First Time Director: How to Make Your Breakthrough Movie

by Gil Bettman

Overview

This book explains in precise, easy to understand language everything the novice director needs to know before taking on his or her first professional assignment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780941188777
Publisher:	Wiese, Michael Productions
Publication date:	10/01/2003
Pages:	385
Product dimensions:	5.88(w) x 9.16(h) x 0.84(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Foreword	xv
	Preface	xvii
Part 1	Before the Battle
Chapter 1.	Preproduction	3
	Soaking Up the Atmosphere	3
	Decisions! Decisions!	5
	Work, Work, Work!	6
	Producer and Director--'Til Death Do Them Part	11
	Crewing Up	18
	Summary Points	21
Chapter 2.	Content Is Everything	23
	Casting and Scripting	23
	A Few Examples from the World According to Bob	26
	Perfecting Your Script--Getting the Audience into the Movie	27
	The Hero	29
	The Heroic Quest	33
	Attaining Perfection in Casting	36
	How Do You Define Perfection? Casting Your Leads	38
	Casting Your Supporting Roles	39
	Content and the Producer--Sometimes They Come from Different Planets	40
	How to Be Almost Producer-Proof: Write the Script	43
	How to Be Producer-Proof: Write the Script and Raise the Money	46
	Summary Points	49
Part 2	Visual Design
Chapter 3.	Camera Blocking	53
	Why Move Your Camera?	53
	When Do You Move Your Camera?	54
	Externally and Internally Generated Camera Moves	56
	Moving Establishing Shots	63
	Those Who Break Bob's Rule and Why They Do It	64
	Now That You Know the Rules, It Gets Really Complicated	73
	Summary Points	78
Chapter 4.	The Good Moving Master	79
	The Four Tasks of a Good Moving Master	79
	Task 1 - Shows the Audience Everything It Needs to See in a Scene	79
	Task 4 - Picks Up Some Coverage	82
	Task 3 - Generates Eye Candy	86
	Task 2 - Concentrates the Audience's Attention on the Center of the Drama	91
	How Zemeckis Shoots a Moving Master Following the Dictates of the Four Tasks	92
	Summary Points	110
Chapter 5.	Lenses--Why Force Perspective?	113
	Lens Selection As a Joint Responsibility between Director and Cinematographer	113
	The Basics of Perspective	116
	Extreme Telephoto and Extreme Wide-Angle versus Normal Perspective	118
	Lenses--Field of Vision and Depth of Field	121
	General Applications of Different Lenses	122
	Forced Perspective Made Easy	125
	How Lenses Affect Movement	127
	Summary Points	133
Part 3	Performance
Chapter 6.	Directing Actors--It Takes Erudition and Intuition	137
	Breaking Down the Script	141
	The Spine of the Film--The Spine of the Characters	141
	The Actor's Objective--An Overview	145
	How Objectives Work--Get-from or Do-to Objectives + Conflict = Reality	152
	Physicalization of the Objective	158
	Identifying the Most-Playable Objective	161
	Ultraplayable Objectives	164
	Adjustments	167
	"The More Adjustments, the Better"--How Come?	173
	All Adjustments Are Gerunds or Adverbs	177
	Improvisation	178
	Script Breakdown--Layout	181
	Summary Points	186
Chapter 7.	Rehearsal	189
	Preparation	189
	Credibility versus Interpretation	192
	Objectives and Adjustments in Rehearsal	194
	Physicalization As a Rehearsal Tool	200
	Improvisation As a Rehearsal Tool	202
	Making Weak Actors Believable and Good Actors Great--Improv As a Versatile Tool for Rehearsal	205
	Preparation Is Everything	207
	Summary Points	210
Part 4	Set Politics
Chapter 8.	On the Set	215
	Getting Ahead by Getting Along	215
	Successful Collaboration	219
	Collaborating with the 1st AD	220
	The First Walk-Through for Camera	223
	Collaborating with the Cinematographer	224
	Making Your Stars Shine during Production--Off the Set	229
	During Production--On the Set	237
	On the Set in Front of the Camera and Crew	239
	Collaborating with Your Lead Actors During the First Walk-Through for Camera	244
	Taming the Actors Who Chew the Scenery	249
	Collaborating with Yourself	250
	Summary Points	253
Part 5	Postproduction
Chapter 9.	To the Answer Print and Beyond	257
	Collaborating with Your Editor	257
	Reshoots	261
	Inserts	263
	Post Sound--An Overview	273
	Spotting the Picture for Sound Effects and ADR	275
	On the ADR Stage	280
	Hiring a Composer	283
	Working with the Composer	284
	Sound Mixing or Rerecording	287
	Promotion	290
	To the Answer Print and the Sweet Hereafter	294
	Signing with a Manager/Agent	294
	Signing with a Publicist	298
	Coping with Success or the Lack Thereof	298
	Summary Points	302
	About the Author	307