An accessible edition of a classic guide to film and theater directing offers insight into the craft's unique challenges from managing personalities and anticipating problems to working with a script and the key elements of staging, in a primer that also features life lessons gleaned by the co-authors throughout their careers. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.

Here, John Badham, the acclaimed director of Saturday Night Fever, WarGames, Short Circuit, and many other classic films, unveils the secrets of directing and the techniques behind great action and suspense films.

"William Ball, founder and general director of the acclaimed American Conservatory Theatre, engages his audience in a wide-ranging discussion of the director's process - from first reading through opening night. Mr. Ball offers a candid, personal account of his method of working - including the choice of a play's essential elements, preproduction homework, casting, and rehearsal techniques"--Cover.

Elia Kazan was the twentieth century’s most celebrated director of both stage and screen, and this monumental, revelatory book shows us the master at work. Kazan’s list of Broadway and Hollywood successes—A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, On the Waterfront, to name a few—is a testament to his profound impact on the art of directing. This remarkable book, drawn from his notebooks, letters, interviews, and autobiography, reveals Kazan’s method: how he uncovered the “spine,” or core, of each script; how he analyzed each piece in terms of his own experience; and how he determined the specifics of his production. And in the final section, “The Pleasures of Directing”—written during Kazan’s final years—he becomes a wise old pro offering advice and insight for budding artists, writers, actors, and directors.

What are the practical and creative elements for becoming a director? How do you get started? What is the best way for actors, designers, and crew to work with directors? This guide provides regional theater companies and new directors with the knowledge and tools they need to produce successful shows. Drawing on years of experience directing and producing plays, Wilma Marcus Chandler covers such topics as: * How to read and analyze a script and really understand it * How to visualize your show * How to get started, researching and thinking about concept, music, lights, sound, costumes * How to hold auditions * How to talk to your case and crew--and how to listen * How to stage a play, using blocking, body movement, stage business, exits and entrances * How to prepare a production, including rehearsal techniques, time lines, budgets, royalties, publicity * How to prepare a career in directing

The theatre director is one of the most critical roles in a successful drama company, yet there are no formal qualifications required for entry into this profession. This practical guide for emerging theatre directors answers all the key questions from the very beginning of your career to key stages as you establish your credentials and get professionally recognized. It analyzes the director's role through relationships with the actors, author, designer, production manager and creative teams and provides vital advice for "on-the-job" situations where professional experience is invaluable. The book also provides an overview of the many approaches to acting methodology without focusing on any in particular to allow the director to develop their own unique methods of working with any actor's style. Each chapter includes these key features: * Introduces important theories, identifies practitioners and provides key reading to provide an overview of historic and current practice. * Interviews with leading practitioners and emerging directors. * Suggested exercises to develop the director's own approach and practical skills.