david farland
Well-known member
I thought I'd ask you folks…What are your favorite books/resources for directing films.
I’m particularly interested in shot selection & any cinema techniques/language which provide more than just documentary coverage of a stage play?
Like any language it’ll contain syntax & meaning which conveys/augments the story.
Just as a music score creates mood over a scene, so the camera with cinematic language can provide mood, focus & other emotional elements to the story.
To continue the metaphor, music adheres to rules of pitch/timing as cinematic language adheres to syntax elements such as points of view,
emotional charge (size) of the shot, spatial & temporal time & motion & of course adherence to the 180 degree rule.
So what books/resources do you swear by?
Lots of books cover theories about story, film, semiotics, cinematic language, camera techniques, editing & directing actors.
Obviously these areas require practice to be any good but also if you had to start from first principals on these things we’d be back in the 1900’s.
So some reading is a good thing particular at the start of your career. I found the following books to be standout for me.
So, I’d like to hear from folks…what are the standout books/ dvds/ teachers/approaches directing film in your opinion.
Story Theory
Story _by Robert McKee (9/10)
This book is great not so much for story writing but for breaking a story down into it’s elements & checking the if your story structure is sound or not.
He discusses story structure, plot (classic, minimal, non plot), genre, setting & controlling idea. He talks about character & what a protagonist is, their objectives & subtext.
Then he goes further into plot, the gap between expected & actual & resulting story tension, inciting incident, conflict, climax, antagonism, rhythm, progression & exposition.
Finally he talks about common ploblems most writers have & talks about writing from the inside out.
He says if you can’t stand there for 2 minutes telling your friend what the story is about, don’t spends months or years doing 40 redrafts.
His 3 day seminars (over the world) are fantastic.
Aristotle Poetics for Screenwriters by Michael Tierno
Gems of wisdom from the great man explained.
Review anybody?
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler
The Hero's Journey model described in lots of detail
Review anybody?
Script Breakdown
Directing Feature Films _by Mark Travis (6/10)
Mark talks about the director & how he interacts with his creative team, the script & working with actors.
He goes into breaking down the script, working with writers, general production & post production areas.
To me the best thing about this book is the way he works with actors.
He does a lot of theatre directing & has come up with a technique which seems to elicit good performances out of actors with a relatively simple technique.
Basically it involves talking to the character & NOT the actor.
He also has a set of dvd’s on this.
On Film Making _by Alexander Mackendrick (7/10)
This book is the first I’ve read that talks about the end to end process of creatively making a film.
He directed at Ealing Studio on films such as Lady Killers & then spent the next 30 years teaching film at UCLA which is how this book was formed.
Part 1 is about dramatic construction & story idea techniques, activity verses action, dramtic irony, density, dialogue & the actor.
Part 2 talks about film grammar where he refers to the camera as the ïnvisible, imaginary, ubiquitous, winged witness. He talks of spatial layout, condensing screen time, lines of axis, coverage & movement.
Film Theory & Techniques
Read a few but no stand outs. Help me here!
Cinematic Language
The Elements of Cinema _by Stefan Sharff (7/10)
An intellectual guy who worked for Eisenstein & had a thing for Hitchcock.
He talks in depth about the language & syntax of cinema. The book describe aspects of cinematic language such as:
Separation: fragmentation of scene into single images in alternation--A,B,A,B,etc
Parallel Action: two or more narrative lines running simultaneously & presented in alternation.
Slow Discloser: gradual introduction of pictorial information within a shot/s
Familiar Image: stabilizing anchor image periodically reintroduced without variations
Moving camera: used in scenes without cuts
Multi-angularity: series of shots of contrasting angles & compositions including reverse mirror images
Master shot discipline: The more traditional, Hollywood film structure
Orchestration: The arrangement of the various other elements of structure throughout the film.
First Time Director _by Gil Bettman (6/10)
Some excellent no shit advice on being a first time feature film director. He comes into his own when he talks about the game changing styles of Speilberg (& mtv). Great information on camera moves such as following the action i.e begin tight then move with action or the moving master where you concentrate audience’s attention on centre of drama whilst showing them everything they needs to see in the scene (dunno exactly how). Break it down into externally motivated camera moves (viewing in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] or 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] person) & internally motivared camera moves where you follow the subject’s pov(1st person). Talks about generation of front/rear parallax movements (eye candy) & also why to pick up as much coverage as possible in masters (time saver). There is a good section on force lens perspective i.e. wide lens (faster pace + expanded space) or tele lens (slower pace + compressed space). So if you want to get into arguments with the DOP over lens selection this is a good read.
Cont'd next post
I’m particularly interested in shot selection & any cinema techniques/language which provide more than just documentary coverage of a stage play?
Like any language it’ll contain syntax & meaning which conveys/augments the story.
Just as a music score creates mood over a scene, so the camera with cinematic language can provide mood, focus & other emotional elements to the story.
To continue the metaphor, music adheres to rules of pitch/timing as cinematic language adheres to syntax elements such as points of view,
emotional charge (size) of the shot, spatial & temporal time & motion & of course adherence to the 180 degree rule.
So what books/resources do you swear by?
Lots of books cover theories about story, film, semiotics, cinematic language, camera techniques, editing & directing actors.
Obviously these areas require practice to be any good but also if you had to start from first principals on these things we’d be back in the 1900’s.
So some reading is a good thing particular at the start of your career. I found the following books to be standout for me.
So, I’d like to hear from folks…what are the standout books/ dvds/ teachers/approaches directing film in your opinion.
Story Theory
Story _by Robert McKee (9/10)
This book is great not so much for story writing but for breaking a story down into it’s elements & checking the if your story structure is sound or not.
He discusses story structure, plot (classic, minimal, non plot), genre, setting & controlling idea. He talks about character & what a protagonist is, their objectives & subtext.
Then he goes further into plot, the gap between expected & actual & resulting story tension, inciting incident, conflict, climax, antagonism, rhythm, progression & exposition.
Finally he talks about common ploblems most writers have & talks about writing from the inside out.
He says if you can’t stand there for 2 minutes telling your friend what the story is about, don’t spends months or years doing 40 redrafts.
His 3 day seminars (over the world) are fantastic.
Aristotle Poetics for Screenwriters by Michael Tierno
Gems of wisdom from the great man explained.
Review anybody?
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler
The Hero's Journey model described in lots of detail
Review anybody?
Script Breakdown
Directing Feature Films _by Mark Travis (6/10)
Mark talks about the director & how he interacts with his creative team, the script & working with actors.
He goes into breaking down the script, working with writers, general production & post production areas.
To me the best thing about this book is the way he works with actors.
He does a lot of theatre directing & has come up with a technique which seems to elicit good performances out of actors with a relatively simple technique.
Basically it involves talking to the character & NOT the actor.
He also has a set of dvd’s on this.
On Film Making _by Alexander Mackendrick (7/10)
This book is the first I’ve read that talks about the end to end process of creatively making a film.
He directed at Ealing Studio on films such as Lady Killers & then spent the next 30 years teaching film at UCLA which is how this book was formed.
Part 1 is about dramatic construction & story idea techniques, activity verses action, dramtic irony, density, dialogue & the actor.
Part 2 talks about film grammar where he refers to the camera as the ïnvisible, imaginary, ubiquitous, winged witness. He talks of spatial layout, condensing screen time, lines of axis, coverage & movement.
Film Theory & Techniques
Read a few but no stand outs. Help me here!
Cinematic Language
The Elements of Cinema _by Stefan Sharff (7/10)
An intellectual guy who worked for Eisenstein & had a thing for Hitchcock.
He talks in depth about the language & syntax of cinema. The book describe aspects of cinematic language such as:
Separation: fragmentation of scene into single images in alternation--A,B,A,B,etc
Parallel Action: two or more narrative lines running simultaneously & presented in alternation.
Slow Discloser: gradual introduction of pictorial information within a shot/s
Familiar Image: stabilizing anchor image periodically reintroduced without variations
Moving camera: used in scenes without cuts
Multi-angularity: series of shots of contrasting angles & compositions including reverse mirror images
Master shot discipline: The more traditional, Hollywood film structure
Orchestration: The arrangement of the various other elements of structure throughout the film.
First Time Director _by Gil Bettman (6/10)
Some excellent no shit advice on being a first time feature film director. He comes into his own when he talks about the game changing styles of Speilberg (& mtv). Great information on camera moves such as following the action i.e begin tight then move with action or the moving master where you concentrate audience’s attention on centre of drama whilst showing them everything they needs to see in the scene (dunno exactly how). Break it down into externally motivated camera moves (viewing in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] or 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] person) & internally motivared camera moves where you follow the subject’s pov(1st person). Talks about generation of front/rear parallax movements (eye candy) & also why to pick up as much coverage as possible in masters (time saver). There is a good section on force lens perspective i.e. wide lens (faster pace + expanded space) or tele lens (slower pace + compressed space). So if you want to get into arguments with the DOP over lens selection this is a good read.
Cont'd next post
