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