Film Director: A Practical Guide to Motion Picture and Television Techniques

Whether you're planning a short for friends or for school, or a major career as a director, The Film Director should go at the top of your list - even before you buy your first roll of film. It's the first step-by-step practical handbook by a pro's pro - a student filmmaker (USC) turned professional - who has been an award-winning TV and movie director for two decades. Bare takes the beginner all the way from fundamentals of camera angle, sound synch, lighting and setting to what a beginning director's salary scale is and what he can expect to make on reruns of his films.

But here is much more than a solid, nuts-and-bolts textbook. It's a fascinating behind-the-camera look at the director's world, with firsthand examples from such giants as Hitchcock, Wilder, Kubrick, Nichols, Stevens, Wise and Vidor. And in addition to the mechanics and techniques of staging and handling the camera, it outlines the dramatic and emotional methods of coaxing the best performance from actors and actresses, and tells how to keep the story moving.