CHAPTER 30
ADVANCED DIRECTING
The word “directing” suggests ordering people around, and is particularly misleading for documentary since you guide or lead the process, rather than command it. Your job is to know what motivates people, what psychological blocs you must remove, and what subtle pressures you can exert to catalyze behavior, or uncover hidden narratives. As leadership, this is very indirect. How best to prepare yourself?
Acting experience of any kind, particularly improvisation, is most valuable because it gives you firsthand experience of doing things in front of others, and in response to them. This is what your documentary participants will have to do for you. To understand them, it helps to be familiar with the ideas of the ...
Get Directing the Documentary, 6th Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
