Books on directing actors

Oetam

Oetam

Active member
I'd like to eventually become a professional director but until now I have been a pretty cinematography-based guy.
On the set of my latest film, which had a lot more dialogue and overall 'acting' than my previous ones I often found myself having difficulty describing to my actors what I wanted from them. I knew what I wanted them to do but I was having trouble communicating that to them.

I'd really like to improve this aspect of my filmmaking and I wanted to ask if you know some good books on the subject.

Thanks in advance.
 
You're right to want to focus on this as it's the fundamental role of a director to collaborate on a performance with an actor. This is something a lot of directors shy away from.

Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television - Great book; heavy read.

I'll Be in My Trailer: The Creative Wars Between Directors and Actors - Great book; easy and entertaining read. Mostly the same info as Directing Actors, but using real life examples and stories from a Hollywood director.

The Director's Journey: The Creative Collaboration between Directors, Writers, and Actors - Recently picked this up second hand. Haven't had a chance to read it yet.
 
I'll second Judith Weston's book ("Directing Actors"), and FWIW I didn't find it to be a particularly "heavy" read, but I've also studied (and done quite a bit of) acting, which may have something to do with that. In any case, a superb book, agreed.
 
Ted Spencer said:
I'll second Judith Weston's book ("Directing Actors"), and FWIW I didn't find it to be a particularly "heavy" read, but I've also studied (and done quite a bit of) acting, which may have something to do with that. In any case, a superb book, agreed.
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Oh, it's definitely wordy in comparison to I'll Be In My Trailer. Especially if you carry a constant and heavy study load.
 
Just read the excerpts of Badham's "I'll Be In My Trailer" on Amazon. Great stuff - will order it as soon as I can think of another title to pad it out to the free shipping threshold : )

Thanks for the recommendation.
 
Try some acting classes or something along those lines, it's very helpful in learning what actors need to hear and what is helpful direction and what isn't and sometimes the best way to understand those thing is to experience them yourself. but everyone learns differently so this may not help you as much, I would also suggest "the film director's intuition" by Judith Weston it's the sequel to her directing actors book.
 
S. Matthews said:
I would also suggest "the film director's intuition" by Judith Weston it's the sequel to her directing actors book.
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I've heard good things about this one. I didn't realize it was by Weston or a sequel--I'll definitely be picking it up now. I've also heard great things about Mamet's On Directing Film.
 
When you get comfortable with the basics I would recommend some of my favorite supplemental books:

Film and The Director by Don Livingston (1953) A nice historic perspective on theory from first 50 years of film directing.
Art of Dramatic Writing - Egri - Nice character study and psychological perspectives.
Notes of a Film Director - Eisenstein - Collection of essays written by Eisenstein
Hitchcock/Truffaut
 
vcassel said:
I'd go as far as to say that if you could only buy one book to better your screenwriting, make it this one.
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I also feel like it provides some nice additional insight into motivations and character building...essential for directing actors and developing characters.

Also ....READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN BY JOSEPH CAMPBELL!!!
 
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