| Acknowledgments | vii |
| Foreword | xv |
| Preface | xvii |
Part 1 | Before the Battle | |
Chapter 1. | Preproduction | 3 |
| Soaking Up the Atmosphere | 3 |
| Decisions! Decisions! | 5 |
| Work, Work, Work! | 6 |
| Producer and Director--'Til Death Do Them Part | 11 |
| Crewing Up | 18 |
| Summary Points | 21 |
Chapter 2. | Content Is Everything | 23 |
| Casting and Scripting | 23 |
| A Few Examples from the World According to Bob | 26 |
| Perfecting Your Script--Getting the Audience into the Movie | 27 |
| The Hero | 29 |
| The Heroic Quest | 33 |
| Attaining Perfection in Casting | 36 |
| How Do You Define Perfection? Casting Your Leads | 38 |
| Casting Your Supporting Roles | 39 |
| Content and the Producer--Sometimes They Come from Different Planets | 40 |
| How to Be Almost Producer-Proof: Write the Script | 43 |
| How to Be Producer-Proof: Write the Script and Raise the Money | 46 |
| Summary Points | 49 |
Part 2 | Visual Design | |
Chapter 3. | Camera Blocking | 53 |
| Why Move Your Camera? | 53 |
| When Do You Move Your Camera? | 54 |
| Externally and Internally Generated Camera Moves | 56 |
| Moving Establishing Shots | 63 |
| Those Who Break Bob's Rule and Why They Do It | 64 |
| Now That You Know the Rules, It Gets Really Complicated | 73 |
| Summary Points | 78 |
Chapter 4. | The Good Moving Master | 79 |
| The Four Tasks of a Good Moving Master | 79 |
| Task 1 - Shows the Audience Everything It Needs to See in a Scene | 79 |
| Task 4 - Picks Up Some Coverage | 82 |
| Task 3 - Generates Eye Candy | 86 |
| Task 2 - Concentrates the Audience's Attention on the Center of the Drama | 91 |
| How Zemeckis Shoots a Moving Master Following the Dictates of the Four Tasks | 92 |
| Summary Points | 110 |
Chapter 5. | Lenses--Why Force Perspective? | 113 |
| Lens Selection As a Joint Responsibility between Director and Cinematographer | 113 |
| The Basics of Perspective | 116 |
| Extreme Telephoto and Extreme Wide-Angle versus Normal Perspective | 118 |
| Lenses--Field of Vision and Depth of Field | 121 |
| General Applications of Different Lenses | 122 |
| Forced Perspective Made Easy | 125 |
| How Lenses Affect Movement | 127 |
| Summary Points | 133 |
Part 3 | Performance | |
Chapter 6. | Directing Actors--It Takes Erudition and Intuition | 137 |
| Breaking Down the Script | 141 |
| The Spine of the Film--The Spine of the Characters | 141 |
| The Actor's Objective--An Overview | 145 |
| How Objectives Work--Get-from or Do-to Objectives + Conflict = Reality | 152 |
| Physicalization of the Objective | 158 |
| Identifying the Most-Playable Objective | 161 |
| Ultraplayable Objectives | 164 |
| Adjustments | 167 |
| "The More Adjustments, the Better"--How Come? | 173 |
| All Adjustments Are Gerunds or Adverbs | 177 |
| Improvisation | 178 |
| Script Breakdown--Layout | 181 |
| Summary Points | 186 |
Chapter 7. | Rehearsal | 189 |
| Preparation | 189 |
| Credibility versus Interpretation | 192 |
| Objectives and Adjustments in Rehearsal | 194 |
| Physicalization As a Rehearsal Tool | 200 |
| Improvisation As a Rehearsal Tool | 202 |
| Making Weak Actors Believable and Good Actors Great--Improv As a Versatile Tool for Rehearsal | 205 |
| Preparation Is Everything | 207 |
| Summary Points | 210 |
Part 4 | Set Politics | |
Chapter 8. | On the Set | 215 |
| Getting Ahead by Getting Along | 215 |
| Successful Collaboration | 219 |
| Collaborating with the 1st AD | 220 |
| The First Walk-Through for Camera | 223 |
| Collaborating with the Cinematographer | 224 |
| Making Your Stars Shine during Production--Off the Set | 229 |
| During Production--On the Set | 237 |
| On the Set in Front of the Camera and Crew | 239 |
| Collaborating with Your Lead Actors During the First Walk-Through for Camera | 244 |
| Taming the Actors Who Chew the Scenery | 249 |
| Collaborating with Yourself | 250 |
| Summary Points | 253 |
Part 5 | Postproduction | |
Chapter 9. | To the Answer Print and Beyond | 257 |
| Collaborating with Your Editor | 257 |
| Reshoots | 261 |
| Inserts | 263 |
| Post Sound--An Overview | 273 |
| Spotting the Picture for Sound Effects and ADR | 275 |
| On the ADR Stage | 280 |
| Hiring a Composer | 283 |
| Working with the Composer | 284 |
| Sound Mixing or Rerecording | 287 |
| Promotion | 290 |
| To the Answer Print and the Sweet Hereafter | 294 |
| Signing with a Manager/Agent | 294 |
| Signing with a Publicist | 298 |
| Coping with Success or the Lack Thereof | 298 |
| Summary Points | 302 |
| About the Author | 307 |