Film Directing Fundamentals: See Your Film Before Shooting

by Nicholas T. Proferes

Book Overview

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 to translate 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0240809408
• ISBN13: 9780240809403
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Focal Press
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.2" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

Good book to start with

This book is good to start with, it really explains you some fundamental things about films (though you still need to have some experience and "eye" to understand it)... It's good that he makes it interesting and fun to read and learn - you really have more idea about making films in all stages of production yet still like every art book there are some flaws but again it's a book for beginners - I think that people should read the book, watch the EVERY film he talks about and then keep on buying more advanced books as well as seeing more films even with commentary. To sum up, this book is great for those who want to start learning film-making - truly great but still you won't be able to make even short films just by reading this book but it's sure is a first step.

Textbook Shmexbook

Despite being a text book Film Directing Fundementals is not only intriguing, but it displays the information in an easy to understand way that can help anyone understand filming.

A closer look

This book pulls no punches on the minute technical details that go unnoticed but not unexperienced in the director's craft. It's like taking a great class in the technical structure of directing. I haven't had this much fun reading a film book in a long time.

Not what, but why...

You will find many books telling you what to do and what not to do when facing the making of a film. Proferes goes far beyond that, showing us the way to find our own way: questioning our selves and questioning our work. After reading Profere's advices, your insight into your own work and motivatons should broaden and you will find how much potential lies behind the most simple idea if you look upon it with inquisitive eyes. Whenever writting or directing, you should keep this book handy. It's a "must-read" for any film maker.

finally!

Finally there's a book on directing that goes further than just telling you how much headspace to include in your framing. This book, as well as Stefan Sharff's "The Elements of Cinema", is one of those rare ones that is refreshingly to the point. It told me how to block my actors in relation to each other, the camera and the story. Proferes shows ways to make your short or feature as powerful as possible by singling out the most important moments in the story, sequence or scene. With that particular moment in mind, he hands you the tools to arrange these moments within the scenes to make them stand out visually and make them palpable to the audience.