Directing Directory (Guide)

2008 Spring 2009

... what about my own book, textbook?

"Theatre is not a mirror but a magnifying glass." Mayakovsky

This is an old page, but I can't delete it, because I am afraid to create a dead link (I don't remember, where are my own links to this page).

STAGE DIRECTIONS: Sample Pages
Directors' Forum
Film Directing
Visit Film Directing Page!
Film
Basics from Meyerhold (Floor Plan)
Stage-Metrics (More from Meyerhold)
Mise-en-Scene
Floor Plan Exercises
Visual composition
Pre-Production
Conceptualization
Fundamentals of Directions (Textbook Spring 2002: directors on directing)
Method: Working with Actors
Biomechanics: Working with Actors
Film & Drama

direct: verb * Text: 1 Synonyms ADDRESS 6, superscribe * 2 to turn something toward its appointed or intended mark or goal [directed her eyes to the door] * Synonyms address, aim, cast, head, incline, lay, level, point, present, set, train, turn, zero (in) * Related Word beam; divert; fasten, focus *3 Synonyms ADDRESS 3, apply, bend, buckle (down), devote, give, throw, turn * Related Word - fix, set, settle * Contrasted Words deflect, divert; deviate, digress, diverge, swerve * 4 Synonyms GUIDE, conduct, escort, lead, pilot, route, see, shepherd, show, steer Antonyms misdirect * 5 Synonyms GOVERN 3, control, dominate, handle, manage * 6 Synonyms CONDUCT 3, carry on, keep, manage, operate, ordain, run * 7 Synonyms COMMAND, bid, charge, enjoin, instruct, order, tell, warn * Related Word assign, define, prescribe

Summary

«I propose then a theater in which violent physical images crush and hypnotize the sensibility of the spectator seized by the theater as by a whirlwind of high forces. A theater which, abandoning psychology, recounts the extraordinary, stages natural conflicts, natural and subtle forces, and presents itself first of all as an exceptional power of redirection. A theater that induces trance, as the dances of Dervishes induce trance, and that addresses itself to the organism by precise instruments, by the same means as those of certain tribal music cures which we admire an records but are incapable of originating among ourselves». (From Artaud, The Theatre and its double, 1938) Devils

The Possessed 2003 Please, read acting for the camera pages in advance: Actors in Film Directing, Film in BM and Camera in Method Acting -- before we have video-sessions in class! You have to have your monologues shots-broken (Actor's Text).

Questions

Meyerhold @ Work *

Notes

I'm placing advertising on my instructional pages (Google) to pay for webhosting by Yahoo and Tripod. Anatoly 2003 vtheatre.net
act.vtheatre.net
direct.vtheatre.net
film.vtheatre.net
script.vtheatre.net
shows.vtheatre.net
method.vtheatre.net
biomechanics.vtheatre.net
write.vtheatre.net
web.vtheatre.net

Although the theater is not life, it is composed of fragments or imitations of life, and people on both sides of the footlight have to unite to make the fragments whole and the imitations genuine. Brooks Atksinson

stage management

tech theatre glossary *

total theatre

DIRECTING @ Theatre Theory * short history *

Directing Directory

2005 : Oedipus

Msc. Advices
Do not work separately with the TEXT, ACTORS and STAGE. Analize it together. In fact PRE-production is no less intense than REHEASALS. The show itself is anti-climatic (director is a very alienated spector). Director is very close to playwright (Theatre begins in his mind). I did both and, when I write, I don't understand directors (never mind, actors). Why bother? Everything is there -- I saw it already. Why even to produce the play?
Michael Bulgakov in his "Theatrical Novel" ("Black Snow" title in English translation), gives a good insight into the mind of a playwright (good book). Director has to admire playwright, the virgins of theatre. And keep them away from stage -- they don't want to see it. Not really, they SAW it already -- they wrote it.
Don't rush to get actors. Keep the pleasures for yourself. Don't give them the text until it's YOUR TEXT (director's scrit). When you have "rewritten" the play, well, now you can consider them.
Remember, there is a show between the text and the audience. Do you know what I mean? The show is then the two become ONE.
How? That's the mystery of directing, the art based on science. The first is for you to discover, the later -- to learn.
Stage Directing: A Practical Guide
331 -- FUNDAMENTALS OF STAGE & VIDEO DIRECTING (THR 121 pre-requisite)
Film majors, save our class-time. You can read the Film600 page before you plan to enroll. There are itwo parts in this first directing class: stage and film directing. You decide which way you would like to go in Advanced Directing: Theatre of Movies.
For directors (majors) -- Stage-metrics Theory. This Meyerhold's theory is practically unknown in classrooms. Since we never have enough time, I posted my notes for directing classes.
The second part -- Film. Only basics. For film theory go to the FILM WEB PAGE
See THR470 Film Directing, connected with Twelfth Night main stage production (Subscribe yourself to this Discussion List).
Directors' Forum -- subscribe! Look through archives, links, data -- before signing for directing class.
I do not recommend to be in Film Directing Class unless you took the Fundamentals of Stage Directions (it will be a required in the future BFA).

Direct Gateway Page, see Shows for more on directing.
Notes on Directing More than a how-to book, this is a tool for directors looking to translate the page to the stage – or to the screen – and is of immense value to actors, playwrights, students, and teachers. Essential for any student of film or theatre, here is what all directors need to know, and what every actor, scriptwriter, and audience member wants them to know. Includes four appendices, an original acting exercise, a recommended reading list, and an index.
Strange -- stage directing pages are not as popular as acting, shows or even script analysis directories. Strange, because directing is the focal point of theatre. At least, today. How anybody can learn acting without understanding the basics of directions? Or write a play? Well, I placed enough links to other books and sources not to bother with "directing tips" -- I beleive in theory and life-long learning. Who would dare to offer "tips" in physics? Directing is STUDY -- plays and art, psychology and music, life and yourself... Perhaps, this is why it's difficult to write a textbook on directing.
Director & Copyright
The best discussion I know of the topic is to be found in Marvin Carlson's "The Status of Stage Directions" (_Studies in Literary Imagination_, Fall 91, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p. 37). In here, Carlson makes a fine distinction between the position of literary-oriented theorists and that of theater practitioners, then goes on to offer a very useful typology of didscalia as well as the theatrical problems attending each type. There is also a relevant discussion of Beckett's protests against changes in didascalia productions of _Endgame- by the American Repertory Theatre in 1984 and the Comedie Francaise in 1988.

I do not write much about "directing actors" simply because I have three acting directories. In directing my shows I use both approaches, starting with the "table period" (Method), and ending with Biomechanics, while we're getting close to the tech weekend...

Books, General

Theatre Management & Production in America: Commercial, Stock, Resident, College, Community, Theatre, & Presenting Organizations

Play Director's Survival Kit A complete step-by-step guide to producing theater in any school or community setting, organized into six sections Play Selection, Pre-Production, Rehearsals & Performances, Audience Development, and Directory. Includes proven strategies for working with students, over 55 reproducible checklists, forms, samples, and more.

Rehearsal Management for Directors

This is an intensely practical book, outlining the various roles a director must fill, from negotiator (with producers, play selection committees, the artistic staff, the actors) to guide.

Questions?

FAQ

Directors, in your production notebook write all the questions. If it is very serious and important, I even tape the pages with the questions to the walls in my appartment! Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (Drama and Performance Studies) This new edition of a highly acclaimed handbook, last published in 1983 and widely used by theater teachers and directors, is sure to be welcomed by members of the theater profession. Spolin, who died in 1994, developed her improvisational techniques of using "game" exercises while teaching with the WPA Recreational Project in Chicago. Editor Sills, her son and founder of the Second City Theater, here updates over 200 classic exercises and adds 30 new ones. The creative group work and games, which can be used with all levels and ages of performers, and workshop techniques that enhance performers' natural abilities and intuition are all clearly explained. Also included are useful definitions of theater terms and a glossary of side-coaching phrases. Libraries with older editions will want this excellent update. Highly recommended for all theater arts collections.

HamletDreams Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television

Directing film or television is a high-stakes oppucation - the white water rafting of entertainment jobs. It captures your full attention at every moment, calling on you to commit every resource and stretch yourself to the limit. But for many directors, the excitement they feel about a new project tightens into anxiety when it comes to working with actors. Directing Actors is a method for establishing creative, collaborative relationships with actors, getting the most out of rehearsals, troubleshooting poor performances, and giving directions that are briefer and easier to follow.

The following issues are discussed: 
* what constitutes a good performance 
* what actors want from a director 
* what directors do wrong 
* script analysis and preparation 
* how actors work 
* the director/actor relationship

Directing Actors is the first book of its kind. Judith investigates in detail the sometimes painful, often frustrating, but potentially exhilarating relationship between actor and director. It provides simple, practical tools that directors and actors can use immediately - and takes the reader on a journey through the complexities of the creative process itself.
Although one chapter is entitled 'Result Direction and Quick Fixes', the tools and suggestions of the book are now superficial band-aids or facile jargon; they are radical excursions into the perhaps most misunderstood artistic collaboration - that of director with actor.
Judith Weston brings to this book twenty years of professional acting and nine years of teaching Acting for Directors. Her students include academy Awards and Emmy winning directors, writers and producers of studio and independent feature films, television episodics and MOWs.
KEY FEATURES:
* The first book to directly address directors about working with actors
* Offers practical techniques in managing the director/actor relationship

Next: Intro

[CD-ROM] Hollywood High by Theatrix "Write, direct, and produce the stories of your life", for teens [CD]

Total Directing: Integrating Camera and Performance in Film and Television TOTAL DIRECTING 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 director’s craft work together.
Viewed from a perspective that seeks a balance successful work with actors and technically high-level production values, the complete directing process is discussed in detail from the start of script development through the delivery of a finished project covering every aspect of preparation and decision-making with solid background information, practical suggestions, and clear illustrations. Topics include:
• project development • screenplay analysis • choosing and working with a production team • auditioning and casting • script preparation • using the language of acting • working with a set • understanding screen acting styles • conducting a rehearsal • blocking camera and actor moves • using improvisation • working with storyboards • the Hollywood continuity style • choosing camera shots and lighting • multi-camera directing • preparing for each day’s shoot • editing and working with editors & much more. Krzysztof Kieslowski A Masterclass for Young Directors VHS (1995) - English subtitles In the summer of 1994 the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski gave a workshop in Amsterdam on `Directing actors¿ for young directors. For a fortnight various groups worked every day on a scene from Ingmar Bergman's scenario Scenes from a Marriage. A documentary about the inspiring way Kieslowski worked with his actors. After the completion of Rouge Kieslowski decided to stop making films. He gave a workshop during the Amsterdam Summer University: Six actors in search of a director. It focused on the confrontation between the director and his actors. During the workshop the craftsmanship that is so important in directing actors came to the fore; Kieslowski lends his mastery to a new generation of actors and directors in the fascinating masterclass workshop.