Inside the Book
Inside the Book
Chapter 1. What is the Story?
A screenplay or a script is a visual story in a written form. The job of a director is to transform the words on the page into action. Analysing the dramatic structure of the screenplay is the first step in the process.
Chapter 2. Finding the Theme
Deciding ‘what the film is about’ is the starting point to building your interpretation of the story. Identifying the dramatic purpose behind the screenplay is key to seeing how to visualise the work, its mood and tone as well as its imagery.
Chapter 3. Character and Performance as the Engine of Story
Breaking down the screenplay for character and performance means finding the goals of the character but also the emotional changes which will drive the performance.
Chapter 4. The Producer, the Director and the Budget
Understanding the constraints, whether institutional or financial, is the road to creative freedom, which is another way of saying that to work within a system you must learn the rules. One of the most important rules is how to work to a budget.
Chapter 5. Designing the Story World
Place can have a much greater significance for the story and the characters than just being where the story action takes place. Designing the story world is also a collaborative effort, working with the Production Designer and the Art Department, who together with Costume and Makeup, have a critical role in creating the characters and serving the story.
Chapter 6. Using the Camera to tell the story
Analysing the dramatic construction of the screenplay, the characters and the places are all essential to building the visual world of the story. However, directing can only truly begin when all the ideas, words and actions come together as a series of visual episodes or sequences.
Chapter 7. Working with Actors
Working with actors is often considered to be the most important part of a director’s role. Producers often judge a director by their ability to get a good performance from the cast. Understanding what an actor needs to know to build a character and a performance is important, but being able to communicate it well is essential.
Chapter 8. From Script to Screen
If the budget is the producer’s game plan, the schedule is the director’s plan of action. It is the director’s vision turned into the brutal reality of a Movie Magic spreadsheet. If you are going to turn your detailed plans into a living, breathing piece of dramatic fiction, you will need to know how to shoot the schedule.
Chapter 9. The Edit
Film editing is a craft best done by editors. Editors come to your material unencumbered by the difficulties or joys of its making. However, nothing was ever put up on a screen that wasn’t shot by the director. Understanding the possibilities offered by the editing process is critical to making sure you end up making the film you intended.