The Director's Idea: The Path to Great Directing

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ISBN: 9780240806815 | 0240806816
Cover: Nonspecific Binding
Copyright: 2/21/2006

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As a director, you must have a concept, a "director's idea", to shape your approach to the actors, the camera, and the script. With this clear idea your film will be deeper and more effective, and you will be able to differentiate--and therefore make the choice--between competent directing and great directing. Using case studies of famous directors as real-world examples of "director's ideas", the author has provided the theory and the practice to help directors immediately improve their work. *Improve your work and make your film deeper, more layered, and more effective *Book is a great blend of theory and practice *Case studies of famous directors bring the concepts to life

Acknowledgments

xiii

Part I: What the Director Does

Introduction

(10)

What Does the Director Do?

(1)

Who Is the Director?

(1)

How Did We Get Here

(1)

Where Are We Today?

(2)

The Structure of the Book

(1)

How I Came to Write This Book

(3)

The Director's Idea

(12)

The Unity of the Production

(9)

The Competent Director

(16)

What the Audience Wants

(2)

Directors and Competence

(2)

Case Study I. The Competent Director: Antoine Fuqua (``King Arthur,'' 2004)

(3)

Case Study II. The Competent Director: Simon Wincer (``The Lighthorseman,'' 1087)

(8)

The Good Director

(14)

How the Director's Idea Works

(6)

A Case Study in Good Directing: Michael Mann's ``Collateral''

(2)

Adding Value to a Project

(3)

The Director's Idea

(2)

The Great Director

(18)

Voice

(1)

Three Contemporary Great Directors in America

(6)

Three Contemporary Great Directors Outside America

(9)

Text Interpretation

(14)

The Case of Steinbeck's East of Eden

(2)

Interior/Exterior

(2)

Young/Old

(1)

Male/Female

(1)

Political/Sociological/Psychological

(2)

Tone

(2)

The Camera

(18)

The Shot

(2)

Camera Placement

(2)

Proximity

(1)

Objectivity

(1)

Subjective Camera Placement

(1)

Camera Height

(1)

Camera Movement

(3)

Movement from a Fixed Point

(1)

Movement from Movement

(1)

Lighting

(1)

Art Direction

(1)

Sound

(1)

The Edit

(7)

Continuity

(1)

Clarity

(1)

Dramatic Emphasis

(1)

New Ideas

(1)

Parallel Action

(1)

Emotional Guidelines

100

(1)

Tone

100

(1)

The Main Character

101

(1)

Conflict

101

(1)

Story Form

101

(3)

The Actor

104

(18)

Casting

105

(3)

The Character Are

108

(2)

An Aside about Actors as Directors

110

(1)

Philosophies of Acting

111

(1)

Outside In

112

(1)

Inside Out

113

(1)

The American School

113

(1)

The European School

114

(8)

Part II: The Case Studies of Directing

Sergei Eisenstein: The Historical Dialectic

122

(12)

Introduction

123

(1)

Text Interpretation

123

(2)

Directing the Actor

125

(3)

Directing the Camera

128

(2)

Directing for the Edit

130

(4)

John Ford: Poetry and Heroism

134

(14)

Introduction

135

(3)

``The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940)

137

(1)

``My Darling Clementine'' (1946)

137

(1)

``They Were Expendable'' (1945)

137

(1)

``The Searchers'' (1956)

138

(1)

Text Interpretation

138

(3)

Directing the Actors

141

(2)

Directing the Camera

143

(5)

George Stevens: The American Character -- Desire and Conscience

148

(14)

Introduction

149

(3)

``Alice Adams'' (1935)

150

(1)

``Gunga Din'' (1939)

150

(1)

``The More the Merrier'' (1943)

150

(1)

``A Place in the Sun'' (1951)

151

(1)

``Giant'' (1956)

152

(1)

Text Interpretation

152

(2)

Directing the Actors

154

(2)

Directing the Camera

156

(6)

Billy Wilder: Existence at Stake

162

(12)

Introduction

163

(4)

``The Lost Weekend'' (1945)

165

(1)

``Sunset Boulevard'' (1950)

165

(1)

``The Apartment'' (1960)

165

(1)

``Double Indemnity'' (1944)

166

(1)

Text Interpretation

167

(2)

Directing the Actor

169

(2)

Directing the Camera

171

(3)

Ernst Lubitsch: The Life Force of Romance

174

(14)

Introduction

175

(6)

``Trouble in Paradise'' (1932)

178

(1)

``Ninotchka'' (1939)

179

(1)

``The Shop Around the Corner'' (1940)

180

(1)

``To Be or Not To Be'' (1942)

180

(1)

Text Interpretation

181

(2)

Directing the Actors

183

(1)

Directing the Camera

184

(4)

Elia Kazan: Drama as Life

188

(16)

Introduction

189

(8)

``Panic in the Streets'' (1950)

194

(1)

``On the Waterfront'' (1954)

195

(1)

``East of Eden'' (1954)

196

(1)

``America, America'' (1963)

196

(1)

Text Interpretation

197

(1)

Directing the Actor

198

(2)

Directing the Camera

200

(4)

Francois Truffaut: Celebrate the Child

204

(14)

Introduction

205

(4)

``The 400 Blows'' (1966)

206

(1)

``Stolen Kisses'' (1968)

207

(1)

``Love on the Run'' (1978)

207

(1)

``Day for Night'' (1972)

208

(1)

Text Interpretation

209

(3)

Directing the Actor

212

(1)

Directing the Camera

213

(5)

Roman Polanski: The Aloneness of Existence

218

(14)

Introduction

219

(5)

``Rosemary's Baby'' (1968)

221

(1)

``Chinatown'' (1974)

221

(2)

``Tess'' (1981)

223

(1)

``The Pianist'' (2002)

224

(1)

Text Interpretation

224

(3)

Directing the Actor

227

(2)

Directing the Camera

229

(3)

Stanley Kubrick: The Darkness of Modern Life

232

(14)

Introduction

233

(5)

``2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968)

235

(1)

``Barry Lyndon'' (1975)

236

(1)

``Full Metal Jacket'' (1987)

237

(1)

``Eyes Wide Shut'' (2000)

237

(1)

Text Interpretation

238

(4)

Directing the Actor

242

(1)

Directing the Camera

243

(3)

Steven Spielberg: Childhood Forever

246

(14)

Introduction

247

(5)

``Jaws'' (1975)

249

(1)

``Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981)

249

(1)

``E.T.'' (1982)

250

(1)

``Saving Private Ryan'' (1998)

251

(1)

Text Interpretation

252

(2)

Directing the Actors

254

(1)

Directing the Camera

255

(5)

Margarethe Von Trotta: Historical Life and Personal Life Intersect

260

(14)

Introduction

261

(7)

``The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum'' (1975)

264

(1)

``The Second Awakening of Christa Klages'' (1977)

264

(1)

``Marianne and Juliane'' (1981)

265

(2)

``Rosenstrasse'' (2004)

267

(1)

Text Interpretation

268

(2)

Directing the Actor

270

(2)

Directing the Camera

272

(2)

Lukas Moodysson: Empathy and Its Limits

274

(14)

Introduction

275

(7)

``Fucking Amal'' (1998)

277

(1)

``Together'' (2000)

278

(1)

``Lilja 4-Ever'' (2002)

279

(2)

``A Hole in My Heart'' (2004)

281

(1)

Text Interpretation

282

(2)

Directing the Actor

284

(1)

Directing the Camera

285

(3)

Catherine Breillat: The Warfare of Sexuality

288

(12)

Introduction

289

(6)

``Romance'' (1999)

292

(1)

``Fat Girl'' (2001)

293

(1)

``Sex Is Comedy'' (2002)

294

(1)

``Anatomy of Hell'' (2004)

294

(1)

Text Interpretation

295

(1)

Directing the Actor

296

(1)

Directing the Camera

297

(3)

Mary Harron: Celebrity and Banality

300

(16)

Introduction

301

(9)

``I Shot Andy Warhol'' (1995)

306

(1)

``American Psycho'' (2000)

307

(3)

Text Interpretation

310

(2)

Directing the Actor

312

(1)

Directing the Camera

313

(3)

Conclusion

316

(14)

Appendix Finding the Director's Idea

330

(8)

Strategy for Reading the Script

331

(2)

Moving Toward Interpretation

333

(2)

Choosing the Director's Idea

335

(3)

Index

338

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The Director's Idea: The Path to Great Directing

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials