--- product_id: 4120819 title: "On Directing Film" price: "₱2058" currency: PHP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.ph/products/4120819-on-directing-film store_origin: PH region: Philippines --- # On Directing Film **Price:** ₱2058 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** On Directing Film - **How much does it cost?** ₱2058 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ph](https://www.desertcart.ph/products/4120819-on-directing-film) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A masterclass on the art of directing from the Pulitzer Prize-winning (and Oscar and Tony-nominated) writer of Glengarry Glen Ross , Speed the Plow , The Verdict , and Wag the Dog Calling on his unique perspective as playwright, screenwriter, and director of his own critically acclaimed movies like House of Games, State and Main, and Things Change , David Mamet illuminates how a film comes to be. He looks at every aspect of directing—from script to cutting room—to show the many tasks directors undertake in reaching their prime objective: presenting a story that will be understood by the audience and has the power to be both surprising and inevitable at the same time. Based on a series of classes Mamet taught at Columbia University's film school, On Directing Film will be indispensible not only to students but to anyone interested in an overview of the craft of filmmaking. "Passion, clarity, commitment, intelligence—just what one would expect from Mamet." —Sidney Lumet, Academy Award-nominated director of 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network , and The Verdict Review: Changed the way I think - "If a person's objective is truly - and you don't have to do it humbly, because you'll get humble soon enough - to understand the nature of the medium, that objective will be communicated to the audience." This book is a brilliant study in taking the role of the director and bringing an idea to life through communicating a series of images - the shot list. It's a book on Directing, but I would just as much recommend it to any screenwriter as well. Mamet works hard to stay away from discussing angles & visual style as he thinks you should (at least in your initial planning) as these are not his strong suits (to which he admits) but instead demands that shots should communicate through staging, action and juxtaposition. Information should not be read or told but questioned, answered and experienced. His points are further stressed through demonstration in workshop format between students and himself in two of the longest chapters near the beginning and end of the book that I quite enjoyed. A strong theme running throughout the book is putting in the hard work will help you to know the job as it focuses heavily on workshopping down to communicating the information in the shot to it's core which in turn cuts away the fluff making it easier to communicate (in theory) what's happening in said shot with the sets, props, actors, etc. The book's back cover purports that this book looks at every aspect of directing - "from script to cutting room floor" - that's simply not true if you simply learning about film and are just getting into the art form. However if this is a chapter slightly further along on your journey I would HIGLY RECOMMEND this as an advanced masterclass. Not too advanced to understand for anyone by any means - but maybe too advanced to fully absorb... But what do I know. Read it anyways :) Review: Undid Every Falsehood I Had Been Taught - 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. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #70,927 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #28 in Video Direction & Production (Books) #36 in Screenwriting (Books) #56 in Movie Direction & Production | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 977 Reviews | ## Images ![On Directing Film - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71ph+1t3GRL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Changed the way I think *by M***C on January 29, 2018* "If a person's objective is truly - and you don't have to do it humbly, because you'll get humble soon enough - to understand the nature of the medium, that objective will be communicated to the audience." This book is a brilliant study in taking the role of the director and bringing an idea to life through communicating a series of images - the shot list. It's a book on Directing, but I would just as much recommend it to any screenwriter as well. Mamet works hard to stay away from discussing angles & visual style as he thinks you should (at least in your initial planning) as these are not his strong suits (to which he admits) but instead demands that shots should communicate through staging, action and juxtaposition. Information should not be read or told but questioned, answered and experienced. His points are further stressed through demonstration in workshop format between students and himself in two of the longest chapters near the beginning and end of the book that I quite enjoyed. A strong theme running throughout the book is putting in the hard work will help you to know the job as it focuses heavily on workshopping down to communicating the information in the shot to it's core which in turn cuts away the fluff making it easier to communicate (in theory) what's happening in said shot with the sets, props, actors, etc. The book's back cover purports that this book looks at every aspect of directing - "from script to cutting room floor" - that's simply not true if you simply learning about film and are just getting into the art form. However if this is a chapter slightly further along on your journey I would HIGLY RECOMMEND this as an advanced masterclass. Not too advanced to understand for anyone by any means - but maybe too advanced to fully absorb... But what do I know. Read it anyways :) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Undid Every Falsehood I Had Been Taught *by M***W on February 8, 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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mamet takes us to school *by S***R on January 10, 2021* On Directing film is a good introduction to directing film by one of my favorite screenwriters, David Mamet. Just like his films, the writing is direct and straight to the point. As someone who has always been interested in how movies are made, I loved the parts of the book where Mamet and the students he taught break down how they would approach filming a scene. You may not agree with Mamet's approach 100%, but it's worthy reading for anyone who enjoys movies, enjoys how they are made and—who knows—may want to make a movie themselves. ## Frequently Bought Together - On Directing Film - Making Movies - In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing, 2nd Edition --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.ph/products/4120819-on-directing-film](https://www.desertcart.ph/products/4120819-on-directing-film) --- *Product available on Desertcart Philippines* *Store origin: PH* *Last updated: 2026-05-19*