Directing : Film Techniques and Aesthetics.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Introduction -- Part 1: The Director and Artistic Identity -- Chapter 1 The World of the Film Director -- Cinema Art and You -- How Most People Get There -- Professional Responsibilities -- Personal Qualities -- Developing Intuition -- Leadership and Collaborating with a Team -- Telling Your Stories -- Film Art and Individualism -- Story Sources -- Artistic Identity I: How It Functions -- Artistic Identity II: Locating Yours -- Subjects to Avoid -- Displace and Transform -- The Artistic Process -- Chapter 2 Developing as a Director -- Film School -- Learning Without Film School -- Resources for the Self-Taught -- The Importance of Short Films -- The Industry Route -- The Independent Route -- Cast and Crew Considerations -- The Good News -- The Bad News -- The Director and Technology -- Part 2: The Story and its Development -- Chapter 3 Essential Elements of Drama -- Duality and Conflict -- Defining Conflict -- Elements of Conflict and Action -- The Objectives and Through-lines -- The Stakes -- The Obstacles -- Action and Character -- From Story to Dramatic Narrative -- Chapter 4 Shaping the Story into Drama -- The Beat -- Dramatic Units -- Dramatic Unit and Beat Analysis -- The Dramatic Arc -- Levels of Action -- The Three-Act Structure -- The Three-Act Structure Caveat -- Essentials of Dramatization I: Making the Internal Visible -- Essentials of Dramatization II: Questions and Revelations -- Chapter 5 Plot, Time, and Structure -- What is Plot? -- Cause and Effect -- Flow and Inevitability -- Character-Driven and Plot-Driven Stories -- Organizing Time -- Where to Begin and End -- Options for Organizing Time -- Structure -- Premise and Theme -- Short Films and Story Scale -- Short Films and Flexibility -- Part 3: The Director and the Script.

Chapter 6 Screenplay Ground Rules -- The Writer is the Writer, not the Director -- Screenplay Stages -- Step Outline -- Treatment -- First Draft to Final Draft -- Shooting Script -- Standard Screenplay Formatting -- Chapter 7 Recognizing the Superior Screenplay -- Script Language and Technique -- Stage Directions -- Dialogue and Personal Directions -- First Reading, First Impression -- Getting Specific with Margin Notes -- Assessing Cinematic Qualities -- How is the Story Told? -- Integrity of Characters and Motives -- Uncover Character Subtext -- Metaphoric Detail -- Checking the Embedded Values -- Spotting Archetypes -- Viability and Working Within Limitations -- Determine the Story Givens -- Determine Project Resources -- Viability and Safety Issues -- Working Within Limitations -- Chapter 8 Script Analysis and Development -- Collapsing the Screenplay for Analysis -- Analyzing Plot and Story Logic -- Plot Points -- Point of View: Subjective or Open -- Character Development -- Static and Dynamic Character Definition -- Character and Voice -- Character Development -- Internal Through-Line -- Character Analysis -- Establishing Character -- Assessing Dialogue -- Verbal Action -- Replacing Dialogue with Action -- Testing Dialogue -- Checking Exposition -- Assessing Environmental Detail -- Locations -- Sound -- Long Form Series Considerations -- Inviting a Critical Response -- Incorporating Criticism -- Assess and Reassess -- Part 4: Authorship and Aesthetics -- Chapter 9 Cinematic Point of View -- Planning a Point of View -- Telling Stories on Film -- Point of View in Literature -- Point of View in Film -- Central Character, One Point of View -- Implied Character POV -- Subjective Character POV -- Limited vs. Open Information -- Multiple Characters, Multiple POVs -- Dual Main Characters -- Multiple Characters -- Subsidiary or Alternative POVs.

The Concerned Observer -- Observer into Storyteller -- Audience POV -- Chapter 10 Form and Style -- The Storyteller's Vision -- Visual Design -- Sound Design -- Psychoacoustics, and Sound's Narrative Contribution -- Performance Style -- Editing Style -- Rhythmic Design -- Directorial Style -- Chapter 11 Tone, Style, and Genre -- The Scope of Style and Tone -- Naturalism -- Classical Style or Hollywood Realism -- Hyperbole and Irony -- Expressionism and the Avant-Garde -- The Sliding Scale of Cinema Style -- Time, Music, and Suspending Disbelief -- Genre and Style -- Part 5: A Director's Screen Grammar -- Chapter 12 Film Language -- Film Language and Storytelling -- The Shot and Mise-en-Scène -- Creating Complex Meaning in an Image -- The Edit and Montage -- Beyond Broad Concepts -- Chapter 13 The Frame and the Shot -- Compositional Axes of the Frame -- Essential Principles of Composition -- Closed and Open Frames -- Deep Frames, Shallow Frames -- Balanced and Unbalanced Frames -- The Rule of Thirds -- Camera Height -- Common Shot Sizes -- Shot Selection -- Chapter 14 The Moving Camera -- Camera Movements from a Fixed Position -- Dynamic Camera Movements -- Motivating the Moving Camera -- Chapter 15 Language of the Edit -- Shots in Juxtaposition -- Juxtaposing Sound and Image -- The Continuity System -- The Basic Shots of Master Scene Technique -- The Six Principles of Continuity Editing -- Not Just for Two People -- Visual Point of View -- Storytelling Style and Coverage -- Movement and Screen Direction -- Changing Screen Direction -- Editing and Time Compression -- Real Time and Expanded Time -- Shot Duration, Information, and Perception -- Duration, Detail, and Meaning -- Chapter 16 The Human Vantage in Cinematic Language -- Human Vantage -- The Concerned Observer and Storyteller Roles -- The Actor, the Acted-Upon.

Different Angles on the Same Action -- Abstraction -- Subjectivity and Objectivity -- Sequence and Memory -- Screen Language in Summary -- The Filmmaker and Creative Research -- The Filmmaker and Practice -- Part 6: Preproduction -- Chapter 17 Exploring the Script -- Interpreting the Script -- Two Types of Film, Two Kinds of Preparation -- Homework -- Revisit Your Premise -- Preliminary Scene Breakdown -- Define the Subtexts -- Tools to Reveal Dramatic Dynamics -- Storyline Analysis -- Graphing Tension and Beats -- First Visualization -- Logline and Guiding Metaphors -- Chapter 18 Casting -- Overview -- Post a Casting Call Advertisement -- Active Search for Actors -- Non-Professional Actors -- Setting Up the First Audition -- The Actors Arrive -- Conducting the First Audition -- Monologues -- Cold Readings -- Assessment -- Concluding Each Audition -- Decisions After the First Round -- First Callback-Auditioning with the Script -- Improvisation -- Second Callback -- Interview -- Mix and Match Actors -- Making Final Choices -- Camera Test -- Negative Characters and Typecasting -- Announcing Casting Decisions -- Giving and Taking -- Casting Non-Actors -- Non-Actors in Character Roles -- Non-Actors in Major Roles -- Chapter 19 Acting Fundamentals -- Stanislavsky -- Believing It -- Interior Life and Playable Actions -- Drawing on Personal Experience -- Comparing Theatre and Film Acting -- The Director's Challenge -- Chapter 20 Directing Actors -- Director in Relation to Actors -- Make Contact -- Build Trust and Authority -- Direct Positively and Equably -- Common Problems -- Lack of Focus and Relaxation -- Mind-Body Connection Missing -- Anticipating or Not Adapting -- Acting in Isolation -- Missing Interior Life -- Missing Subtexts -- The Generalized Interpretation -- Distancing and Indicating -- Intensity, Intimacy, and Limiting an Actor's Sphere.

Tackling Stubborn Artificiality -- How Much Rehearsal is Enough? -- Don't Over-Direct -- The Element of Surprise -- Some Do's and Don'ts -- Chapter 21 Rehearsals -- The Director Prepares -- Scene Analysis, Subtexts, and Developing the Authority to Direct -- Conflicts and Beats -- Naming the Function of Each Scene -- Heightening Dramatic Tension and the Crisis Point -- Defining the Thematic Purpose -- Setting Up Rehearsals -- Rehearsal Space -- Rehearsals with the Book -- The Table Reading and Introducing the Project -- Meeting One-On-One with Actors -- Scene Breakdown Sessions -- Rehearsal Order and Priorities for Small Groups -- Consolidating Characters' Formative Experiences -- Encourage Physical Movement -- Notes, Feedback, and Establishing a Working Rhythm -- Character Complexity and "Negative" Characters -- Rehearsing without the Book -- Turning Thought and Will into Action -- A Character's Inner Movement -- Monitoring Subtexts -- Cuing and Pacing -- Spontaneity -- Blocking and Using Space Expressively -- Using Improvisation Scenarios -- Locations, Environments, and Research -- The Director as Active Observer -- Shooting Rehearsals -- Don't Show Actors Their Work -- Check Timings -- A Long Journey -- Chapter 22 Acting Exercises -- Using Improvisation -- Improvisation Exercises -- Acting and Doing -- The Director's Role During Improvs -- Discerning Beats and Dramatic Units -- The Actor's Role During Improvs -- Make your Audience See -- Staying Focused -- Audience Etiquette and Improv Duration -- Assessment and Discussion -- Acting Exercises -- Improvisation Exercises -- Acting Exercises with Text -- Improvisation for Script Development -- Chapter 23 Planning the Visual Design -- Visual Design Questionnaire -- Research and the Lookbook -- Elements of Visual Design -- Locations and Sets -- Cinematography -- Wardrobe, Makeup, and Hairdressing.

Case Studies in Visual Design.

Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics is a comprehensive exploration into the art and craft of directing for film and television. It's filled with practical advice, essential technical information, and inspiring case studies for every stage of production, as well as a companion website including forms, checklists, assignments.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.