Rating: 
Summary: Essential book for fledgling filmmakers
Review: This book is in my collection of 10 favorite books about the filmmaking process. This book singularly stands out from the noise of the many books currently in existence that purport to convey some useful information about the filmmaking process. This book is critical to understanding the actor's mind and how actors construct a character and weave them into the story that is being created. I rigorously recommend this book to anyone (at all) who is or wants to be involved in filmmaking. May you appreciate the fine craftsmanship of actors and directors alike.
Rating:
Summary: Clear, succinct answers to real problems
Review: This book provides very specific, useful and effective techniques. If you've had the experience of being unable to get the performance you want from actors, and knowing that at least some of the problem has to do with the way you are trying to communicate, then this book will help you. You'll find out the problems you are struggling with are not unique, and that there are effective ways to improve your communication and help the actors to find their way into a moment. For a director who is not an actor, this book was by far the most useful of all that I've read.
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Summary: Why Actors Love Certain Directors
Review: This well written book on the motion picture Director's knowledge base springs from the author's experience. There's no regurgitation of the author's teachers here. Without minimizing the contributions from her University education, her years as an actress on stage, in film and on television have instilled into her the raw ingredients of a master's wisdom. Those years have demonstrated to her, and consequently to us, what works and what doesn't work. Now, for the benefit of all who aspire to, or work within, the director's responsibilities, she has brought forth, in literary form, the elegance of a master's wisdom.The book is comprehensive. It deals in depth with many facets of directing including, but not limited to, script analysis, casting considerations, what to say and what not to say to actors, rehearsal techniques (that actors will love and not avoid) and how to step onto the set in the most fruitful and inspiring manner. It informs the reader how to do these things using the reader's own knowledge of human behavior rather than using armchair psychology. It presents, one by one within the subject at hand, a collective treasure chest of quotations from named industry cognoscenti. An inspection of these respected veterans reveals they're the ones who rose and achieved by talent and perseverance rather than by birth. Being one of those aspirants holding limited experience in directing, I was excited by my understanding, at blessed last, of how certain magical performances were achieved. She simply sets forth, in an order of appearance and in a chosen context, both of which are designed to further enlighten the reader, the following: · Accurate historical anecdotes involving recognized masters · Skills and practices of the craft that are mostly kept secret by the few who know them · A culling of the best and proven techniques that have been used on her, near her and by her in the creation of memorable performances · Her own codified system of reaching into an actor's intuitive memory banks in order to provide that actor an unselfconscious and safe mode from within which that actor can freely perform · Her respect for actors, directors, their material and their craft.
Rating: 
Summary: Though a bit Touchy-Feely
Review: Though I felt that this book was a bit too touchy-feely for my own taste, it did have a lot of valuable insights into the actors mind and how to work with them in a collaborative sense. If you are a director that does not believe in running with the actors own take on a character, then this book would be painful for you to try to read. Nevertheless, if you are looking to have a truly collaborative experience (not all of us are), the advice contained within is very solid. Weston breaks the process of working with actors down to how to give concise words to help get a performance. She further spends time developing adjustment techniques. I think this book is particularly strong in its discussions on script breakdown, and having multiple approaches to playing a scene. It gives some helpful advice on casting as well, and really challenges a director to cast the best person in a role as opposed to the one that they feel "nailed the part" based on ones preconceived notions. The biggest weakness in this book is that really favors the actor over the director at times, and leaves me asking (as a director) why would I want to have this relationship. I do not believe, as Weston proports, that a director should always allow the actor to find the voice of his or her character without explicit direction. Nevertheless, it certainly challenged my own technique, and I am a better filmmaker from having read it.
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