Directing book recommendations?

[Wolverine237]

Originally Posted by jmoschner

Also check out books on business management and communication. Alot of what you will do as a director is basically managing people and resources.

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" - Dale Carnegie

Great book for dealing with poeple in any situation on the set and off.

[afaloth]

Alcove, I'm thinking of getting 'Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema by David Sonnenschein'

Would you be able to enlighten me with the contents of the book? Does it give tips on how to capture sound/best ways to to get the best quality in dialog scenes and so on.

Not just that looking for info on sound design as whole, but theyre just a few little bits im going for

[Boxt]

Originally Posted by justinisfilming

1. Directing Actors by Judith Weston
2. Making Movies by Sydney Lumet (I'm just starting out to read it)
3. On Directing Film by David Mamet

Go to your local library and you'll be amaze on how many filmmaking books you'll see. Plus, they're free! So spend a few hours in the library and feed your brain with knowledge that's actually helpful! I don't like reading myself, but if it's a filmmaking book, I'm hooked! =))

All 3 are excellent for getting the approach right. Michael Wiese Publications also do a good set of books that dissect scenes, sequences, shots, etc. they're really good for getting you to dissect scenes yourself. I also really like The Visual Story by Bruce Block. It's a more technical look at how to construct movement, space, etc..

You'll definitely need more than one book as there are so many things to cover in directing.

One of the first exercises I had at film school was to redirect a famous scene but not with the same shots as the original. It was only 1 minute scene but that was tough. Try it. We started with Hitchcock's Birds.

[Absolution_Films]

I think the most inspiring book for me when starting out was "REBEL WITHOUT A CREW" by Robert Rodriguez....

Guaranteed straight after reading that book you will want to go out and make a movie!

[Josiah]

"Directing Actors" by Judith Weston. Learn how to direct actors. This is one of the most important things you will need to learn. And there are certain "formulas" you will need to know to do this.

But as a director, you should learn, literally, everything involved in filmmaking, to some degree or another. That goes from the Idea to Marketing, and everything in between. And I agree with DirkBelig; listen to commentaries and watch the behind-the-scenes featurettes!

[Sucramdoow]

'On Film-making' by Alexander Mackendrick is quite good. I've almost finished it and I've learnt a lot, especially in regards to story structure and framing.

[Rattlebones]

It seems common that people mention books that don't cover the technical stuff, like blocking, staging scenes, and so on. I'm interested in one that does. I have enough books on story, character, aesthetics, and general production, but I want to know the actual techniques that one uses to direct the action in a scene.

[director-inthemaking]

I hope you might find a book that I wrote useful, please feel free to write your comments too here is the link to the book (which is published in a blog):

director-inthemaking.tumblr.com

Best of luck!

-Farah