#685559 in eBooks 2006-02-21 2006-02-21File Name: B008VSRW90
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Entertaining--a good read for filmmakers. critics or fansBy Matt RIf youve ever wondered what exactly a director brings to a film. this book answers that question. The theory that the director is the auteur of a film is debatable. especially when he or she is working from a script or work by someone else. At the same time. a director certainly can give a film a unique point of view; this book explains that better than I am trying to do.Dancyger gives examples of one director bringing single a point of view--an idea--to all of his or her works. One example is director Mary Harron. whose idea is "Celebrity and Banality." which affects the point of view of both I Shot Andy Warhol. which she from a true story. and American Psycho. from the Ellis book. Dancyger shows how this idea plays out in camera angles. and how the actors speak.The biggest strength of The Directors Idea is how Dancyger has gone through the works of notable directors and synthesized their works into the one Idea. and then shows how the Idea is applied.Anyone interested in film. or what a director really does will like this book. I loved it.-Matt R2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. "I know everything about film. Ive seen over 240 of them."By TClook for typos on (at least) pages 7 and 27 (McQ and The Lost Crusade. respectively). and also blatent misinformation about the film Force 10 From Navarone on page 101 (it is not "to Navarone" nor is it by Michael Anderson). dancyger likes to fit directors into his 3 neat little categories: competent. good. and great. its like the beginning of dead poets society when keating has the boys rip pages from their poetry books that describe a mathematical graph system for rating the quality of one poem versus another. i wanted to rip many pages out of this book. for students who are trying to learn. he chooses obscure and sometimes foreign films to prove a point; that point is then lost on his audience. he also makes a point of listing movies. as if to prove he has seen many films. he has some catching up to do- dwight k. schrute has seen over 240 of them. he imposes his opinion like it is fact. in the world of dancyger. terrence malick is a "great" director. meaning up with the likes of coppola. scorsese. woody allen. spielberg AKA the masters of this generation. not to knock malick. but he averages one film a decade. most of which barely blip the radar. garner a nomination or two for cinematography. but never win. dancyger has never made anything of importance other than write books telling other people how to do it. those who cant do. teach.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. some interesting stuff. mostly shallow redundant fillerBy ginsuThe first 100 pages of this book are interesting. If you are looking at theme. And how filmic language can support theme. THe authors insight into filmic technique and language is a bit obvious. but He has a nice way of looking at theme.But after that the book gets stuck in the mud and doesnt move forward. The author rehashes and fills up 200 more pages or so with about 5 more pages of new insight.I would hate to take a class from this guy.P.S. What you want to read instead is "Making Movies"by Sidney Lumet. If I compared the two books I would give Dancyger 1 star.
