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Title: Thinking Like a Director : A Practical Handbook by Michael Bloom ISBN: 0-571-19994-1 Publisher: Faber & Faber Pub. Date: 17 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A useful textbook for students and teachers
Comment: I was required to read this book for a directing class on the Masters level. I read the back, there was a nice quote from Donald Margulies: "It is smart and lucidly written and should prove to be an invaluable guidebook for students and emerging directors." I thought that it would be a good idea to read the book with that in mind, as a potential textbook.
As a student of the graduate level, even one who has never directed, this was pretty easy reading. There is something to be said for going back to the basics. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the theoretical that we forget the fundamentals, and it's good to go back and review and recall things we had forgotten. With that in mind, the book did open my thoughts to different ways of thinking about a scene or a play. As primarily an actor and playwright, I found that the book illuminated examples of how my own work can be improved by thinking about things in a new way. I have to feel that the book would have the same effect for a director. Yes, it covers basic things that have already been covered in various classes, but it offers a different side to thinking. If I were to start on a directing career, I would take away two very important lessons from the book. First, I would concentrate on creating an "approach" to a play, rather than a "concept." "Approach" offers a path that can potentially change and accommodate the needs of the production, whereas "concept" locks the ideas in a narrow vision and forces the play to accommodate the concept. Secondly, I would attempt to see the production from two different viewpoints: the internal view and the external view. Bloom believes that maintaining this balance is the key to successful directing.
As a teacher I would recommend this to an undergraduate. I find that the book takes complex concepts and manages to define them in clear, concise terms, something that I have come to appreciate this semester. Bloom takes the time to specify his terms and define them in non-confusing ways. A lot of the time the lessons serve as reminders. "Don't forget to do this..." These terms reinforce ideas that may have been taught to them and may enable students to have a basic understanding in which to facilitate a classroom discussion to further illuminate the point
Once again, I liked Bloom's substitution of the work "approach" for "concept." Essentially the idea is the same but the phrase "concept" gives a feeling on some esoteric idea that every aspect of the production must accommodate. "Approach" suggests a method of dealing with the production, but doesn't force conformity. It denotes a direction and has a connotation of flexibility. Also as I mentioned before Bloom suggests a duel-perspective approach: external and internal. What Bloom gives the reader is a basic process of creating a production while at the same time allowing a flexible approach to the production itself, for no two plays require the same approach. Bloom gives suggestions to deal with different situations or problems that may crop up, but not a rigid methodology. He also suggests ways to prevent problems from arising by dealing with them in pre-production before they explode into a crisis.
Rating: 5
Summary: Bloom covers the areas missed by the directing books of old
Comment: Having seen so many copies of this book being tossed around on campus, I was surprised to see that no one had stopped to review this book, yet. And in keeping with the practical, no nonsense approach of the book, I will keep it brief.
This book is quickly catching on, and is becoming a textbook for many graduate classes in directing.
Most directing textbooks I have read don't deal with certain areas of directing that I find to be most important. Bloom also adresses this in the book, that many books and graduate training programs do not deal with some of the most practical aspects of directing. Old texts have since become museum pieces, restricting the job of director to staging, pace and rhythm issues. One has the idea of a director reading his newspaper in the back row letting the actors magically discover their performance without any help.
Bloom quickly destroys this myth, and presents the director as a crucial link in the process. His internal/external approach, which is a little difficult to sum up in a short review, is an efficient and effective way of approaching a set text, ensuring truthful, committed work from the actors, without sacrificing the requirements of pacing, staging, and clear storytelling. Bloom suggests many practical means for finding one's way into the work, and developing an effective storytelling technique, through common terminology that most actors and directors can respond to. As a graduate student in acting, I certainly wish more directors had a chance to pick up and peruse this book.
Included are also sections on working with designers, structuring your rehearsal space and time, developing rehearsal strategies, approaches for technical rehearsals, etc. It covers everything, even after the show is up and running and you are moving on to the next project.
A simple, no nonsense guide. It covers area missed by the others. Applause to Michael Bloom for such a great book.
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Title: The Director's Eye: A Comprehensive Textbook for Directors and Actors by John Ahart ISBN: 1566080711 Publisher: Meriwether Pub Pub. Date: May, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art and Theatre by Anne Bogart ISBN: 0415238323 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing by William Ball ISBN: 0896760820 Publisher: Drama Publishers Pub. Date: October, 1984 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Notes on Directing by Frank Hauser, Russell Reich ISBN: 0972425500 Publisher: RCR Creative Press Pub. Date: 15 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Tips: Ideas for Directors (Art of Theater Series) by Jon Jory ISBN: 1575252414 Publisher: Smith & Kraus Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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