals	p. 127
Directing Actors on the Set	p. 130
Managerial Responsibilities of the Director	p. 132
Delegating Authority While Accepting Responsibility	p. 132
The Producer	p. 132
The Assistant Director	p. 133
A Realistic Shooting Schedule	p. 134
Working with the Crew	p. 134
Working with the Director of Photography	p. 134
Postproduction	p. 136
Editing	p. 136
Music and Sound	p. 138
Locking Picture, or, How Do You Know When It's Over?	p. 138
An Audience and a Big Screen	p. 139
Organizing Action in an Action Scene	p. 141
Staging and Camera for Over Easy Action Scene	p. 143
Development of Screenplay	p. 146
Director's Preparation for Directing an Action Scene	p. 147
Where to Begin?	p. 147
Over Easy Action Scene/Staging and Camera Angels for Storyboard Artist	p. 148
Organizing Action in a Narrative Scene	p. 185
Staging and Camera for Wanda Narrative Scene	p. 187
What Is the Scene's Job?	p. 187
Choosing a Location	p. 188
Staging	p. 188
Camera Style in Wanda	p. 189
Learning the Craft Through Film Analysis	p. 219
Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious	p. 221
Overview of Style and Design	p. 221
First Act	p. 222
Second Act	p. 224
Third Act	p. 235
Summary	p. 236
Peter Weir's The Truman Show	p. 237
Overview of Style and Design	p. 237
First Act	p. 238
Second Act	p. 243
Third Act	p. 252
Summary	p. 256
Federico Fellini's 8 1/2	p. 257
A Masterpiece?	p. 257
The Director as Auteur	p. 257
Dramatic Construction	p. 258
Overview of Style and Design	p. 258
Detective Work	p. 260
First Act	p. 260
Second Act	p. 269
Third Act	p. 281
Summary	p. 284
Styles And Dramatic Structures	p. 285
Style	p. 285
Narrative, Dramatic, and Poetic Visual Styles	p. 286
The Variety of Dramatic Structures	p. 286
Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu (1953, Japan)	p. 287
Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder (1959)	p. 288
The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo (1965, France)	p. 289
Red, Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994, Poland, France, Switzerland)	p. 290
Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Steven Soderbergh (1989)	p. 292
Shall We Dance?, Masayuki Suo (1996, Japan)	p. 294
The Celebration, Thomas Vinterberg (1998, Denmark)	p. 295
The Insider, Michael Mann (1999)	p. 297
The Thin Red Line, Terrence Malick (1998)	p. 299
In the Mood for Love, Kar Wai Wong (2001, China)	p. 300
Little Children, Todd Field (2006)	p. 302
What Next?	p. 304
Building Directorial Muscles	p. 304
Writing for the Director	p. 305
Begin Thinking about Your Story	p. 305
Concocting Your Feature Screenplay	p. 306
"Writing" Scenes with Actors	p. 307
Shooting Your Film before You Finish Writing It	p. 307
The Final Script	p. 308
Shooting without a Screenplay?	p. 308
Questions Directors Should Ask about Their Screenplays	p. 308
Conclusion	p. 309
Bibliography	p. 311
Index	p. 313
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