Directors Close Up, 2nd Edition: Interviews with Directors Nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild of America (Paperback)

by Jeremy Kagan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
"What doesn't a director do?" editor and moderator Jeremy Kagan asks in this rich compilation of musings from directors nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild between 1992 and 2005. Loosely organized by phases in the moviemaking process (preproduction, the cast, the crew, rehearsal, etc.), Kagan lets his subjects discuss their craft without limiting their comments to the movies for which they were nominated. In some cases Kagan lets his subjects talk too long, but his editing is generally spot-on and lends an adeptly distilled feeling to the book. Readers looking for their favorite director's thoughts on every moviemaking topic will find the book frustrating, as organization within sections seems haphazard, but readers willing to let Kagan guide them through a particular topic will be rewarded with a level of insight rarely so focused. While each section is packed with information, the 66 pages devoted to the shoot itself are the most illuminating; focusing primarily on creating and maintaining a productive atmosphere on the set, the remarks about managing a small army of egos and mood swings are highly entertaining. Whether it's Peter Jackson discussing how to coax actors into wearing the prosthetic devices they agreed to or Sam Mendes's comments on incorporating wildly different acting techniques, it all makes for rewarding reading.
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Review
..this is the kind of stuff that movie addicts will devour...Crisply edited, this truly has something to fascinate on every page. FOUR STARS -- Film Review

Films are national treasures. Getting a glimpse of how they are made is a treat for the film lover. Hopefully, these nominations will continue to provide that. -- American Reference Books Annual

Of all the directors here, it is Spielberg who speaks at greatest length and in most detail, and his remarks alone are worth the price of admission....budding auteurs...stand to learn a great deal from the accumulated wisdom in these pages. -- The Hollywood Reporter

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: The Scarecrow Press; 2 edition (December 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081085712X
• ISBN-13: 978-0810857124
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #702,362 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, informative, insightful, highly recommended., September 4, 2000

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Directors Close Up: Interviews With Directors Nominated for Best Film By the Directors Guild of America (Paperback)

Jeremy Kagan's Directors Up Close is a compendium of engaging, informative, insightful interviews with film directors who were each nominated for "Best Film" by the Directors Guild of America. A highly recommended addition to any academic, professional, and community library film studies collection, Directors Up Close is a fascinating and informative work will entertain film buffs, educate film school students, and tutor aspiring directors.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing - TOP MOVIE DIRECTORS SHARE THEIR CREATIVE VISION AND WORKING METHODS IN A UNIQUE FORUM, November 20, 2006

By	J. M. Hepburn (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found DIRECTORS CLOSE UP to be a highly informative and entertaining read, full of insights into the filmmaker's creative process that you're not likely to find anywhere else. Speaking to an audience of their peers at an annual symposium at the Directors Guild, the participants (all critically acclaimed nominees for the DGA Award for Feature Film Directing), let their hair down and speak candidly about every aspect of the long, complicated, and sometimes fractious process of making a film.

Seasoned pros, aspiring filmmakers and cinema lovers will all find something to inspire and instruct them in this wide-ranging investigation of all the stages of giving birth to a film from script to post-production and beyond. Especially interesting is the section on casting, with insider tips on the varied techniques directors use to get audition-phobic actors to read for them. James Cameron (Titanic) tells a story of how Leo DiCaprio was just a name on a list to him, so he asked him to read, which DiCaprio at first refused to do until Cameron said "You're gonna read or you're gonna go home!" DiCaprio says, "Okay, let's read!" * and proceeds to blow away the director's doubts. Equally compelling is the chapter on editing in which Alexander Payne (Sideways) talks about how a film is magically transformed in ways you can't anticipate in the script stage, and why he welcomes cutting even some of his favorite scenes so the audience can start making connections as the film gets tighter. Come to think of it, don't miss the chapters on the script, rehearsal, production, or music and sound either, all of which provide pearls of wisdom from the likes of Peter Jackson, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh and many more. Speaking of pearls, as an added bonus there's an essay by Elia Kazan, "On What Makes a Director," that should be required reading for every film student, not to mention prersonal script notes, storyboards, sketches, and on-set photos contributed by the filmmakers that provide a fascinating glimpses of the creative thinking behind their award-winning movies.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insightful Collection on Directing, October 13, 2006

By	T. Fleur "Film Fan" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This book is a wonderful collection of insights to the Director's process and filmmaking in general. This is a great read for anyone interesting in directing, filmmaking or the creative process.