Film Directing Fundamentals : See Your Film

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

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

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

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Film Directing Fundamentals : See Your Film Before Shooting

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials