Total Directing: Integrating Camera and Performance in Film and Television

By Tom Kingdon

Book Overview

This is the first book to fully integrate the technical aspects of screen directing with practical methods for directing actors, deeply and carefully exploring how these two primary aspects of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1879505711
• ISBN13: 9781879505711
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Silman-James Press
• Length: 561 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.0" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

good mix of technical details with the culture of directing

Total Directing is a very thorough book on directing narrative (for both film and television) which will leave you with a sense of awe at how complex a task film-making is, but at the same time give you enough concrete, technical advice to make you feel you could actually become a director yourself. The book covers the directing process from first idea through to post-production, with particular attention placed on reading and marking up a script in order to block (plan actors' movements) and plan shots. The chapters covering blocking and camera placement are very detailed, with specific advice on how to shoot scenes with 2, 3, and 4 actors. There is also good coverage of other technical issues such as post-production (editing, sound effects, music). The other aspect of directing covered in this text is the human aspect. Here, Kingdon illustrates his points with sidebars describing his own experience on various productions, and with references to well-known films and quotes from directors, famous and unfamous. There is a good discussion about how to work with actors to make the best use of their skills, as well as some material on the culture and politics of TV and Hollywood production. There is a supplemental chapter at the end with some interviews with directors describing their different paths towards becoming directors and giving advice to the aspiring director. To summarize, this is a great book to read if you are serious about wanting to be a director and are looking for specific technical instruction rather than (or in addition to) "inspiration" and grand ideas. This is a book you will be able to use to solve concrete production problems when you make your first film that involves working with real actors in a professional or academic setting. The book is also well-suited for a course in film school or media studies, although if used in a hands-on course where students are expected to produce films, it will need to be supplemented with material that covers the details of using a particular camera and editing platform. (The book does a good job of covering both film and video and not choosing an editing device or program, but as a result, certain details are necessarily missing. This is not a fault in the book. One can't expect a single book to cover the entire process of film-making, and this is a book focused on directing actors, even though it touches on other aspects of production.)

tota directing

very effective, simple, but interesting the book gives a complete insight in directing. It is really difficult to find such a complete book, I found it a great book.

What a director needs to know besides "attitude" and how to yell, "Action!"

There's nothing wrong with reading interviews with master film directors, but they rarely give you the practical, hands-on information you need for becoming a professional director. Tom Kingdon's book is one of the only books that guides you through the steps and skills a director needs to know to take a script through to the final cut. I'm a professional documentary filmmaker, script writer and production teacher in a major media arts college, and in over twenty years of teaching, this is the first time I've assigned a directing text. So by all means, study the words and works of Hitchcock, Kazan, Scorcese et al, but don't expect them to teach you how to break down a script or rehearse actors or many of the myriad tasks and procedures essential to being a real director.