On Directing Film | Objects, Setting & Important Places

On Directing Film Objects/Places

Columbia University Film School

The book is based on lectures Mamet delivered to film students at Columbia University Film School.

Chicago, IL

Chicago is the home town of David Mamet.

Vermont

Mamet attended college in Vermont and has one of his homes in the state.

Hollywood

Mamet became a screenwriter and director of many top Hollywood films.

New York, New York

Mamet's play "Glengarry Glen Ross" was a Broadway hit for which Mamet won the Pulitzer Price and New York Drama Critics Award.

Massachusetts

David Mamet has homes in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Volga River

Renowned Russian dramatist Constantin Stanislavsky is referenced by Mamet. When Stanislavsky was having dinner on the Volga River he wondered how the steamboat captain was able to always steer the boat safely down the river.

Steadicam

Mamet considers the Steadicam (hand-held camera) as having injured American movie making. The Steadicam makes it too easy for the director to opt to follow the protagonist around rather than develop the story.

MacGuffin

The "thing...
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