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Full reproduction samurai armor: chest plate (do), helmet (kabuto), and face guard (menpo). I wore gear like this in Throne of Blood and Samurai Trilogy. It changes how you stand, walk, and breathe. Tip: Wear it for an hour before filming -- let your body adapt so the armor disappears.

Toshiro Mifune

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We watch one of my films with Kurosawa -- Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, or Ikiru -- and I break down every choice. Camera placement, performance decisions, what was improvised, what was argued about. Small group, max 8. Bring sake or tea.

Toshiro Mifune

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I teach directing the way I learned painting -- through composition. Where is the eye drawn? What is the relationship between foreground and background? We use storyboards, not shot lists. Every frame should be a painting that moves. Tip: Use multiple cameras. Actors perform differently when they don't know which camera is live.

Akira Kurosawa

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I painted full-color storyboards for every scene in my later films -- Kagemusha, Ran, Dreams. They're works of art on their own. You don't need to be a great painter. You need to THINK visually. We work with watercolors and ink. Bring your script and we'll draw your film.

Akira Kurosawa

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Editing is where the film is truly made. I'll show you how a two-second cut changes everything -- mood, pace, meaning. We work with actual footage. I cut on a Moviola for forty years. Digital is faster but the principles are eternal: rhythm, contrast, surprise. Tip: The best cut is the one the audience doesn't notice.

Akira Kurosawa

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Professional watercolor set, sumi ink, and 50 sheets of storyboard paper with the frame templates I used. This is the exact setup for the Ran storyboards now in museums. Tip: Use big brushes. Small brushes make you fussy. Cinema is bold.

Akira Kurosawa

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Twenty-five films on Blu-ray. Rashomon through Madadayo. Every film has commentary tracks and my own notes. Watch them in order and you'll see an artist evolve over fifty years. Start with Stray Dog if you want noir. Start with Ikiru if you want to cry.

Akira Kurosawa

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I'll teach you to terrify an audience without showing them anything. We study the shower scene in Psycho (70 cuts, no knife-on-skin contact), the crop duster in North by Northwest (silence is scarier than music), and the dinner party in Rope (one continuous take). Tip: Always give the audience more information than the characters have. That's where suspense lives.

Alfred Hitchcock

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I planned every frame before we rolled camera. By the time we shot, the film was already made -- the set was just a formality. We'll storyboard a five-minute suspense sequence from your script. Every shot has a PURPOSE. If it doesn't build tension, cut it.

Alfred Hitchcock

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The definitive book on filmmaking. Truffaut asked me 500 questions over five days. Every answer is a masterclass. This is the first American edition, 1967. Dog-eared at the Vertigo chapter because everyone always goes there first.

Alfred Hitchcock

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Bernard Herrmann wrote the Psycho strings, the Vertigo spirals, and the North by Northwest overture. Without his music, my films are half as terrifying. We study how music creates dread, release, and the false sense of safety. Tip: The scariest sound in cinema is silence followed by a single note.

Alfred Hitchcock

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Cards, prompts, and exercises for creating compelling plot devices. The MacGuffin is the thing the characters care about but the audience doesn't -- it's the excuse for the story, not the story itself. The Maltese Falcon is a MacGuffin. The uranium in Notorious is a MacGuffin. The real story is always about people.

Alfred Hitchcock

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