Film is a visual medium, the work of Eric Rohmer and Kevin Smith notwithstanding. It is important for a director and cinemtographer to use their VISUAL EYES in order to VISUALIZE how to make their movie most effective. Also, there is the messy business of actors. Generally, movies have them, and directors have to deal with them. This guide will illuminate these two main jobs of the director: directing the camera and directing the actor, while showing how these two jobs manifest themselves during practical filmmaking -- whether it be, 'Which shots can I lose and still tell my story since we're running out of time', or 'How do I get two actors who hate each other to perform a passionate sex scene',' all will be revealed.

Lloyd Kaufman is one of the very few genuine auteur filmmakers. He has written, produced, and/or directed more than 25 films, including "The Toxic Avenger", "Terror Firmer", "Tromeo and Juliet", and "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead". Kaufman is president of the world-famous Troma Entertainment, the oldest and, arguably, the longest-running truly independent film studio in history. He is also the president of the IFTA (Independent Film & Television Alliance), whose members produce more than 400 independent films and countless hours of television programming each year and generate more than $4 billion in distribution revenues annually.

This book will cover the director's role on any given film, starting from project conception, and following each step of production all the way to the final cut. Each chapter will include examples and anecdotes from the author's thirty years of experience in the world of indie cinema. The book emphasizes the specific fundamental visual concepts needed to shoot a movie.

Introduction: Lloyd Kaufman's 3 Rules of Production
? Safety to People
? Safety to People's Property
? Make a Good Movie

1. 'What I Really Want to do is P.A.' -- Why be a Director?
? For Art or the Sake of Money?
? Auteur theory vs. the Michael Bays of the world

2. Choosing the Project, or the Project Choosing You
? Short vs. feature
? Being that controlling-est of freaks, the Writer/Director

3. 'Show, Don't Tell' and Other Things My Uncle Told Me at Night
? Now that you have your story, figure out how to tell it in a creative visual way
? Even if the script is not yours, make it your own through your own directorial style

4. Directing Fundamentals (There's more to it than a cool looking chair)
? Shot / Reverse Shot, 180 degree line, etc.
? Selected analyses of certain film scenes (Hitchcock, Warhol, Troma & otherwise)

5. The Great Cattle Drive -- Directing Actors
? The casting & rehearsal process
? Getting actors to do things they don't want to do
? The naked truth on filming nude scenes


6. When to Improve & When to Improv
? Storyboarding vs. Point-and-shoot directing

7. Putting the 'Ire' in Director--Managing Your Cast and Crew
? Dealing with fussy cinematographers while getting the shots you want
? Motivating an inexperienced or lazy crew

8. Hurry Up and Wait? Directing Stunts and Special FX
? Shooting coverage; making FX 'act'
? Hollywood gore FX vs. slapstick gore FX pioneered by Troma

9. Post: Re-shoots and the Editing Process

10. Me and Union
? Pros and cons of joining the Director's Guild of America
? Working with SAG, IATSE, and other unions

11. 'If Only I Had Known Then . . .' ? Tales from Films Past
? Interviews with directors (e.g., John Avildsen, Eli Roth, Roger Corman, James Gunn, etc.) on mistakes & disasters in their early film careers, and their advice to aspiring directors
? Lloyd's horror stories, with updated anecdotes from his most recent film, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

12. Directing Commandments of Lloyd Kaufman
? 11th Commandment: Forget my previous 10 Commandments and direct your own damn movie.