Cover; DIRECTING; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Introduction; PART 1: THE DIRECTOR AND ARTISTIC IDENTITY; 1 THE WORLD OF THE FILM DIRECTOR; Cinema Art and You; The Director; Who Directs; Basic Responsibilities and Personal Traits; Leadership: Collaboration and Vision; Art, Identity, and Competitiveness; Identifying Your Themes; Identity, Belief, and Vision; Temperament Affects Vision; Find Your Life Issues; Subjects to Avoid; Displace and Transform; The Artistic Process; 2 DEVELOPING YOUR PATH AS A DIRECTOR; Starting Out; Short Films or Features?

Working within Small Budgets and LimitationsThe Good News; The Bad News; The Director and Technology; PART 2: THE STORY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT; 3 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF DRAMA; Duality and Conflict; Defining Conflict; Elements of Conflict and Action; The Objectives and Throughlines; The Stakes; The Obstacles; Action and Character; From Story to Dramatic Narrative; 4 SHAPING THE STORY INTO DRAMA; Shaping the Story into Drama; The Beat; Dramatic Units; Dramatic Unit and Beat Analysis; The Dramatic Arc; Levels of Action; The Three-Act Structure; The Three-Act Structure Caveat.

Essentials of Dramatization I: Making the Internal VisibleEssentials of Dramatization II: Questions and Revelations; 5 PLOT, TIME, AND STRUCTURE; What is Plot?; Cause and Effect; Flow and Inevitability; Character-Driven and Plot-Driven Stories; Organizing Time; Where to Begin and End; Options for Organizing Time; Structure; Premise and Theme; Short Films and Story Scale; Short Films and Flexibility; PART 3: THE DIRECTOR AND THE SCRIPT; 6 SCREENPLAY GROUND RULES; The Writer is the Writer, not the Director; Choosing What is Right for You; Screenplay Stages; Standard Screenplay Formatting.

7 RECOGNIZING THE SUPERIOR SCREENPLAYScript Language and Technique; Stage Directions; Dialogue and Personal Directions; First Assessment; Getting Specific with Margin Notes; Assessing Cinematic Qualities; How is the Story Told?; Integrity of Characters and Motives; Uncover Character Subtext; Metaphoric Detail; Checking the Embedded Values; Viability and Working within limitations; Determine the Story Givens; Determine Project Resources; Viability and Safety Issues; Working Within Limitations; 8 SCRIPT ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT; Collapsing the Screenplay for Analysis.

Analyzing Plot and Story LogicSubjective or Open Point of View; Character Development; Static and Dynamic Character Definition; Character and Voice; Development; Internal Through-Line; Character Analysis; Establishing Character; Dialogue and Verbal Action; Verbal Action; Replacing Dialogue with Action; Testing Dialogue; Checking Exposition; Assessing Environmental Detail; Locations; Sound; Inviting a Critical Response; Incorporating Criticism; Assess and Reassess; PART 4: AUTHORSHIP AND AESTHETICS; 9 CINEMATIC POINT OF VIEW; Telling Stories on Film; Point of View in Literature.