Creating a great supporting character

Ali is a seriously underrated film. This video looks at how Mann(and the rest of the creative team) use the tools of cinema to create a unique and rounded supporting character, Drew "Bundini" Brown. This great article by Bilge Ebiri is what made me rewatch Ali - https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/06/14/now-is-the-time-to-discover-michael-manns-ali/ Book Recommendations If you like any of my videos here’s a bunch of the best books I’ve ever read about filmmaking. Some of these books aren’t about filmmaking directly, some of these books aren’t even books. (Affiliate links - please consider buying through these links. This helps me keep making films and film related stuff) The Visual Story - Bruce Block This book is about how the different elements of a moving picture; lines, shapes, colours, movement etc can be used to convey emotion in a story. This is a brilliant book with concepts I’ve never read anywhere else and certainly not all in the one place. 1st Edition Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3ER87q8 2nd Edition Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3F1JFCq 3rd Edition Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3FYwCTv 3rd Edition Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3t8dyhY Impro - Keith Johnstone Keith Johnstone sort of invented improv comedy. He learned story telling the best way, he went out night after night in front of an audience and saw what worked and what didn’t. Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3F4vrAY Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/32RVMFc Picture this: How Pictures work - Molly Bang This is a cool little book. It shows in a simple visual way how objects in a frame have weight and they can be used to effect the emotion of the viewer(or not) Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3zuxtsJ Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3HGCHom Directing Actors and The Film Directors Intuition - Judith Weston I did some courses with Judith back when you still could. She now works as an acting consultant on massive films like The Revenant. These books is a great path to learning how to help actors give great performances as a director. Amazon US (Directing Actors) - https://amzn.to/3FXf3U4 Amazon US (Film Director’s Intuition) - https://amzn.to/3qQeKnz Amazon UK - (Directing Actors) https://amzn.to/3JLY8G2 Amazon UK - (Film Director’s Intuition) https://amzn.to/34qHqMr Writing Dialogue for Scripts - Rib Davis There are soooooo many scriptwriting books. This one is unique in that it focuses just on writing dialogue which is something other books ignore Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3HENoaG Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3HEzrK4 The Chair (TV Show) Two young directors are given the same script and go out to make their version of it. If you don’t understand how much impact a director’s voice can have on project you’ll see it here. Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3eQ5YjY Amazon UK - N/A The Sopranos Script Book You’ve got to read scripts and what better ones to read. Has a great little intro from David Chase too. With the finest response ever to an actor saying “My character wouldn’t do that….” Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3EZhiVA Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/31tErBP Film Directing Fundamentals - Nicholas T Proferes This is almost like a “how to direct” textbook and I mean that in a good way. Starts with ways to break down a script and then how you can apply these ideas to a visual medium. Also has the simplest explanation of how the 180 line rule works. Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3HEPAiq Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/337eVCD Film Art an Introduction - David Bordwell and Kirstin Thompson Reading this from cover to cover takes a month. There is so much in here that I’ve never come across anywhere else. (You’ll also see where the Every Frame a Painting guy got inspiration for some of his early videos) Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3t0mrdq Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3eViGxW Bird by Bird - Annie Lamott This is a writing book that doesn’t have anything to do with teaching you how to write. It’s about the journey and life of being a writer. Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3G0vKhc Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3zwYbBc Backwards and Forwards - David Ball This is a book about analysing stage plays as a director. But almost everything in it applies to film scripts. A director should know the script better than anyone and this is a great guide to the work that will get you there. Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3pYKqIm Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/33753ZS Making Movies - Sidney Lumet How Sidney Lumet is not a better know name I don’t know. He directed so many classics. This is proper advice from an actual great filmmaker dealing with the reality of filmmaking. Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3pYRPra Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3eTDkP Follow me here: https://www.instagram.com/writingwiththecamera/?hl=en https://twitter.com/Declan_Taaffe https://www.facebook.com/WritingwiththeCamera/