On June 21, 2023, I “retired” from teaching at the Shanghai Vancouver Film School after 8 amazing years and it was time to move on to another filmmaking venture.
Cindy (my wife) and I then took a two-month Covid-delayed trip to Canada: To Vancouver, Toronto, and Regina. To see my two kids, my three sisters and lots and lots of friends!
After Cindy and I returned to Shanghai from our Canadian trip, I sat down to re-evaluate my next professional filmmaking journey.
I spent January & February, 2024 figuring out my next venture – which ultimately led to my researching and writing a series of 25 film directing (e)books that took me 9 months to complete. I have called this new directing book series:
MASTERING THE ART AND CRAFT OF DIRECTING
A Masterclass Series of Film Directing Tips, Tools and
Trade Secrets For Anyone Sitting in the Directors Chair
The information in this series of 25 books is based on my 20 years of experience as a television drama series Director and feature film First Assistant Director, as well as over 20 years of experience teaching film students and directing workshops worldwide.
Demystifying the Film Directing Process
In 2009, I received an email from a filmmaker who was a subscriber to my ezine, “The Director’s Chair.” He told me that the information I wrote in the ezine was “clear and easy to understand” and that I helped “demystify the film directing process” for him.
That email forever changed the way I thought about my role as a filmmaker and educator. From that day on I decided it was my goal (my “mission”) to help demystify the film directing process for filmmakers worldwide.
Remember: No matter how many films you have directed, the size of your budget, or the years of experience your cast and crew have, making any type of film is always a “complicated and risky adventure.”
This is because EVERY film ever made has at least one thing in common: a lot of “moving pieces” and if even one of those pieces is out of sync with the others, problems WILL begin to appear.
Any film you make (whether it’s a short film or a Hollywood blockbuster) will have its unique challenges, but in my experience, directing a film can (eventually) be less complicated than you think.
The trick is to learn the ‘craft’ of filmmaking first and then adapt your personal life skills (time management, communication, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, etc.) with your innate creative talents and your learned creative ability to master the ‘art’ of filmmaking.
In other words, there is an “art and craft” to making any kind of creative project as long as you “learn the craft first – then master your art!” And you do this by first learning the basic principles, fundamental skills and technical knowledge (the craft) before attempting to achieve artistic mastery (the art).
Why did I call this series of 25 books
“Mastering the Art and Craft of Directing?”
The key word here is of course “Mastering.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines mastering as “to learn how to do something well.” They also define it as “to learn to control an emotion or feeling” which I find interesting as a leader of a film crew and a director of actors!
“Mastering the Art and Craft of Directing” means gaining advanced skills and deep understanding in your field. It’s about learning the basics, refining them, and evolving your style to achieve excellence and express your unique vision.
The “ART” of directing involves all the creative decisions a director has to make each day, such as choosing the right locations to match the story’s theme and creating a specific mood or atmosphere through the use of color and composition.
The “ART” of directing also involves a detailed understanding of the acting process to bring out the emotional and dramatic elements of a scene as well as understanding the thematic and symbolic elements of a story.
The “CRAFT” of directing involves all the technical and logistical aspects of filmmaking such as understanding camera techniques, the power of sound, film editing, and post-production.
The “CRAFT” of directing also involves efficiently managing a production team, understanding the shooting schedule and knowing how to keep within your budget to ensure you complete your film on time and within budget – so you can get hired to direct another film!
“Mastering the Art and Craft of Directing” is essentially about becoming a skilled practitioner in the various creative and logistical stages of directing a film, as well as the ability to successfully collaborate with a team of creative film professionals.
Real-World Experience
In my professional opinion, I firmly believe that fully mastering the art and craft of film directing requires a combination of personal life lessons, technical and creative expertise, innovative and artistic talent, effective communication skills AND inspirational leadership qualities.
However, to learn any new skill, you should have someone who has “worked in the business” to help guide you or teach you. This “real film world experience” provides invaluable insights that go beyond theory, offering practical on-set knowledge to help you navigate the creative, logistical and political challenges of this industry effectively.
I’ve been fortunate to have spent “years behind the camera” – but I also have years of experience teaching the filmmaking process to others.
Since 2003, I’ve taught over 50 film directing and AD workshops to hundreds of filmmakers worldwide from Vancouver, Toronto, Singapore, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Auckland, Haiti and China!
As a Directing Instructor at the Vancouver Film School (7 years) and the Shanghai Vancouver Film School (8 years), I’ve been involved in the production of over 900+ short films! From concept; to script writing; to casting; to shooting on set; to post-production.
I am also the author of the film book “Making the Magic Happen: The Art and Craft of Film Directing” published by Michael Wiese Productions.
My approach to teaching directing is based on over 40 years of practical, on-set filmmaking experience as a Director (37 documentary episodes, 4 short films, one television movie and 32 US & Canadian television dramas) as well as a First Assistant Director (25 TV commercials, 7 television drama series, 4 TV series pilots, 17 TV movies, and 12 Hollywood feature films), all of which gave me a comprehensive ‘hands-on’ understanding of both the creative and technical skills of film production.
And it is those directing tips, techniques and hard-learned skills that I want to share with you now in this new series of 25 directing (e)books called:
MASTERING THE ART AND CRAFT OF DIRECTING
A Masterclass Series of Film Directing Tips, Tools and
Trade Secrets For Anyone Sitting in the Directors Chair
Since you found this page on my website, I would like to send you the Series Table of Contents of all 25 books so you can see for yourself the amount of available content that is in each book.
The Series Table of Contents contains 39 pages of ALL the content that is available in each of the 24 Directing books (32 chapters) plus 1 Bonus Film Scheduling Book (13 chapters), totaling over 1500 pages!
I’ve included all 25 Book Chapter Headings below so you can get a sneak preview of the overall content of these directing books.
Mastering the Art and Craft of Directing!
Series Table of Contents (Overview)
BOOK 1– In the Beginning (91 pages)
In the Beginning
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: The Director’s Creative Process
BOOK 2 – Role of the Director (69 pages)
CHAPTER 2: The Role of the Director
CHAPTER 3: Director Personal and Working Tools
BOOK 3 – 8 Stages of Making a Film (53 pages)
CHAPTER 4: The 8 Stages of Making a Film
CHAPTER 5: Differences Between TV and Feature Films
CHAPTER 6: Network TV vs Digital Streaming Services
BOOK 4 -Director as Storyteller (77 pages)
CHAPTER 7: The Director’s Pre-Production Activities
CHAPTER 8: The Director as Storyteller
BOOK 5 – Director and the Script (57 pages)
CHAPTER 9: The Director and the Script
BOOK 6 – Script & Scene Analysis (79 pages)
CHAPTER 10: Your First Readings of the Script
CHAPTER 11: Script and Scene Analysis
BOOK 7 – Character Analysis-Overview (76 pages)
CHAPTER 12: Character Analysis – Overview
BOOK 8 – Character Analysis-Specific (70 pages)
CHAPTER 13: Character Analysis – Specific
CHAPTER 14: Story and Scene Breakdown
BOOK 9 – Understanding Ourselves (66 pages)
CHAPTER 15: Understanding Ourselves and Society
BOOK 10 – Motivation Determines Behavior (54 pages)
CHAPTER 16: Motivation Determines Behavior
BOOK 11 – The Actor’s Language (59 pages)
CHAPTER 17: The Actor’s Language
BOOK 12 – Director/Actor Relationship (56 pages)
CHAPTER 18: The Director/Actor Relationship
BOOK 13 – The Casting Process (105 pages)
CHAPTER 19: The Casting Process
CHAPTER 20: Script Readthrough and Cast Rehearsals
BOOK 14 – Director’s Visual Style (Part 1) (83 pages)
CHAPTER 21a: Director’s Visual Style (Part 1)
BOOK 15 – Director’s Visual Style (Part 2) (84 pages)
CHAPTER 21b: Director’s Visual Style (Part 2)
BOOK 16 – Director Signature Styles (66 pages)
CHAPTER 22: Director Signature Visual Styles
BOOK 17 – Creating the Visual Style (95 pages)
CHAPTER 23: Creating a Director’s Visual Style
BOOK 18 – Role of Sound in Movies (53 pages)
CHAPTER 24: The Role of Sound in Movies
BOOK 19 – The Language of Film (80 pages)
CHAPTER 25: The Language of Film
BOOK 20 – Chemistry Behind the Camera (53 pages)
CHAPTER 26: Chemistry Behind the Camera
BOOK 21 – Blocking & Rehearsing Actors (74 pages)
CHAPTER 27: Blocking a Scene
CHAPTER 28: Rehearsing Actors on the Set
BOOK 22 – Shooting On the Set (52 pages)
CHAPTER 29: Roll Camera – Shooting On the Set
BOOK 23 – Director in Post-Production (77 pages)
CHAPTER 30: The Director’s Role in Post-Production
BOOK 24 – Publicity and Demo Reels (64 pages)
CHAPTER 31: Publicity and Demo Reels
CHAPTER 32: Tail Slates and Short Ends
BONUS BOOK 25: Film Scheduling Tips (142 pages)
CHAPTER 1: Feature Films and Television Series
CHAPTER 2: The First Assistant Director
CHAPTER 3: Pre-Production – A Process of Discovery
CHAPTER 4: The Script
CHAPTER 5: How Long Will it Take to Shoot a Scene?
CHAPTER 6: Film and Television Scheduling Tips
CHAPTER 7: Film and Television Scheduling Factors
CHAPTER 8: Designing the Film Shooting Schedule
CHAPTER 9: Working with Actors
CHAPTER 10: Blocking Actors on Set
CHAPTER 11: Industry Standard Set Protocol
CHAPTER 12: The Shooting Crew
CHAPTER 13: On-Set Conflict Resolution
Appendix A: Assistant Director Checklist (Preproduction)
Appendix B: Assistant Director Checklist (Production)
Appendix C: 25 1st AD Tips (Learned the Hard Way!)
Taking the Next Step!
If you want to see the full chapter content of these 25 (e)books, reply to directingcoach@actioncutprint.com with “25acp” in the subject heading.
Once I receive your reply, I will send you the 39-page preview of the “Mastering the Art and Craft of Directing – Series Table of Contents.”
This 39-page preview will give you a comprehensive overview of the entire 25-book series, allowing you to see firsthand what each book covers and how it can help elevate and add to your directing skills.
And…As a Special Bonus
Since you took the time to read all of this page, I will also by send you the first TWO directing books in the series as a thank-you gift! (You can review the full chapter content from both books below.)
These two books will give you an introduction to the whole series, plus an overview of the Director’s Creative Process: from tips on how to work and survive in the film industry, the director’s main responsibilities, the personal and working tools of a director and 50 tips on “How to Work and Survive in the Business!”
So if you are interested in getting the chapter content of these 25 books, PLUS the first TWO directing (e)books in the series as my gift to you, please reply to directingcoach@actioncutprint.com with “25acp” in the subject heading.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Peter D. Marshall
Directing Coach
P.S: The 3 files I will send you (Table of Contents, Books 1 & 2) are in PDF format, making it easy to download and read on your computer or phone. I will send these three files to you by Wetransfer – a safe and easy way to download the three PDF files.
P.P.S: By replying to directingcoach@actioncutprint.com with “25acp” in the subject heading, you’ll not only get a detailed preview of the full 25-book series, but you’ll also receive the first two books (over 150 pages) giving you immediate access to valuable directing tips and techniques.
MASTERING THE ART AND CRAFT OF DIRECTING
A Masterclass Series of Film Directing Tips, Tools and
Trade Secrets For Anyone Sitting in the Directors Chair
BOOK 1 – Table of Content
In the Beginning
1. My Origin Story (p5)
2. Mission Statement (p7)
3. “Mastering the Art and Craft of Directing?” (p8)
4. Peter D. Marshall Biography (p9)
5. Film and Television Credits (p11)
6. Teaching and Coaching Resume (p18)
7. Making The Magic Happen (Kindle Edition) (p24)
Introduction
1. There Are No Rules in Filmmaking (p26)
2. The Downside of Working in a Creative Business (p27)
3. The Positive Side of Working in a Creative Business (p28)
4. The Business and Politics of Filmmaking (p30)
5. To Master Any Craft, You Must Make Sacrifices (p35)
6. My 3-Step Film Directing Mantra (p36)
7. My 10 Commandments of Filmmaking (p38)
CHAPTER 1: The Director’s Creative Process
1. Overview of the Creative Process (p43)
2. The Four Steps of Creativity (p43)
3. Overview of the Creative Process (p45)
4. How to Work and Survive “In the Business” (p46)
5. 30 Tips on How to Work and Survive in the Film Industry (p47)
6. Directors and their Insecurities (p51)
7. 20 Common Insecurities that Directors May Experience (p52)
8. Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset (p55)
9. Shifting Your Mindset (p56)
10. The Film Director’s Creative Mindset (p57)
11. How to Apply Creative Mindset to Filmmaking (p58)
12. Creative Critical Thinking (p59)
13. Creative Critical Thinking for Filmmakers (p59)
14. 10 Essential Steps of Critical Thinking for Filmmakers (p61)
15. The 3 “R’s” of Filmmaking (Reveal-Reveal-Reveal) (p63)
16. The Power of “The Reveal!” (p64)
17. 3 Movies That Used the “Slow Reveal” Technique (p64)
18. My “7-Step Film Directing Formula” (p65)
19. You Always Need to Know What is Expected of You (p81)
20. My Advice for Filmmakers (Young and Old) (p82)
21. Follow Your Art and Your Passion (p83)
Book 2 – Content Preview
BOOK 2 – Table of Contents
CHAPTER 2: The Role of the Director
1. Making a Movie – 12 Quotes from Famous Directors (p5)
2. My Definition of Making a Movie (p6)
3. Primary Duties of a Director (p6)
4. Official Description: Director’s Guild of Canada (p8)
5. The Director’s 5 Main Tasks on any Film (p9)
6. Overview of a Film Director’s Responsibilities (p10)
7. Directing a Film: What is Expected? (p17)
8. How Do You Become a Film Director? (p19)
9. The “Five” Categories of Directors (p21)
10. 28 Types of “Specialist” Directors (p25)
11. 50 Tips on How to Work and Survive in the “Business” (p35)
12. Filmmaking is a Team Sport (p41)
13. Teamwork-Teamwork-Teamwork (p42)
14. “So You Wanna Work in Movies?” (p45)
CHAPTER 3: Director Personal and Working Tools
1. 45 Personal Tools of the Director (p46)
Adaptability, Aesthetic Sensibility, Analytical Thinking, Aptitude for Hard Work, Attention to Detail, Collaboration, Communication, Confidence, Creative, Conflict Resolution, Cultural Awareness, Curiosity, Decisive, Emotional Intelligence, Empathy, Flexible, How to Play, How to Listen, Humble, Intuition, Leadership Skills, Life Experiences, Listening Skills, Networking Ability, Observations of Life and People, Open-Minded, Organized, Passionate, Patience, Perseverance, Problem-Solving Skills, Resourcefulness, Respect for Feelings and Emotions, Resilient, Risk-Taking, Self-Discipline, Self-Reflection, Social Skills, Strategic Thinking, Talent, Time Management, Understanding Psychology, Understanding Human Behavior, Vision, Vivid Imagination
2. 25 Working Tools of the Director (p54)
Acting Techniques, Blocking/Staging, Budgets, Time/Logistics, Cameras/Lights/Lenses, Casting, Choosing Best Crew, Continuity, Establishing Routines, Hair/Makeup/Costumes, Light/Color, Location Studio Shooting, Film Editing/Montage, Point of View, Post-Production, Production Design/Set Design/Props, Script/Scene Analysis, Script Readthrough/Cast Rehearsals, Shot Lists/Schematics/Storyboards, Sound/Music, Special Effects, Story Structure, Stunts/Action, 2 Dimensional/3 Dimensional Space, Visual Effects (2D, 3D, Animation), Visual Techniques
4. “The Working Film Director” (p60)
5. List of Creative and Logistical Filmmaking Elements (p61)
Book 3 – Content Preview
P.S: The 3 files I will send you (Table of Contents, Books 1 & 2) are in PDF format, making it easy to download and read on your computer or phone. I will send these three files to you by Wetransfer – a safe and easy way to download the three PDF files.
P.P.S: By replying to directingcoach@actioncutprint.com with “25acp” in the subject heading, you’ll not only get a detailed preview of the full 25-book series, but you’ll also receive the first two books (over 150 pages) giving you immediate access to valuable directing tips and techniques.
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