---
product_id: 257139564
title: "On Directing Film"
price: "$1186"
currency: MXN
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 5
url: https://www.desertcart.mx/products/257139564-on-directing-film
store_origin: MX
region: Mexico
---

# On Directing Film

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- **What is this?** On Directing Film
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Buy On Directing Film by Mamet, David online on desertcart.ae at best prices. ✓ Fast and free shipping ✓ free returns ✓ cash on delivery available on eligible purchase.

Review: A few years ago I married a scoundrel--a delusional little man who had taken two whole classes one year at a presigious film school before announcing to the world that he was the next Steven Spielberg, who then spent the next twenty years refusing to get a job because filmmaking was his alleged "destiny." As it turned out, I really was his muse; obsessed with real-life cable crime dramas about psycho brides who kill their unsuspecting, purely innocent husbands, his family would later tell me, he had hoped that he could get me to snap and become the "write what you know" foil in the horror movie of the century, to gain the wealth, adulation and admiration he so richly deserved. In the years since our not-so-amicable divorce, I've been in real film school, taking classes and seminars wherever I can, and working every peon job on every set that will have me because, in a weird twist of life's true horror, I actually do want to make films, and I want to make them well. David Mamet is one of the great filmmakers that my Peter Pan wanted to pose as, but in reading this book I have learned that everything I had been told about the science of Mamet's method was completely false. Either Dopey had a far poorer grasp on reading (and watching) comprehension than I ever realised, or he just made it up as he went along. In truth, I learned in reading this book that Film Directing is much more creative and far less pretentious than I'd been led to believe, and this lecture series made me wish that I had chosen Columbia instead of Boise State way back when these classes were first taught. David Mamet's positive view that the film director is a "Dionysian extention of the screenwriter" makes the prospect much less dull. His philosophy about "letting the story evolve," how that happens, and allowing the subconcious mind to lead shot sequences and angles is brilliant. But his final advice to "stick to the channel, it's marked," is what makes this series of lessons timeless. All of the classes I have taken have left me feeling daunted, worried about the future direction of my path, losing focus in the minutiae of technicality, camera choices, light angles...resisting the urge to pummel bad actors. But then there is the clearheaded, short-and-sweet teaching of Mamet to follow first principles, plotting a sure course, summed up with: "The more time you have invested, and the more of yourself you have invested in the plan, the more secure you will feel in the face of terror, loneliness, or the unfeeling or ignorant comments of those from whom you are asking a whole bunch of money or indulgence." This book is truly a series of peptalks from a great and humble mentor, and is going into my war chest to be referred back to whenever I need to find the center again. It's so much more sensible than the ramblings of the idiot I married.
Review: This book is aimed at film directors, but the principles are equally true for writers of creative fiction. An easy read it really gets your mind working. Thoroughly enjoyable.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #59,109 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #9 in Performing Arts Reference #21 in Screenwriting #39 in Movie Direction & Production |
| Customer reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (922) |
| Dimensions  | 20.12 x 12.75 x 0.91 cm |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| ISBN-10  | 0140127224 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0140127225 |
| Item weight  | 108 g |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 128 pages |
| Publication date  | 1 January 1992 |
| Publisher  | Penguin Books Ltd |

## Images

![On Directing Film - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71ph+1t3GRL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by M***W on 8 February 2018*

A few years ago I married a scoundrel--a delusional little man who had taken two whole classes one year at a presigious film school before announcing to the world that he was the next Steven Spielberg, who then spent the next twenty years refusing to get a job because filmmaking was his alleged "destiny." As it turned out, I really was his muse; obsessed with real-life cable crime dramas about psycho brides who kill their unsuspecting, purely innocent husbands, his family would later tell me, he had hoped that he could get me to snap and become the "write what you know" foil in the horror movie of the century, to gain the wealth, adulation and admiration he so richly deserved. In the years since our not-so-amicable divorce, I've been in real film school, taking classes and seminars wherever I can, and working every peon job on every set that will have me because, in a weird twist of life's true horror, I actually do want to make films, and I want to make them well. David Mamet is one of the great filmmakers that my Peter Pan wanted to pose as, but in reading this book I have learned that everything I had been told about the science of Mamet's method was completely false. Either Dopey had a far poorer grasp on reading (and watching) comprehension than I ever realised, or he just made it up as he went along. In truth, I learned in reading this book that Film Directing is much more creative and far less pretentious than I'd been led to believe, and this lecture series made me wish that I had chosen Columbia instead of Boise State way back when these classes were first taught. David Mamet's positive view that the film director is a "Dionysian extention of the screenwriter" makes the prospect much less dull. His philosophy about "letting the story evolve," how that happens, and allowing the subconcious mind to lead shot sequences and angles is brilliant. But his final advice to "stick to the channel, it's marked," is what makes this series of lessons timeless. All of the classes I have taken have left me feeling daunted, worried about the future direction of my path, losing focus in the minutiae of technicality, camera choices, light angles...resisting the urge to pummel bad actors. But then there is the clearheaded, short-and-sweet teaching of Mamet to follow first principles, plotting a sure course, summed up with: "The more time you have invested, and the more of yourself you have invested in the plan, the more secure you will feel in the face of terror, loneliness, or the unfeeling or ignorant comments of those from whom you are asking a whole bunch of money or indulgence." This book is truly a series of peptalks from a great and humble mentor, and is going into my war chest to be referred back to whenever I need to find the center again. It's so much more sensible than the ramblings of the idiot I married.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by C***L on 4 February 2019*

This book is aimed at film directors, but the principles are equally true for writers of creative fiction. An easy read it really gets your mind working. Thoroughly enjoyable.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by K***F on 24 June 2015*

Beim Lesen dieses kurzen Buches habe ich mehr über das Filmemachen gelernt als in zig Büchern davor. Hier hat es das erste Mal wirklich "Klick" gemacht und ich habe verstanden was "Visual Storytelling" wirklich ausmacht. In diesem Buch lernt man nichts über Kameraführung, Komposition oder ähnliches, sondern rein wie man eine Geschichte in Bildern erzählt. Das Ergebnis ist eine sehr nüchtern Erzählung, weshalb einige Rezensenten dem Autor vorwerfen, den künstlerischen Aspekt zu vernachlässigen. Damit haben sie Recht, das kommt dem Buch aber nur zu Gute, denn damit kann es sich auf das Kernthema konzentrieren. Für Bildkomposition oder Kameraführung muss man zu anderen Büchern greifen.

## Frequently Bought Together

- On Directing Film
- Making Movies
- In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing, 2nd Edition

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*Last updated: 2026-02-27*