About the Book:

Secrets of Screen Directing: The Tricks of the Trade is a practical guide which bridges the gap between classroom learning and the realities of being on a set.

After years of directing for the stage, Patrick Tucker started directing for the screen, and from the start kept a record of all he learned – and got wrong – on the many shoots he has helmed. These notes form the basis of Secrets of Screen Directing. The subtitle of the book is The Tricks of the Trade, and Patrick Tucker uses the many insights and techniques gained by directing both screen and stage to open up the craft of effectively telling stories, exploring the reality of a directing career with practical day to day solutions and problem-solving methods for working directors.

Secrets of Screen Directing addresses the fact that most professional directors spend their careers directing other writers' scripts, and deals with the practicalities of working on continuing dramas. Following the Director's mantra of 'show, not tell' it contains over 300 illustrations, diagrams, paperwork examples and floor plans, with lists and charts throughout. Covering planning, preparation, and shooting a project, it delves beyond just script construction and into the nuts and bolts of screen directing.

Directors at any level are always under huge time constraints, and Secrets of Screen Directing provides immediate and simple solutions to working under such restrictions. This is an ideal resource for filmmaking students and those who want to direct performances for the camera, who want to be performers on camera, or indeed anyone connected with or interested in screen drama who wants to know more about what really goes on when creating those memorable characters we all enjoy watching so much on the screen.

About the Author:

Patrick Tucker is an accomplished director of the screen and stage. Since his first professional production in 1968, he has directed more than 200 plays in all forms of theater, from weekly repertory to the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was accepted by the BBC Television Directing program in 1976 and has subsequently directed more than 150 television dramas. He has developed his unique approach to television and film acting as a separate discipline, and he has lectured and taught all over the world.