ABSTRACT

Film Directing Fundamentals gives the novice director an organic methodology for realizing on-screen the full dramatic possibility of a screenplay. Unique among directing books, Nicholas Proferes 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 discussed. Written for both students and entry-level professionals, the book assumes no knowledge and introduces basic concepts and terminology. Appropriate for screenwriters, aspiring directors and filmmakers, Film Directing Fundamentals helps filmmakers bring their story to life on screen.

This fourth edition is updated with a new foreword by Student Academy Award-winner Jimmy Keyrouz, who studied with author Nicholas Proferes, as well as an enhanced companion website by Laura J. Medina, available at www.routledge.com/cw/proferes, which features new supplemental material for both instructors and students, including two new analyses of contemporary films—Wendy and Lucy (2008) and Moonlight (2016)—study questions, suggested assignments and exercises, as well as the instructor’s manual written by Proferes in 2008.

part one|65 pages

Film Language and a Directing Methodology

chapter 1|10 pages

Introduction to Film Language and Grammar

chapter 3|8 pages

Organizing Action in a Dramatic Scene

chapter 4|8 pages

Staging

chapter 5|13 pages

Camera

chapter 6|17 pages

Camera in Notorious Patio Scene

part two|73 pages

Making Your Film

chapter 7|18 pages

Detective Work on Scripts

chapter 10|9 pages

Working with Actors

chapter 12|4 pages

Postproduction

part three|44 pages

Organizing Action in an Action Scene

part four|33 pages

Organizing Action in a Narrative Scene

chapter 14|31 pages

Staging and Camera for Wanda Narrative Scene

part five|91 pages

Learning the Craft through Film Analysis

chapter 15|16 pages

Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious

chapter 16|20 pages

Peter Weir’s The Truman Show

chapter 17|28 pages

Federico Fellini’s 8½

chapter 18|19 pages

Styles and Dramatic Structures

chapter 19|6 pages

What Next?