Table Of ContentCONTEMPORARY SURVEY OF CINEMA DIRECTING METHODS
A Thesis
P re sen ted to
th e F acu lty o f th e Graduate schoo l
The U n iv e rs ity o f Southern C a lifo rn ia
In P a r t i a l F u lf i l lm en t
o f th e Requirements fo r th e Degree
M aster o f A rts
by
A sit Randan Ghosh
February 1943
UMI Number: EP42668
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This thesis, written by
..........................A8IT...R*....GHQjSH................................
under the direction of h...... Faculty Commit tee ,
a nd a p p r o v e d by a l l i ts m embe r s , has been
presented to and accepted by the Counci l on
Graduate S tudy and Research in partia l fulfi l l
m en t of the r equ i rem en ts f o r the d e g re e o f
MASTER OF ARTS
Secretary
Date J a n u ^ y 3 1 , 1 9 4 3
Faculty Committee
Chairman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I . INTRODUCTION..................* ................................................ 1
The p r o b l e m .......................* ....................................... 1
S tatem ent o f th e p ro b lem .................................... 1
S ig n if ic a n c e o f th e s tudy * ........................... 1
The method S
Method o f r e s e a r c h ........................................ . . . 3
O rgan iza tion o f th e r e p o r t . . . . . . . . 3
B eference to sou rces . . . . . 4
I I . HISTORICAL BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Emergence o f th e d i r e c to r . . . . . . . . . 6
Edwin S . P o r te r 7
D. W. G r i f f i th . . . . . . . . . .................. ?
The s i l e n t p e r io d ................................... 8
W illiam C. deM ille ........................... 9
C ec il B. d eM i l l e ..................................................... 10
E rich von S t r o h e im ................................................. 11
E rnst L ub itsch . . . . . . . . . .................. 11
Fred M u r n a u ........................................... 12
The sound era ............................... 12
King Vidor .................................. 13
F r i t z L a n g ........................................... 13
Rouben Mamoulian . . . . . . . . .................. 14
i i i
CHAPTER PAGE
Prank Capra . . . . . . . . . ........................... 15
Jolan Ford . . 16
Mervyn LeRoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
M ichael C u rtiz . . . . . . . .................. . . 16
W illiam K eighley . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
I I I . THE. DIRECTOR AND THE SCREENPLAY . . . . . . . . 20
Sources o f sc reenp lay m a te r ia l .................. 21
S to ry v a lu es f o r th e sc reen . . . . . . . . . 22
A dap ta tion o f s to ry m a te r ia ls . . . . . . . . 24
Working p o l ic ie s . . . . . . . 26
IY. THE DIRECTOR AM) THE SETS, COSTUMES
AND MAKE-UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Design o f s e t t in g s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Design o f costumes ........................................ 34
Design o f make-up . . . . . . . . . .................. 35
Y. THE DIRECTOR AND THE PLAYERS.................................... 3?
P rocedures fo r s e le c t io n o f p la y e rs . . . . . 37
Basic p r i n c i p l e s .......................... 38
T ype-casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
R e sp o n s ib i l i ty o f th e d i r e c to r .................. 41
In te r p r e ta t io n o f r o l e s . .................................... 42
I n t e g r i t y o f in te r p r e ta t io n . . . . . . . . 43
R ehea rsa l techn iques 45
The problem o f th e a t r ic a l ism . . . . . . . 50
CHAPTER' PAGE
Tempo and rhythm . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
VI. THE DIRECTOR AND THE PHOTOGRAPHY . . . . . . . 55
Comparison of s ta g e and screen
techn iques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
General c o n s id e ra tio n s . . . . ...................... 55
S p e c if ic co n s id e ra tio n s . . . . . . . . . 58
P r in c ip le s o f v is u a l iz a t io n . . . .................. 59
To e s ta b l i s h lo c a le , mood, and
atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
To in c re a se o r d ec rease tempo . . . . . . 63
To make scenes more r e a l i s t i c
o r rom antic . . . . . . . . .................. . 65
To avo id monotony . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
To g ive movement ........................................... 67
To h e igh ten suspense ........................................ 68
To make use o f sym bo lism .......................... 70
O pera tiona l f a c to r s .......................... 71
V II. THE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCTION OPERATIONS . . . . 76
On t he s e t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Sound e f f e c ts and music 79
E d itin g th e f i lm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
V III . SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS..................... . 87
Summary. . . . . ...................... . . . . . . . . 87
The d i r e c to r and th e sc reenp lay . . . . . 89
V
CHAPTER PACE
The d i r e c to r and th e s e t s , costumes,
and make-up ........................................... 90
The d i r e c to r and th e p l a y e r s .......... 90
The d i r e c to r and th e photography . . . . . 91
The d i r e c to r and p roduc tion
o p e r a t i o n s .............................................. 91
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................. 99
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
I . THE PROBLEM
Statem ent o f th e problem* This survey o f contempo
r a r y cinema d ir e c t in g p rocedures i s in tend ed : (1) to docu
ment th e fu n c tio n s of th e motion p ic tu r e d i r e c to r in r e l a t i o n
to th e v a rio u s departm ents o f a f i lm s tu d io ; (2) to re v e a l
how he guides th e d i f f e r e n t p e r s o n a l i t i e s and p ro ce sse s in
volved in th e making o f an en te rta inm en t p ic tu r e ; (3) to
in d ic a te th e q u a l i f ic a t io n s one should have to c a rry on
th e s e fu n c tio n s e f f e c t iv e ly ; and (4) to summarize th e s e
p rocedu res in term s o f th e fu n c tio n s th ey f u l f i l l .
S ig n if ic a n c e o f th e s tu d y . A s tudy such as t h i s i s
im portan t because to d a te , no comprehensive book, devoted
e x c lu s iv e ly to cinema d i r e c t in g , has been p u b lish ed . Some
knowledge can be gained by read ing s e c tio n s of c e r ta in
r a th e r g en e ra l books on f i lm p ro du c tio n , bu t very few a re
a v a i l a b le . Even th e s e a re w r i t te n , fo r th e most p a r t , by
c r i t i c s and o th e rs who have a l im ite d id ea o f bo th d i r e c t
ing and th e exp lan a tion o f d i r e c t in g p ro cedu res . Some
a d d i t io n a l knowledge may be gained from magazines and news
paper a r t i c l e s , bu t th e s e d a ta a re a lso fragm entary and
d i f f i c u l t to u se . T here fo re , a s tudy o f t h i s k ind i s very
2
much in order*
Another f a c to r which makes t h i s s tudy im portan t i s th e
g en e ra l la c k o f orthodoxy in d i r e c t in g methods. Most o f th e
better-know n d i r e c to r s have been r e c ru i te d from th e s ta g e or
one of th e te c h n ic a l departm ents o f th e motion p ic tu r e indus
t r y . These men, th rough t h e i r experience and t h e i r in d iv id u a l
a b i l i t i e s , have tended to e s ta b l i s h t h e i r own methods of
d i r e c t in g . Each has had h is own p a r t i c u l a r g en iu s , and h is
method has seldom i f ever been exp la in ed . This s tudy , as an
i n i t i a l e f f o r t a t comparison o f th e p r a c t i c a l working p ro
cedures o f s e v e ra l prom inent d i r e c to r s in Hollywood, th e r e
fo re , p rov ides somewhat of a sy n th e s is o f p re sen t-d ay p ra c
t i c e .
In a d d it io n , t h i s s tudy has a p e rso n a l s ig n if ic a n c e
because o f i t s r e la t io n s h ip to cinema developments in In d ia .
G reat numbers of p ic tu r e s a re produced in In d ia every year
b u t , m ostly because of a la ck o f good d i r e c to r s , th e f ilm s
a re below American s ta n d a rd s . Many o f th e Ind ian d i r e c to r s
have had only l im ite d s ta g e experience and do no t r e a l iz e
th a t a motion p ie tu r e i s something more th an a photographed
s ta g e p la y . The Hollywood techn ique o f s to r y - t e l l i n g by
c inem atic methods has tremendous p o te n t ia l s ig n if ic a n c e fo r
th e fu tu re o f th e f ilm in d u s try in In d ia , and t h i s s tudy may
be a s te p in th e d i r e c t io n o f making i t known th e r e .
3
I I . THE METHOD
Method of r e s e a rc h . The method fo r t h i s s tu dy has
been to g a th e r m a te r ia l from a l l p o s s ib le sou rces , c o l l a t e
i t , and a rrange i t in to ch ap te rs based upon th e v a rio u s
a sp e c ts o f a cinema d ire c to r* s work* Much of th e m a te r ia l
and many o f th e id ea s fo r t h i s phase o f th e work were gained
from c la s s e s in cinema d i r e c t in g conducted by W illiam Keigh
le y a t The U n iv e rs ity o f Southern C a l i fo rn ia . A dd itio n a l
m a te r ia l has been found In books and p e r io d ic a l l i t e r a t u r e ,
p e rso n a l in te rv iew s w ith o th e r d i r e c to r s , and from observa
t io n o f d i r e c to r s a t work in th e s tu d io s .
O rgan ization of th e r e p o r t . In p lann ing th e p re sen
t a t i o n o f t h i s su b je c t m a tte r , i t seemed ad v isab le to d i s
cuss th e d i r e c to r 's a c t i v i t i e s in term s o f h is r e la t io n s h ip
to th e v a rio u s p e r s o n a l i t i e s and departm ents in vo lv ed . They
a re considered he re in th e o rde r in which th ey a re g e n e ra l ly
a c t iv a te d in th e course of p ro du c tio n :
1 . P rep a ra tio n of th e sc re en p lay .
E. S e le c tio n and design o f s e t s , costumes, and make-up.
3 . S e lec tion s o f p la y e r s , and in te r p r e ta t io n of t h e i r
r o l e s .
4* Lay-out of scenes fo r cinem atographic e f f e c t iv e n e s s .
5 . C oord ination of p roduc tion o p e ra tio n s .
6. Recording of sound e f f e c ts and music; and
