Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business
Search in google:
From the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright: an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at Hollywood from a filmmaker who’s always played by his own rules. Who really reads the scripts at the film studios? How is a screenplay like a personals ad? Why are there so many producers listed in movie credits? And what on earth do those producers do anyway? Refreshingly unafraid to offend, Mamet provides hilarious, surprising, and refreshingly forthright answers to these and other questions about every aspect of filmmaking from concept to script to screen. A bracing, no-holds-barred examination of the strange contradictions of Tinseltown, Bambi vs. Godzilla dissects the movies with Mamet’s signature style and wit. The New York Times - Janet Maslin … most of this sharp, savvy book is amusing and reassuring. Somebody with a keen knowledge of gamesmanship knows exactly how Hollywood s games are played. And refuses to play by the rules.
Introduction xiThe Good People of HollywoodHard Work 3Producers 8Victims and Villains 13Jews in Show Business 19The Development Process; or, Learning to Make Nothing at All! 23The Repressive MechanismA Dark Comedy 33An American Tragedy 37An Understanding and a Misunderstanding of the Repressive Mechanism 42Corruption 46The ScreenplayHow to Write a Screenplay 51Character, Plot, Dialogue, Camera Angles, Advice to the Editor 56Helpful Hints on Screenwriting 61The Script 69Women, Writing For 72How Scripts Got So Bad 77Begging Letters 81(Secret Bonus Chapter) The Three Magic Questions 84TechniqueStorytelling: Some Technical Advice 89Learning by Doing 93Improvisation 102The Slate Piece 107The Wisdom of the Ancients 110Some PrinciplesThe Audience; or, Lessons from Duck Hunting 119Aesthetic Distance 123The Five-Gag Film 126Bringing aGun to a Knife Fight; or, A Short Tour of the Concept of Suspension of Disbelief 132GenreBang-Bang 139The Cop Movie 142Film Noir and He-Men 145Shadow of a Doubt 151Religious Films 153The Sequel 158Passing JudgmentReverence as Opposed to Love 165Great and Rotten Acting 169Good in the Room: Auditions and the Fallacy of Testing 174Critics 183The Critic and the Censor 186Crimes and MisdemeanorsManners in Hollywood 191Theft 195Two Great American Documents; or, In the Wake of the Oscars 198Conclusion: It Ain't Over Till It's Over 202Films Referenced 207Index 239
