| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xii, 250 pages ; 22 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes filmography: pages [207]-238. |
| Note |
Includes index. |
| Summary |
Playwright and screenwriter Mamet gives us a subversive inside look at Hollywood from the perspective of a filmmaker who has always played the game his own way. Who really reads the scripts at the film studios? How is a screenplay like a personals ad? Whose opinion matters when revising a screenplay? Why are there so many producers listed in movie credits? And what do those producers do, anyway? Refreshingly unafraid to offend, Mamet provides hilarious, surprising, and bracingly forthright answers to these and other questions about virtually every aspect of filmmaking, from concept to script to screen. He covers topics ranging from "How Scripts Got So Bad" to the oxymoron of "Manners in Hollywood." He takes us step-by-step through some of his favorite movie stunts and directorial tricks, and demonstrates that it is craft and crew, not stars and producers, that make great films.--From publisher description. |
| Contents |
Introduction -- [pt. 1]. The good people of Hollywood -- Hard work -- Producers -- Victims and villains - Jews in show business -- The development process ; or, Learning to make nothing at all! -- [pt. 2]. The repressive mechanism -- A dark comedy -- An American tragedy -- An understanding and a misunderstanding of the repressive mechanism -- Corruption -- [pt. 3]. The screenplay -- How to write a screenplay -- Character, plot, dialogue, camera angles, advice to the editor -- Helpful hints on screenwriting -- The script -- Women, writing for -- How scripts got so bad -- Begging letters -- (Secret bonus chapter) : The three magic questions -- [pt. 4]. Technique -- Storytelling : some technical advice -- Learning by doing -- Improvisation -- The slate piece -- The wisdom of the ancients -- [pt. 5]. Some principles -- The audience ; or, Lessons from duck hunting -- Aesthetic distance -- The five-gag film -- Bringing a gun to a knife fight ; or, A short tour of the concept of suspension of disbelief -- |
|
[pt. 6]. Genre -- Bang-bang -- The cop movie -- "Film noir and he-men -- Shadow of a doubt -- Religious films -- The sequel -- [pt. 7]. Passing judgment -- Reverence as opposed to love -- Great and rotten acting -- Good in the room : auditions and the fallacy of testing critics -- The critic and the censor -- [pt. 8]. Crimes and misdemeanors -- Manners in Hollywood -- Theft -- Two great American documents ; or, In the wake of the Oscars -- Conclusion : It ain't over till it's over -- Appendix : Films referenced -- Index. |
| Subject |
Motion picture industry -- United States.
|
| Added Title |
Bambi versus Godzilla |
| ISBN |
9780375422539 hardback |
|
0375422536 hardback |
|
