Directing Book - The Film Director's Intuition

Directing Book - The Film Director's Intuition: Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques
By: Judith Weston
Michael Wiese Productions
2003

Book number two of two by the incredible Judith Weston. While the previous book dealt with directing actors, this book deals with the other end of the stick, the script analysis to make choices during filming. It also deals with rehearsal techniques to use to get the moat honest truth out of every performance.

It also deals with getting in touch with, understanding and utilising your intuition as a director. It is a book about preparation as much as anything else. 

“An effective director bonds deeply with the characters and the actors who play them, and at the same time allows both actors and characters privacy and independence.” 

What the book taught me:-

It taught me the absolute value and necessity of proper and in depth script analysis. That in order for you to effectively analyse a script, if you have wrote the screenplay you need to take off your writing cap and put on your directing cap. That to analyse the script to your best ability, you have to look at it as if someone else wrote it. This allows you to see hidden truths and possibilities that you might not have seen before because you had a set mind on what your script was about. 

 It further helped me understand the craft of acting and I feel it helped improve the relationship[ I have with my actors on The Big Game. It helped me to understand the psychology of actors, characters and indeed crew as well. In particular, it aided in my understanding of what makes characters do and say the things they do. The explanation of spines, beats, wants, needs and motivations as well as others, has been a most useful piece of knowledge that I have used on multiple script, including The Big Game.

“Actors, writers, and directors all must be able to speak from their pain. In order to operate at the feeling level you must be able to feel. Unless you’re willing to feel painful emotions, you can’t really feel anything.” 

Should you buy it?

Of course you should! It's Judith Weston for goodness sake! She is a very knowledgeable and insightful woman. She writes interesting and enjoyable books and she sounds like a fantastic human being, rich in knowledge and experience. With respectful writings on directing and acting, I can't imagine how useful it would be to actually meet and learn from her. This book and the first are the next best thing. These two books, are gold mines of bountiful information. 

“In life we start with subtext, our conscious and unconscious intentions and associations, and we end up with language and behaviour. In a script, the writer starts with subtext and ends up with language, the printed word. The director and actor start with language and delve into subtext. Language is what is written on the page. Subtext is what is not written on the page; it is deduced from the clues in the script and what we know about life. Intuition plays a bit part in accurately reading subtext.”

Where to buy it? (Copy&Paste)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Film-Directors-Intuition-Rehearsal-Techniques/dp/0941188787/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421178637&sr=8-1&keywords=the+film+directors+intuition

Directing Book - Directing Actors

Directing Book - Directing Actors
By: Judith Weston
Michael Wiese Productions
1996

An original book on a very specific issue by a very compelling and interesting not to mention knowledgeable director/actor. It focusses solely on the task of directing actors. No script structure, no writing, no nothing. Just directing actors.

A refreshing book which deals with some pretty troubling issues present in film making that some books don't touch on. I never heard about  this stuff on my film course.

“The first thing a director should learn, and the first-last-and-always thing he should look for from his actors, is whether they are listening; that is, whether they are genuinely affecting each other in the moment”

What the book taught me:-
Oh where to begin on this one? The general consensus, at least amongst my peers is that actors show up, they're there to do a job and it's their job to deal with the problems of the film-making process. Some see them as a nuisance or an unpredictable force that can ruin a film. This book taught me the complete opposite. It taught me the vital necessity of respecting actors. It taught me about the craft of acting which gave me much respect for the craft and the many craftsmen who practice it.

Actors don't just show up and read lines, they analyse, understand and become the character experiencing their emotions, thoughts and feelings as their own. It teaches the proper way to talk to actors, giving them playable direction in many forms such as action verbs, intentions, substitutions and much more to get a desired performance. A director and actor have a collaborative partnership built on respect and joint goals, that is to bring out the uttermost human truth from their performance to make an incredible movie.


“The purpose of substitution is honesty in a performance. If at all times the actor is talking about something real, then the audience can hear that in the words.” 

Should you buy it?
Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes! It is an absolute god send! Without this book I can tell, that while preparing for The Big Game, I would have made a stupendous amount of mistakes when communicating and talking tot my actors. I've made mistakes, everyone does but this book saved me a lot of embarrassment.  

Once again, buy it. Not just for directors, but for actors too, to see how a director will approach them. Producers and cinematographers as well. Dealing with actors on a film can sometimes make you forget they aren't just an actor, they are a human being. A human being who is likely to be more emotionally honest and open than you. There is a special place on my shelf and in myself for Judith Weston and her books. 
 

“Don’t forget – characters, like people, don’t always tell the truth. They don’t always know the truth. They remember things incompletely or inaccurately. They may not admit the truth to themselves, and, of course, sometimes they lie.”  

Where to buy it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Directing-Actors-Memorable-Performances-Television/dp/0941188248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421176583&sr=8-1&keywords=directing+actors