Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Directors

M

milkmanFILMS

Member
I just purchased Judith Westons famous books
Directing Actors, and the Film Directors Intuition.

I heard they are really great. I was wondering if
anyone knows which to read first, i know directing
actors was released first.

Thanks,

and if you havnt checked this books out, make sure ya do.
 
Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

Directing Actors is the one everyone howls over.
 
Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

Cool, I just ordered it from the library.
 
Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

I'm reading that now...
i love it so far
 
Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

Re: Judith Weston's books (Directing Actors, Direc

Those reading the book care to say what Weston talks about, and what methods of directing that she says that work. I'm guessing she teaches about method acting, the Stanislavski way.
 
Woodson said:
Those reading the book care to say what Weston talks about, and what methods of directing that she says that work. I'm guessing she teaches about method acting, the Stanislavski way.
Click to expand...

Weston's "Directing Actors" is oustanding. 5 stars.

There's some Stanislavsky influence in there for sure, as there's been in virtually every acting book written and every acting class taught in the last 50 years.

Among her signature contributions though (and remember, this is a book primarily for directors, not actors - although I found it very helpful to me as an actor), is the notion of avoiding "result-oriented" direction. So, don't say to an actor "give me more energy" or the like, but rather direct the actor more *indirectly* so (s)he tends to find just that in the reality of the scene. It's explained in great detail in the book.

There's much, much more to love about it, but that was one of the key points I went away from it with. She covers this and her other points of view with crystal-clarity, repeating and reinforcing them in just the right measure. Probably very similarly to the way she would gently, deftly nurture great performances out of actors on a set.

A very inspring book.
 
Last edited:
milkmanFILMS said:
I just purchased Judith Westons famous books
Directing Actors, and the Film Directors Intuition.

I heard they are really great. I was wondering if
anyone knows which to read first, i know directing
actors was released first.

Thanks,

and if you havnt checked this books out, make sure ya do.
Click to expand...
Twentieth Century Actor Training (ed. Alison Hodge) is an excellent book for a director. It talks about 14 acting theories over the last century and goes beyond Stanislavski and the more populist approaches.

Weston's book is very good, certain chapters are excellent - the one on script analysis and using action verbs are the best chapters. Some other chapters are a little bit philosophical in places.
 
Excuse me for my question and for bad English. Is it possible to receive somewhere pdf or doc copy of Judith Weston book "Directing actors"? In Russia there is no bookstores with such literature at all (only fundamental books about theatre and training theatre actors (Stanislavsky, Chechov etc) ((
I bought several books from Amazon that I already know. But before buying "Directing Actors" or anything else, I like to look inside the book (maybe few chapters but not only couple of pages as in Amazon).
It is the best way to know - is it necessary for me (Ive already finished State Russia Cinema Institute and have some experience in working with actors).
Thank you.
 
Not that I know of. How is your library system? I often can do an interlibrary loan if my local library does not have a book.
 
Hi Directore,

Probably the reason no one has responded to you is because in the United States, Judith's books are copyrighted. So she and her business associated would not allow a PDF, MS-DOC, text, etc files to be available in the public domain. And even if someone here illegally typed or scanned a copy of copyrighted books, they could be sued in a civil court for copyright violation.

Hopefully you can find an associate who will loan you their copy of the book.

Warm Regards, Michael
 
Thanks. You right. But it is a pity that I cant read just one chapter before buying...Ok, I can buy Weston but here there are NO professional BOOKS (about filmdirecting or cinema-acting like Katz, Mamet, Rabiger, Proferes etc) AT ALL!((
And we have not this international library system...

I already booked Weston at Amazon but now I choose a good book about production and I dont know - how to buy it without looking inside...
I choose this:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Prod...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202514904&sr=1-1
...only because I like "table of contents"))))))

Trying to find a book because I want to plan my shooting day better. Is it good for me? (excuse me for little off-topic).

As for Weston, I study Stanislavsky well for 5 years in University and thats why I want to know if her book have some new info for me.
 
You don't need to read what's inside. Many people believe it's a good book; all the people who have read the book can't be wrong. Just read the reviews!
 
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