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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does David Mamet say that the answer to all of the tedious actor questions is?

2. What was the impetus for the beginning of Citizen Kane?

3. According to Mamet, what do actors talk about, which does not exist on the stage?

4. Mamet says in Chapter 6 that to "Understand your specific task, work until it's done, and then stop" is the same as what?

5. What was the last beat about in the hypothetical film in Chapter 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mamet say regarding the training of film actors in today's world?

2. What suggestions did the students give for the motivation of the protagonist in Chapter 5's scenario?

3. What did Mamet caution against with having multiple motivations for the farmer in Chapter 5?

4. What was Mamet's response to "performance art" questions which arise in shooting?

5. What storytelling genres did Mamet suggest the director study in Chapter 5?

6. What is the hierarchy of film? Why did Mamet suggest the actor cannot be a fallback for the film in Chapter 6?

7. What decision did Mamet suggest is in the hands of the director, in Chapter 6?

8. What analogy did Mamet give that involves Stanislavsky, in Chapter 6?

9. What metaphor did Mamet use to illustrate the work in pre-production, in Chapter 6?

10. What scenario did Mamet present for the hypothetical film in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What authors did Mamet quote in the book with regard to cutting extraneous text in a screenplay? What theorists did he speak about in dramatic analysis?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Mamet's take on exposition and narration in storytelling and specifically in film.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss human psychology as it relates to the juxtaposition of uninflected images in film. How did Mamet describe neurosis in this analogy?

(see the answer keys)

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