Directing with a Philosophy

[Jared Isham]

Hello,
I am an aspiring director with hopes of doing something I am not entirely embarased to show people. I guess I just happen to be someone who hates everything they do. Well anyway, to my point. I am looking for a book of some sort that covers directing, not so much directing actors - I have an awesome book already for that, I recommend it to anyone who wants to be a director, producer, and even an actor; some very good philosophies can be applied for any leader on set and is a great tool for actors to learn from; the book is called "Directing Actors" by Judith Weaston - back to my point.

I am looking for a book that goes into detail about telling your story as a director, visually. If anyone of you have found the gold mine book I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Barry Lyndon]

Here's one you may or may not have already discovered. It's not exactly a "how-to" book, but it's something you should definately look into -- my favorite all-around filmmaking book: Making Movies, written by the great director Sidney Lumet.

He discusses a few of his films (gems like 12 Angry Men, Network and Long Day's Journey Into Night) in considerable depth, from conception through to execution, while paying particular attention to the transition in between. It is fascinating to read how he would take a script, analyse it, and formulate a directing strategy to complement it that is applied to everything from camerawork and editing to wardrobe. Although a tad slight (218 pages), I continually re-read it during my own projects for his clarity, wisdom and focus.

 

[DerekEastham]

A book I recommend to anyone for any reason they're looking to read is "In the Blink of an Eye" by Walter Murch.

The sound & film editor wrote this book and it's absolutely brilliant... it helped me as an editor, director, producer and with life in general... it'll absolutely help anyone to look at directing scenes and telling stories in new and interesting ways.

On a secondary note I'd like to add one bit of advice...

Never ever be embarassed to show anyone anything.

Like Roy Wagner told us at the workshop in Burbank this past Saturday... once you've done something show it to 30 friends.

It's a nerve racking thing to put your heart and soul into something that you love and to then put it out there in front of someone else and wait tensely for their reaction... however... a story is nothing to be kept quiet... they are meant to be shouted from the hill tops to anyone and everyone who will listen... wether by internet or book or theater or cinema or television or dvd or vhs or slide show... a story is meant to be told, and to accomplish that a filmmaker has to put his pride, his joy, his labor of love out infront of an unforgiving audience so that they might laugh, cry, feel excitement, joy, terror... and yes, even boredom... sometimes people will not like your stories and when that happens you need to be prepared to just move on.

My point... never hate what you do... if you truely hate what you're doing then you're quite obviously doing the wrong thing... if you truely are an aspiring director then you need to fall in love with every film you make... from the three second blip to the thirty hour monstrosity. Be proud of your work, love your work and most importantly, never be affraid to showcase your work whenever you get the chance.

Enjoy the books & happy storytelling... hopefully we'll all be seeing something of your's in the future!

 

[Jared Isham]

I'll have to check that book out.

As far as your other comments, I don't see any thing wrong with not liking your own work. The resoning behind what I don't like about my stuff is that I have learned so much from the project that I can see where I screwed up and what I will need to do to fix it on the next one. I do see a danger in loving every film that you ever make because, in my opinon, it closes the filmmakers mind that should be open to constructive criticism.

Doesn't it hurt when something we love so much is just trampled on, we often begin to defend it with everything we have and deny any bad comments that are made about it. If a filmmaker can look at his work and know what he hates about it and be open to hear what other people don't like about it, then I believe that the filmmaker will grow in whatever department they are involved in.

BUT, on the other hand, as Roy hinted to at the seminar - if not said. We need to have our own artistic style so that we can be that unique filmmaker, but don't try to find what makes you different just tell the story from your heart: whether you are a DP, Director, Producer, Actor, Editor, Production Designer, etc. We, as filmmakers, need to know what we like about our work and try to improve on it as well as knowing what we don't like about our work and trying to improve on that as well.

Anyway, I think I see where you are comming from and I hope this makes things somewhat clear as to where I am coming from.

I will try to check out that book though, thanks for the tip.

 

[DerekEastham]

definetly clears things up...

I thought you were embarassed & hating everything you'd done... rather than thinking critically of it...

you're absolutely right... keeping an open mind to constructive criticism's... and even the not so constructive criticism's is an important part of growing as an artist.

Enjoy the book...
Your local book store should carry a copy of "In the Blink of an Eye" if you want to avoid S&H charges.

 

[Jared Isham]

What are peoples thoughts on the book Directing Feature Films that is available in the Studentfilmmakers store? It appears to be a rather good tool for communication techniques and developing an artistic vision, but I thought I'd ask to see if someone had taken a look at it and recommended it or not.