Book Description
Less than 200 years ago the director was only an "ideal" projected by disgruntled critics. Today, productions wouldn't be able to survive with our the adept talents of the director. This book has been known for years as the guide to the "unknown theater" of the director. This collection is comprised of the voices of the modern theater as they state their credos and explore their craft. Topics include: the emergence of the director; behind the fourth wall; the art of rehearsal; light and space; and much more. Directors and avid theater-buffs.
Amazon.com
In his writings as a teacher, director, and theater critic, Harold Clurman often comes across as the most approachable of the formidable talents associated with the Group Theater and the many versions of "the Method," the American version of Stanislavsky's teaching. Written towards the end of his long career as one of the American theater's most successful directors, On Directing is a highly readable yet deeply insightful look at the job of a theatrical director.
Clurman's writing is supremely informative and rarely didactic. He is refreshingly honest about his own stylistic shortcomings, questioning, for example, whether his analytic methods are of any use whatsoever directing the plays of Shakespeare or other non-naturalistic playwrights. His most useful contribution to a director's toolbox is his designation of a "spine" to a play and all its characters, a short phrase always stated as an action. The third part of the book is devoted to Clurman's own notes, from first impression to detailed character analysis, of 10 scripts that he brought to the stage, including plays by Clifford Odets, Lillian Hellman, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, and Carson McCullers's own adaptation of The Member of the Wedding. On Directing reveals not only the author's breadth of knowledge and literary intelligence but also his common sense and warm sense of humor. --John Longenbaugh
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Introduction and Handbook.......2004-03-05
ON DIRECTING
By Harold Clurman
Clurman's On Directing has the simplicity of an introductory text, and the virtue of a career's worth of wisdom. Highly readable, conversational, and amiable, the handbook explores the issues faced daily by a theatre director. What is the spine, or main through-line, or the play? How do the characters' objectives relate? How does one deal with a truculent actor? What is the role of the audience, and how much should the director consider them anyway? Should one direct with the eye or the ear? And what exactly is Method?
Clurman's book, though old, still rings true. He considers art and real estate, popular theatre and theories of the origin of drama in society. He has worked with some of the greatest artists of our time, and they turn up throughout the work: Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, Lillian Hellman, Clifford Odets . . . the list goes on and on.
Although I majored in theatre and took a year long course in directing, I found Clurman's book refreshing and useful. At the same time, I am considering mailing a copy of it to my mother, a total theatre neophyte, so that she can understand the world I have chosen for my career. On Directing is a great book all around.
Helpful guidance from a master.......2003-02-09
Along with Elia Kazan, who called Clurman a masterful director possessing the greatest mind he ever saw, Harold Clurman built a peerless career in American Theatre. Present here is his advice to all directors, that new (really only invented in the latter part of the 19th century)creature of the world's oldest art form. Clurman displays his analytical abilities certainly in discribing script breakdowns and picturalization, but he also reveals a real understanding of human nature. His advice on how to deal with problems and crises that always appear during a production prove most sagelike. Purchase this along with William Ball's superlative "A Sense Of Direction" along with William Converse's textbook "Directing For The Stage" to create a most helpful library for any director.
Directing Theatre as a way of life.......2002-06-15
I read Harold Clurman's book 25 years ago when I first started directing theatre, and I return to it now. I still find it fun to read, highly informational, insightful, true. I recommend it to anyone starting out as a director, and I recommend returning to it again and again. Without Harold Clurman's insightful book on directing, I daresay I may never have felt at home in the theatre. He takes you there, shows you how to thrive there, and you want to stay.
For Directors by a Director.......2000-05-18
Harold Clurman, who has directed many successful plays in his time, shares with the reader some of his wit and wisdom. Clurman breaks down his "technique" chapter by chapter to give the reader his thoughts on character analysis, rehearsals, etc. This helpful book is a great read for aspiring directors, like myself, or anyone already working in the field. Clurman's humor is woven through the book through his use of anecdotes and examples.
An enjoyable, insightful read.
Amazon.com
The forty-two exercises detailed in this comprehensive guide provide both the instructor and the student a "user-friendly" workshop structure. It may be used for both beginning and advanced courses of Directing for Theatre. The basic concepts of directing are learned progressively. The approach is totally experiential.
Customer Reviews:
Best Directing book out there!.......2007-09-18
This book provides a step by step guide to becoming a great stage director. You can learn so much from this book, then after you think you know it all, you go back and find deeper meanings, or different ways to do each excercise that only adds to your directing abilities! Very easy to use and helpful to both beggining directors and advanced alike!!!
Excellent book for Directing and Acting.......2004-07-29
The book should appeal to teachers of both directing and acting in its systematic, comprehensive approach. I had the good fortune to work with Terry Converse in WSU's Theatre Program for several years, and we pioneered a combined directing and acting course where directing students and acting students worked and learned together. Now that I am teaching at another university I had the opportunity to teach a combined Directing and Acting course, using his book. At first, I thought the directing students might benefit the most, but I discovered the exercises he developed benefitted the actors as well. The actors developed their craft through many of the silent scenes and justifying movement exercises that led them to examine the fine points of their characterizations. The directing students learned how to work with actors and develop a comprehensive approach to directing a scene, and our work culminated in an inspiring Ten-Minute Play Festival at the end of the semester. This book is well written with numerous examples, practical exercises, and assessment guidelines at the end of each chapter--a good, hands-on approach.
works best as a textbook.......2003-02-05
Mr. Converse has written with this helpful introductory course, a fine textbook for introducing one to the craft of directing. When viewed in that context, this book serves its purpose well. Having used this text in conjunction with William Ball's superb book "A Sense Of Direction", in the directing class I teach, I have found Converse's excercises to be helpful and precise (if rather dry) in building craft. Especially helpful is Converse's chapters on blocking and creating pictures. His suggestions and activities designed to teach one how to communicate and direct traffic are most helpful. If one is looking for a great read, this is not the book to use. For that I again suggest Ball or Clurman's fine "On Directing". But for some "hands on" activities in the dramatic classroom or for the director just starting out on their own, this will work just fine- as long as you have someone else to bounce your ideas off of.
A user-friendly directing book.......2003-02-04
In 10 years of teaching high school drama, this is the first book where the theory of directing is embodied in a series of lessons which can be taught sequentially or mixed and matched. I have used the open scripts in acting class with junior students and amended the lessons to my own ends in picturization, focus, tempo, pathway, subtext and a myriad of other directing skills which need to be built upon.
Exposes you to a series of exercises that help.......2000-02-22
This book is simple, concrete, and to the point. It will help you develop various directing techniques, and it will leave the rest up to you. Its purpose is not to try and train you into some special type of director, but to give you the basic technical skills that will allow you to find your own artistic style. It is most certainly a great book to start with, and its exercises would likely help more advanced directing students hone their skills.
Book Description
How to Direct a Musical is a lively and practical guide to the seemingly overwhelming task of directing a musical. David Young brings to this book his extensive experience as a director of over 100 productions and more than 250 workshops in the US, China, Senegal and Brazil. The book has a pragmatic, do-it-yourself approach, taking the reader along from planning to casting, rehearsal to opening night. Topics covered include script analysis, collaboration with designers, musical directors, choreographers and crew, eliminating lengthy pauses between scenes, dress rehearsals and curtain calls.
With its step-by-step format,
How to Direct a Musical is a valuable aid for the first-time director, but also contains several chapters geared to a readership of experienced directors. These sections include helpful exercises and short cuts which Young gleaned from his work with such artists as Richard Kiley, Colleen Dewhurst and Anne Meara.
Accompanying the text are photographs, blocking diagrams, set plans, rehearsal schedules, licensing information and tips for production cost savers. This book will be of value to professionals, dance instructors, college drama programs and community theatre organizations, as well as high school and elementary school teachers. Several chapters also provide helpful suggestions for working with teens, the physically challenged and retirees in musical productions.
Book Description
The profession of directing is barely a century old. On Directing considers the position of the director in theater and performance today. What is a director? How do they begin work on a play or performance? What methods are used in rehearsal? Is the director an enabler, a collaborator or dictator? As we enter the new millennium, is the very concept of directing under increasing threat from changes in thinking and practice? The full diversity of today's approaches to directing are explored through a series of interviews with leading contemporary practitioners. On Directing is a landmark book about the director's craft.
Customer Reviews:
A spotty yet suitable addition to a director's library.......2000-04-28
As a young director, I found this to be a fairly dissapointing book, but nonetheless worthwhile due to its inclusion of many powerful British directors. The interviews are spotty at best -- it is clear that a questionnaire was circulated and then followed up. There also is very little insight given to the working processes of each director interviewed. One to have if you must know about Phyllida Lloyd and Annie Castledine, but I would recommend Arthur Bartow's book "Director's Voice" any day over this one.
Insightful and an easy read........2000-04-05
There is probably no better way to learn how to be a good director than to study good directors. This book is filled with anecdotes and advice from several of the best directors of stage and screen working in the world today. Peter Brook is featured as an author. His previous books, including "The Open Door" and "The Empty Space" are treasures in theatrical theory, and his experience as a founding director of the Royal Shakespaere Company in England puts him as one of the most accomplished directors to learn from. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to pick the brain of great directors in theatre and film.
Book Description
Play Directing is about the leader of an artistic enterprise--the play director in today's theatre. The book describes the various roles a director plays, from calling the plays to orchestrating and blending a symphony of actors and elements. The author emphasizes that the role of the director is not as a dictator, but as a leader of multiple craftsmen who look to the director for ideas that will give impetus to their fullest, most creative expressions.
This book emphasizes that directing is not a finite and specific system of production, but rather is a venue for providing an intensive look at the structure of plays, of acting and actor-ownership, and of all the other crafts that together make a produced play. Readers are guided through the whole process of working on a play from style to analysis, including its relationship to moving pictures and television. They are encouraged to use this foundation as a basis from which to set their own goals as creative and dedicated leaders.
For anyone interested in Play Direction or Theatre Study.
Customer Reviews:
I Was There!!!.......2007-07-26
I studied directing under Francis Hodge at The University of Texas at Austin. REPEAT! I STUDIED DIRECTING UNDER HODGE HIMSELF!!! HE was not at all dry. Rather, he KNEW what he was talking about, much more so than his detractors claim. In his last years, a disciple(?)whom we shall call Walter Plinge attempted to teach his method, and according to good sources, had the TEMERITY to exclaim in class that Hodge himself DID NOT KNOW HIS OWN METHOD!!! Can you believe the gall (and BS) of this man? Take it from one WHO ACTUALLY STUDIED THE MAN'S METHOD WITH THE MAN HIMSELF, Francis Hodge, like Noel Coward, had more pure theatre knowledge in his little finger than anyone else had in their entire body. Hodge's method can be explained very easily: KNOW THE PLAY, INSIDE AND OUT!!! Be VERY careful what you interpolate. Hodge gives you a complete plan whereby the play itself provides all the information you need. Analysis: Learn the dramatic action, paying particular attention to the character's polar attitudes: Who they are at the play's beginning, and how they progress through to the end. Communication: Here, Hodge shows you how to attack the play on stage, constructing working groundplans and increasing dramatic tension by placement of actors, furniture, and objects to better tell the story. Style: Here is where you go into the individual nuances of the play: How they use language, are they straightforward or elliptical in their speech, etc, and how to pull the whole thing together. In other words, you just don't automatically play the climactic scene down center or down right; you PLAY IT WHERE THE PLAY ITSELF TELLS YOU TO PLAY IT! Sorry to be so vehement, but it galls me to no end to read the uninformed ramblings of someone who did not study with the man, and claim to know his method. I WAS THERE!!!
At the risk of sounding pompous, here endith the lesson!!!
Best of the best........2002-11-17
While getting a Masters Degree in motion picture writing and directing I took a class from the acting school which used this book. Most of the insights in the book apply to both plays and recorded performing arts though Hodge fully defines what makes play production different from the recorded mediums. The author is truly brilliant in his inclusiveness and insights into story telling using human performance. The book is not boring to those of us who love the detail that gives a deep understanding of how things work. The lack of a patronizing voiceless or feminist writing tone in the third edition that I read, thus the use of the word "he" as a pronoun, shows the author's standout individuality within an industry where being a follower of political bull-hawking is the norm (thus I dissagree with a previous viewer on this subject). While most books I've read about directing are only the author's limited viewpoint of that which they've experienced while directing, Hodge departs from this easy approach by producing a complete directorial viewpoint that gives the student of directing the broad tools necessary to handle the complex activity of play directing as a professional. You can't possibly go wrong by reading the third edition of this book; one hopes that the future editions are as fine. It was one of those life enriching reads that those of us who love to understand things will never forget. Thank you Francis Hodge.
A Tedious, But Practical Text For Only the Beginner.......1999-12-04
Dry, dry, dry is the only way to describe the method of this text's approach to the work of the director of a live play. If directing a first project or working in the classroom, this book does contain useful tips for the analysis of a script, the use of various techniques in the staging thereof, and all the basic (and I mean ELEMENTARY) knowledge one needs to get a play off the ground from day one. But if seeking more insight into the art of it all, or a text not resigned to refer to the director as "he," for the sheer simplicity it creates, one would do better to seek out the other numerous interview-style tomes, with pieces from great directors on their own approach.
Customer Reviews:
A priceless beginner's (or not beginner's) book!.......2005-09-30
This book has opened my eyes to a greater view of the audition process as an actor. It has also awakened a fire in me to direct. I am planning on directing my first play this coming Fall, and I really feel prepared with this book and the class I'm taking now. A great text for discussion for directing classes.
Engagingly written.
Sobering Testament.......2005-09-01
SENSE OF DIRECTION is a text every director will want to take a look at, even if, years later, some of Ball's advice seems dated (or too expensive-he was not a man to shy away from large budgets and extended rehearsals if he thought them necessary.) In person he could be rather abrasive, to the point of being ridiculous, like Ross Hunter in a caftan. But on the pages of his book, he exhibits a warm, spiritual nature, almost like a priest. Since the days of the Chekhov dynasty, the director has of course assumed near divine proportions in the theater and you get the feeling Ball enjoyed that role, but he is often very courteous towards his actors. He even goes so far as to say that "one of the director's most important qualifications is knowing when NOT to interrupt his actors."
He was a professional director and the book covers every contingency from "first reading to opening night." Some of Ball's advice is not going to help you if you are an amateur. He gives the advice that actors, like cattle, can't hold too many ideas in their heads at one time so he urges the director to come up with a shorthand of small verbs or nouns with which the actor might make himself aware at all times. "Seduce," for example, might be his direction to the actor playing Cleopatra. Sounds elementary, but it works! After all, he was the man who boasted that he discovered Annette Bening.
He notes that often, for the first ten minutes of a play, the audience finds itself uncomfortable, with a marked realization of the artificiality of theater. They are sitting in a dark room and watching a bunch of people all lit up pretending to be real. As directors our job is to make those first ten minutes fly by so that the dream can swamp the audience and take them along with us on our journey. In passages like this one, he writes beautifully. Within a year or two after completing his book he was summarily fired from ACT and not long after that he had left this world for another, behind the curtains of life. Sad ending for what was once a glorious if eccentric career.
Some great stuff.......2005-07-17
William Ball's "Sense of Direction" has some excellent information for those involed in, or thinking about becoming involved in, directing. However, Mr. Ball is coming from the world of professional actors and sometimes his advise is not applicable for directors involved in educational theatre.
An impeccable and indespensable document.......2000-07-26
Mr. William Ball, the former artistic director and founder of The American Conservatory Theatre in San Fransisco, boils down almost forty years of teaching, acting and directing experience into possibly the most effective,educational and practical document about directing. I shudder to use the word text book as that term implies dry academia- an approach which leads to the the death of the theatre- but really this book is indespensable to any theatre director. Ball lays out in a logical, simple and jargon free manner the nuts and bolts of building a balanced right and left brained community which has complete and utter access to the creative impulse. Everything in Ball's book is transferable, practical (sorry about using that term again but it is true)and impeccably rendered. For any theatre director, I strongly suggest purchasing this book as the foundation of any library. Five out of five stars.
Great passion communicated with cool logic.......1999-12-18
A wealth of practical insight. It could serve as a model for all "how to" books: utterly clear, in stark, spare prose that nevertheless conveys enormous passion for the art. I picked it up as part of a workshop at the Yale Drama School, and have reread it many times. It's a kind of checklist of decisions that must be made by the director, from the most profound philosophical ones to the nuts and bolts of costume design. Mr. Ball's voice here is the one that any director would want to provide his actors in rehearsal: calm, clear, thoroughly informed, and obviously in command.
Average customer rating:
- Superbly well-crafted book about a superb craftsman
- SEEING IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT
- extensive and illuminating
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The Theatre of Robert Wilson (Directors in Perspective)
ASIN: 084782103X
Release Date: 1998-08-15 |
Book Description
Award winning writer, director, theatre designer and visual artist Robert Wilson is one of the most visionary and versatile theatrical talents of the past three decades. This first monograph of the artist's work shows how he challenged and redefined the conventions of performance art throughout the US and Europe.
Customer Reviews:
Superbly well-crafted book about a superb craftsman.......2001-07-30
Of course, you might not like Robert Wilson at all, and will assume, therefore, that this book is equally bad, since it is about a topic ý an artist - you do not like. However, let us put the book into the perspective of what it is ý a pictorial and essay romp through the lifeýs work of a major theatrical artist. This book is huge ý if you are looking for a coffee table book about Robert Wilson, this is it. This thing is bloody heavy. The pages are crisp and thick, and it is loaded, absolutely loaded, with photos of Wilsonýs stagecraft. The photos and the stories cover both the development of theatrical ideas, and also the live performances, so you can see shots of the stages with and without actors, and during rehearsals and during shows. For the person interested in theater, or other visual art, Robert Wilson is a guy who should be studied. He paints with light, has some pretty unconventional methods of movement, use of space, and design of stage. What is so compelling about Wilson is that nothing unnecessary happens on stage ý every movement, whether a nod of the head, a twitch of the hand, a move of the arm are all planned and staged; every costume, every prop, every chair are all designed specifically for a production, and placed with precise exactitude to make the entirety of the stage balanced with the story being told. Heýs an amazing artist, and an even more amazing theatrical designer. For the person new to Robert Wilson, you might be most interested by his stagings of known works ý LOHENGRIN at the Met, or DIE ZAUBERFLOTE, or a host of other well-known pieces. The Wilson novitiate, knowing those stories, will get a better idea of how Wilson thinks and stages these things. Looking at pictures of his own works, which you might not be familiar with, makes it difficult to tell just what heýs doing.
It is laid out in a mostly linear fashion, beginning in the 60s, and working through to the present. The essays and text is helpful and dense with information, and offers many insights into what Robert Wilson has been, and still is, trying to evoke with his incredible and unique theatrical vision.
This book excels at offering a glimpse of Robert Wilsonýs work and philosophy. Of course, since this is mainly a picture book, it is not as insightful or dense as a pure book of text might be, but you canýt speak of Wilson without showing some pictures, so a book of text would be useless anyway.
My only beef with this book is that it does not have enough pictures. But, itýs already hundreds of pages long and extremely heavy, so obviously this is merely the wish of a fan, not a criticism of the book itself.
This book also excels within the genre of books about visual art. It is well organized, well indexed, the pictures are sharp and in focus and gloriously show the vivid colors that Robert Wilson loves to use. The craftmanship is excellent, the binding superb, the paper thick and long-lasting, etc. etc. etc. You might think I dwell on the physical aspect of the book too much, but for a [price] book, you better be getting something not only of content quality, but of physical quality, and this book delivers.
If you are a fan of Wilson, or a fan of the theater, this book is one of my top recommends. I admit, I am a huge fan of Wilson, so I have that bias, but I love to page through this thing to be inspired and to get lost in his wonderful aesthetic.
Kudos to the publisher, and kudos to the authors/editor and Robert Wilson.
SEEING IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT.......2001-07-02
I simply saw Robert Wilson's breathtakingly theatrical production of Richard Wagner's LOHENGRIN at the Metropolitan Opera one time, a few seasons ago, and I was hooked.
This production, although certainly unconventional--there is absolutely nothing representational or realistic on the stage for the entire length of the performance--tries to help the viewer listen even more carefully to the gorgeous music, to examine the characters on the stage and then to see the work in a totally different light.
Light, in fact, is of supreme importance in all of Wilson's works, as one can witness in this invaluable book of photographs and essays on one of the most important, creative theatre directors and designers working today.
Anyone who has seen any theatrical piece designed and/or directed by Wilson, may like it, dislike it, be forever changed by it....but will never forget it. Wilson's work with frequent collaborator, Philip Glass (i.e. EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH), his beginnings (DEAFMAN GLANCE at the Festival of Nancy, France), his work with celebrities (Jessye Norman in GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING at the Theatre des Champs Elysses), work in the U.S. (i.e. KNEE PLAYS with a score by David Byrne),standard opera productions (i.e. SALOME at La Scala) are all given their due in this lengthy, gorgeously designed volume.
Besides the essays and photographs (color and black & white) there is a complete chronology of Wilson's works up to and including his production of Stravinsky's OEDIPUS REX paired with Bartok's BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE for Opera Zurich, TIME ROCKER by Lou Reed in Hamburg and Virgil Thompson's FOUR SAINTS IN THREE ACTS for the Edinburgh Festival, all in 1996. Theatre, film, video, solo exhibitions, museum installations, awards and selected publications are all listed with complete descriptions and vital facts. For anyone interested in where World Theatre has been and where it is going, this book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
extensive and illuminating.......2001-05-30
This beautiful book offers comprehensive insight into both Robert Wilson's life and productions. Beautiful photographs illustrate the descriptions of almost all of his productions and are complete with dates and information about the actors and sets photographed. For anyone who is interested in this legendary diretcor, or is interested in avant-garde theater and opera, this book is a real treasure. If only it were a little less expensive.
Book Description
This approach, honed after years of on-set experience and from teaching at UCLA, NYU, and Columbia, and endorsed by many in the industry, including director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and producer/actor Edward Asner, aims to provide a helpful reference and resource for directors and actors alike. It combines underlying theory with dozens of exercises designed to reveal the actors craft. There is material on constructing the throughline; analyzing the script; character needs; the casting and rehearsal processes; film vs. theater procedures as well as the actor and the camera. Distilling difficult concepts and a complex task to their simplest form, the author explains how to accurately capture and portray human behavior. The author's discussion of creative problems she has encountered or anticipated after years of experience, and her suggested solutions and exercises, are immediately useful. Additionally, hear what the actors have to say in excerpts from interviews with such acclaimed actors as Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Glenn Close, Robert Redford, Christopher Walken, Julianne Moore, and Michael Douglas (to name a few) who discuss their work with directors, what inspires them, and what they really want from the director.
* A well-known director and coach shares her secrets on getting great performances from actors
* Hands on; loaded with exercises
* Relevant to film, TV, and theater directors
* Foreword written by Ang Lee, Oscar-winning director of Brokeback Mountain and a student of DeKoven's
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding Teacher.......2006-11-05
I haven't gotten a copy of the book yet, and won't until I return to the US in February 2007.
I did, however, study directing actors with Lenore Dekoven, and Lenore was such a lucid, wise teacher than I wholeheartedly recommend the book sight-unseen.
Lenore's approach to directing actors may seem counter-intuitive or even rigid at first, but it's actually very flexible. Keep in mind it's an approach to constructing a framework from which to work, and once you've broken down a script and start actually directing it, you'll ultimately still have to rely on your own eyes and brain to determine whether you are communicating effectively with your actor(s).
Finally a book that simply illustrates the hardest part of directing!.......2006-04-10
I have been a filmmaker for over ten years, directing my own films as well as working as an assistant director on numerous indie productions during that period, and I have to say that anyone who is remotely interested in directing and filmmmaking must read this book.
Both from my own experience, and from my close observation of directors I have assisted in the past, there is no doubt that directing actors is the most challenging aspect in the panoply of arduous tasks that await the film director. Some shy away from it, hiding behind the monitor, some stumble through it hoping to arrive at a performance through trial and error, but very, very few actually know how to constructively and efficiently collaborate with actors to create truthful and compelling performances. I think it's because, unlike the creative process of writing a script or generating shot-lists and storyboards, actors are mutable, unpredictable - in a word, human - and somewhat like jazz improvisation, you can't completely plan the performances in a film. Instead, you are forced to observe them develop organically in real time and respond immediately. That's difficult, and the problem is most directors (even seasoned veterans) just don't know how to talk to actors - they don't speak a language that is useful to them. This is where DeKoven's book is immensely valuable and, in my experince, unique.
It provides a real step-by-step approach to learning a new language, which enables the director to give the actor a point of departure for a performance, and allows them to quickly communicate adjustments as that performance evolves. Although the process it describes is very complex, the writin is clear and the approach is very accessible. From the director's preparatory work (what DeKoven calls the throughline), to the on-set collaboration with all creative partners (not just actors), there is no part of a director's craft that will not be enhanced by exposure to this method. This book has filled a gap that I had hitherto been unable to fill in my library of fundamental texts for any filmmaker (you know the rest: Story, Impro etc.), and is a must-have for any filmmaker's toolbox.
Dynamic and Practical!.......2006-04-04
Lenore DeKoven's book on directing should be required reading for all directors. She preaches a straight forward and artistically rewarding process. Her book gives us all access to this process in a clear, concise way. As a director, you can really use her process as a shorthand to get the results you want from your actors, designers, your entire team. Stop reading this review and start reading the book! You won't regret it!
The Right Direction.......2006-03-25
Lenore DeKoven, doyenne of Columbia University's graduate film department has here, in "Changing Directions," documented the pragmatic approach to film direction that she has passed onto generations of film students. This year's Best Director, Ang Lee, figures prominently amongst her many successful disciples and he has provided a rather inspiring introduction to both the book and to the challenges of film directing.
Suffice it to say, this work is essential reading and reference for the dedicated filmmaker and it belongs on the shelf alongside other nuts-and-bolts film books like Robert McKee's "Story" and Mascelli's "The Five C's of Cinematography."
Written in no-nonsense prose, DeKoven teaches a directorial process that begins by articulating a "through-line" - a concise statement that captures a director's interpretation of the script. These critical 'one-or-two-sentences' serve as a reference point against which all the subsequent production decisions can be made, from design to casting. She then takes you onto the set and details how the director translates the "through-line" into language that will help the actors build their performances. DeKoven's best text is saved for a thorough and practical discussion of this relationship between actor and director.
The best, most useful, least mysterious book on directing I have ever read.
Books:
- Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America
- Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)
- Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual
- For a Few Demons More (Rachel Morgan, Book 5)
- George Gershwin: His Life and Work
- German National Cinema (National Cinemas)
- Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature
- Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature
- Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature
- Hellboy Volume 2: Wake the Devil (Hellboy (Graphic Novels))
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit
- Before and After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Beh
- Toward the Flame: A Memoir of World War I
- Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters,
- When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost : My Life as A Hip Hop Feminist
- Black's Law Dictionary
- An Introduction To Hydrogen Bonding
- Careers for Shutterbugs & Other Candid Types
- We Are All Slaves: African Miners, Culture, and Resistance at the Enugu Government Colliery, Nigeria
- Iowa Business Directory 1998
The Director's Voice: Twenty-One Interviews
On Directing
The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition
It's a Lot Like Dancing: An Aikido Journey
Actors on Acting: The Theories, Techniques, and Practices of the World's Great Actors, Told in Thir Own Words (Actors on Acting)
