Film Directing Fundamentals: See Your Film Before Shooting » (3rd Edition)

“I am amazed by the simplicity with which Professor Proferes explicates complex ideas. Film Directing Fundamentals is valuable not only for film directors, but also for actors and anyone interested in the creation of dramatic art.”
—Andrie Serban, international theatre and opera director, and Professor at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, Theater Division

“Nick Proferes doesn’t tell you how to direct—which would be as silly as telling you what to direct. Instead, he does something much more valuable: he explains how directors actually think their way through the job.”
—James Schamus, Professor at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, Film Division, and Producer/Screenwriter (The Ice Storm and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)

“There are many books on directing, but none in my opinion have the depth and accessibility of Nick Proferes’. This treasure trove of insight and inspiration is a master class from a master teacher that clearly illuminates, step by step, the building blocks necessary to create meaningful cinematic storytelling with dramatic punch.”
—Alex Zamm, Director and Screenwriter (Chairman of the Board, My Date with the President’s Daughter), and former student of the author

“There is a great deal of insight about directing as an intellectually-guided yet intuition- (and emotion) fueled process and it’s presented in ways that should be easily accessible to students.”
—Bruce Sheridan, Chair, Film & Video Department, Columbia College

• Unique, focused approach to film directing that shows how to use the screenplay as a blueprint for rendering the script to the screen
• Running project encourages active approach and brings concepts to life
• Includes case studies featuring famous films

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 for translating 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 presented in the book. Film Directing Fundamentals assumes no prior knowledge and thus introduces basic concepts and terminology.

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part 1 Film Language and a Directing Methodology 1

Chapter 1 Introduction to Film Language and Grammar 3

The Film World 3

Film Language 3

Shots 4

Film Grammar 4

The 180-Degree Rule 4

The 30-Degree Rule 7

Screen Direction 8

Film-Time 9

Compression 10

Elaboration 10

Familiar Image 11

Chapter 2 Introduction to the Dramatic Elements Embedded in the Screenplay 13

Spines 13

Whose Film Is It? 14

Character 15

Circumstance 16

Dynamic Relationship 16

Wants 16

Expectations 17

Actions 17

Activity 17

Acting Beats 17

Dramatic Blocks 18

Narrative Beats 18

Fulcrum 19

Chapter 3 Organizing Action in a Dramatic Scene 20

Dramatic Elements in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious Patio Scene 20

Notorious Patio Scene Annotated 21

Chapter 4 Staging 28

Patterns of Dramatic Movement 30

Changing the Stage within a Scene 30

Staging as Part of a Film's Design 31

Working with a Location Floor Plan 31

Floor Plan for Notorious Patio Scene 31

Chapter 5 Camera 36

The Camera as Narrator 36

Reveal 36

Entrances 36

Objective Camera 37

Subjective Camera 37

Where Do I Put It? 38

Visual Design 40

Style 41

Coverage 41

Camera Height 42

Lenses 43

Composition 44

Where to Begin? 44

Working toward Specificity in Visualization 44

Looking for Order 45

Dramatic Blocks and Camera 45

Shot Lists, Storyboards, and Setups 45

The Prose Storyboard 46

Chapter 6 Camera in Notorious Patio Scene 49

First Dramatic Block 49

Second Dramatic Block 53

Third Dramatic Block 57

Fourth Dramatic Block and Fulcrum 59

Fifth Dramatic Block 63

Part 2 Making Your Film 67

Chapter 7 Detective Work on Scripts69

Reading Your Screenplay 69

A Piece of Apple Pie Screenplay 70

Whose Film Is It? 75

Character 75

Circumstance 75

Spines for A Piece of Apple Pie 76

Dynamic Relationships 76

Wants 77

Actions 77

Acting Beats 77

Activity 78

Tone for A Piece of Apple Pie 78

Breaking A Piece of Apple Pie into Actions 78

Designing a Scene 79

Visualization 79

Identifying the Fulcrum and Dramatic Blocks 79

Supplying Narrative Beats to A Piece of Apple Pie 80

Director's Notebook 86

Chapter 8 Staging and Camera for A Piece of Apple Pie 87

Staging 87

Camera 89

Conclusion 115

Chapter 9 Marking Shooting Script with Camera Setups 116

Chapter 10 Working with Actors 123

Casting 124

Auditions 125

First Read-Through 126

Directing During Rehearsals 127

Directing Actors on the Set 130

Chapter 11 Managerial Responsibilities of the Director 132

Delegating Authority While Accepting Responsibility 132

The Producer 132

The Assistant Director 133

A Realistic Shooting Schedule 134

Working with the Crew 134

Working with the Director of Photography 134

Chapter 12 Postproduction 136

Editing 136

Music and Sound 138

Locking Picture, or, How Do You Know When It's Over? 138

An Audience and a Big Screen 139

Part 3 Organizing Action in an Action Scene 141

Chapter 13 Staging and Camera for Over Easy Action Scene 143

Development of Screenplay 146

Director's Preparation for Directing an Action Scene 147

Where to Begin? 147

Over Easy Action Scene/Staging and Camera Angels for Storyboard Artist 148

Part 4 Organizing Action in a Narrative Scene 185

Chapter 14 Staging and Camera for Wanda Narrative Scene 187

What Is the Scene's Job? 187

Choosing a Location 188

Staging 188

Camera Style in Wanda 189

Part 5 Learning the Craft Through Film Analysis 219

Chapter 15 Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious 221

Overview of Style and Design 221

First Act 222

Second Act 224

Third Act 235

Summary 236

Chapter 16 Peter Weir's The Truman Show 237

Overview of Style and Design 237

First Act 238

Second Act 243

Third Act 252

Summary 256

Chapter 17 Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 257

A Masterpiece? 257

The Director as Auteur 257

Dramatic Construction 258

Overview of Style and Design 258

Detective Work 260

First Act 260

Second Act 269

Third Act 281

Summary 284

Chapter 18 Styles And Dramatic Structures 285

Style 285

Narrative, Dramatic, and Poetic Visual Styles 286

The Variety of Dramatic Structures 286

Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu (1953, Japan) 287

Some Like It Hot, Billy Wilder (1959) 288

The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo (1965, France) 289

Red, Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994, Poland, France, Switzerland) 290

Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Steven Soderbergh (1989) 292

Shall We Dance?, Masayuki Suo (1996, Japan) 294

The Celebration, Thomas Vinterberg (1998, Denmark) 295

The Insider, Michael Mann (1999) 297

The Thin Red Line, Terrence Malick (1998) 299

In the Mood for Love, Kar Wai Wong (2001, China) 300

Little Children, Todd Field (2006) 302

Chapter 19 What Next? 304

Building Directorial Muscles 304

Writing for the Director 305

Begin Thinking about Your Story 305

Concocting Your Feature Screenplay 306

"Writing" Scenes with Actors 307

Shooting Your Film before You Finish Writing It 307

The Final Script 308

Shooting without a Screenplay? 308

Questions Directors Should Ask about Their Screenplays 308

Conclusion 309

Bibliography 311

Index 313