Terry's Reviews
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| Movies | Music | Books |
Book Reviews: |
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Directors Close Up Moderated and Edited by Jeremy Kagan Focal Press – 2000 |
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| Very potent stuff, especially if you are a film
director or aspiring film director. Jeremy Kagan interviews two-dozen directors who have
had films Nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild of America. These directors tell
us about their views of being a director and Jeremy Kagan doesn’t change the wording
of anything they say. Nominees include James L. Brooks (As Good As It Gets), James Cameron (Titanic), Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire), Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption), Andrew Davis (The Fugitive), Clint Eastwood (The Unforgiven), Mel Gibson (Braveheart), Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential), Scott Hicks (Shine), Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies), Barry Levinson (Bugsy), John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), Anthony Minghella (English Patient), Mike Newell (Four Weddings & a Funeral), Mike Radford (Il Postino), Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), Steven Spielberg (Amistad, Schindler's List, Color Purple), Oliver Stone (JFK), Barbara Streisand ( Prince of Tides) Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting), Peter Weir (The Truman Show) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump). The structure of book is set up so that all the directors comment on each phase of
production: script development, pre-production, production, and post-production. A short
chapter follows, where each director touches on what they feel to be the best and worst
part of being a director. Finally, the book concludes with a lecture given by Elia Kazan
on "What Makes a Director," which he gave at Wesleyan University in 1973. This
last chapter really gives one an overall view of what a director does and must know to do
his/her job. Invaluable. |
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