Directors Close Up: Interviews with Directors Nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild of America [Paperback]

Jeremy Kagan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2005

Since 1992, The Directors Guild of America has hosted annual seminars featuring its nominees for outstanding feature film directing. Since its inception, film and television director Jeremy Kagan has moderated these sessions in which the finest contemporary directors weigh in on every aspect of the filmmaking process. In this book, Kagan has culled the most insightful and entertaining responses from these acclaimed directors. From script development through pre-production to production and post-production, they offer personal insights into every step of the creative process. They also reveal their candid takes on the best and worst aspects of their profession. This second edition includes all the nominees from 2000 thru 2005 and features personal materials from many of the directors, including storyboards, script notes, sketches, and on-set photos. Directors Close Up will be of interest to both professional and aspiring directors, as well as to film fans who will enjoy this inside look into making movies.

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 book is pure gold from beginning to end. It's an absolute must for any serious filmmaker. (Steven Soderbergh )

These superbly edited interviews put you in intimate touch with some of the film world's most gifted spirits as they tell, in richly anecdotal and often humorous fashion, how they created their most memorable works. (Richard Schickel )

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. (Arba, Vol. 37 (2006) )

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 )

...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 )

...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. (Publishers Weekly )

...fascinating and insightful...a highly informative and wildly entertaining read. (Dga Quarterly, Spring 2006 )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press; 2nd Edition edition (December 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081085712X
• ISBN-13: 978-0810857124
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

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)   

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

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 review is from: Directors Close Up: Interviews with Directors Nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild of America (Paperback)

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.