View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Chair makers, until the turn of the century, made their chairs without what?

2. Mamet says you should always do things in what way, in order to make the best movie?

3. Counterculture architecture was based on designing buildings based on what?

4. What is the term Mamet used for the protagonist's ultimate goal in the scene in Chapter 2?

5. Mamet says that the house has to look like a house. The ______ doesn't have to look like a house.

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Mamet write of producers in Chapter 2?

2. What is the backdrop of On Directing Film? From what setting did the author base the text?

3. What did Mamet write in the Preface regarding the blind author who decided to become a screenwriter?

4. What are ways that directors attempt to keep the audience's attention when the design of a film fails?

5. What does Mamet say regarding the juxtaposition of uninflected images in Chapter 3?

6. What did Mamet write about drama school and film school in Chapter 1?

7. Describe Mamet's discussion of understanding precipitation in architecture in Chapter 3.

8. How did Mamet describe film in terms of syllogism in Chapter 3?

9. How did Mamet illustrate juxtaposition of shots in documentary film in Chapter 1?

10. Describe how film is like a design.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Mamet's opinion of actor training in the United States today. What level of training do film actors have versus stage actors?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and define the K.I.S.S. rule. In what context did Mamet refer to this in the text?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 837 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample