Directors Close Up

The edited selections in this book are taken from in-depth discussions exploring the complex process of directing. These began in 1992 when The Directors Guild of America launched a series of yearly seminars with the nominees for outstanding feature film directing.




The structure of each of these discussions followed the stages of filmmaking that the director supervises, concentrating on creative and pragmatic issues: script development, pre-production, production, and post-production. A short chapter follows, where each director touches on what they feel to be the best and worst part of being a director. Finally, the book concludes with a lecture given by Elia Kazan on "What Makes a Director," which he gave at Wesleyan University in 1973. It remains one of the most elegant declarations of the characteristics of all directors.

Nonimees include James L. Brooks (As Good As It Gets),Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption), Andrew Davis (The Fugitive), Clint Eastwood (The Unforgiven), Mel Gibson (Braveheart), Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential), Scott Hicks (Shine), Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies), Barry Levinson (Bugsy), Anthony Minghella (English Patient), Mike Newell (Four Weddings & a Funeral), Mike Radford (Il Postino), Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), Steven Spielberg (Amistad, Schindler's List, Color Purple), Oliver Stone (JFK, TitanicBarbara Streisand ( Prince of Tides) Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting,Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)



Edited selections from in-depth interviews with outstanding directors
Discussions focus on creative and pragmatic issues in the making of award-winning films
The interviews are organized around the filmmaking process