Reddit reviews The Visual Story, Second Edition: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media
We found 19 Reddit comments about The Visual Story, Second Edition: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Focal Press
Here are a few:
http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759
http://www.amazon.com/Cinematography-Theory-Practice-Cinematographers-Directors/dp/0240812093
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Cinematography-Fundamentals-Techniques-Workflows/dp/0240817915/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410971724&sr=1-1&keywords=david+stump+ASC
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Story-Creating-Structure-Digital/dp/0240807790/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410971760&sr=1-1&keywords=the+visual+story
Off the top of my head, a few books/resources that I found helpful/inspiring:
Also, watch (a lot of) films multiple times, pay attention how stories are told visually, analyze them and figure out what works and what doesn't work (for you).
someone listed a bunch of titles ive read/bought for school a few comments up. try asking around some colleges for students looking to sell back their books after finals!
EDIT: i feel bad for not posting any actual titles i had. this book was awesome, very enlightening. all interview transcripts of steven spielberg regarding movies, various points in time. http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Spielberg-Interviews-Conversations-Filmmakers/dp/157806113X
I bought bruce blocks book before i got into film school, read it, highlighted it while waiting for flights, etc. then, sure enough, one of my teachers assigned the book to us. i felt like a king!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Visual-Story-Creating-Structure/dp/0240807790
same situation with blain browns book. except he eventually taught one of my classes. :P slightly different subject, but it was cool having read a book, then not only meeting the author, but taking his class. :)
http://smile.amazon.com/Cinematography-Theory-Practice-Cinematographers-Directors/dp/0240812093/ref=sr_1_55?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425434291&sr=1-55&keywords=visual+storytelling
https://www.amazon.com/Filmmakers-Eye-Learning-Cinematic-Composition/dp/0240812174/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502971148&sr=8-1&keywords=filmmaker%27s+eye
https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Story-Creating-Structure-Digital/dp/0240807790/ref=pd_sim_14_10?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0240807790&pd_rd_r=C197QEE8EMEY1KGN3N2E&pd_rd_w=PKzWC&pd_rd_wg=vF29K&psc=1&refRID=C197QEE8EMEY1KGN3N2E
https://www.amazon.com/Cinematography-Directors-Guide-Creative-Collaboration/dp/1932907556/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1502971260&sr=1-10&keywords=cinematography
The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media by Bruce Block
http://www.amazon.com/The-Visual-Story-Creating-Structure/dp/0240807790
You gotta have Bruce Block, that's where it all started for me! Everything you need to know about filmmaking in terms of it as a visual language. Super vital no matter what area of film you go into, in my opinion :)
This was one of the books that helped me transition from doing this as a hobby to doing this professionally in the industry.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Visual-Story-Creating-Structure/dp/0240807790
Note: Obviously this list is incomplete, if anyone has suggestions please add to this. Also this list is not specifically for kevleemur, but for anyone looking to learn about movie stuffs
Online material is nice, but there are many great and more reliable resources that come in these old fashioned book things.
General
Shot by Shot
MasterShots
The Visual Story
Directing
On Screen Directing
(may be hard to find)
On Directing Film by David Manet
Cinematography/ Lighting/ Camera/ On Set Learning
The ASC Manual (some earlier editions come in one volume which is nice)
Creative Control by Michael Hofstein
The Set Lighting Technicians Handbook
Painting With Light (John Alton's book. A little outdated but still a good read).
Reflections
The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video by Tom Schroeppel (very simple, a good start)
The Grip Book
The Camera Assistant's Manual
Cinematography: Theory and Practice
Producing
Creative Producing From A to Z by Myrl A Schreibman
Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film by Paula Landry
Editing
In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch (Sound designer and editor from Apocalypse Now----EXCELLENT)
Screenwriting
Story
Screenplay the Foundations of Screenwriting
ONLINE RESOURCES:
http://www.rondexter.com/
http://cinematography.net/
http://www.rogerdeakins.com/
http://www.arri.com/
http://www.mole.com/
http://www.panavision.com/home
http://www.filmtools.com/
Aside from familiarizing yourself with knowledge and technique the best you can without being involved on set, one of the best things you can do is read up and become as knowledgeable as you can with gear that you will eventually encounter, which is why I listed the last four links. Even if you do plan on going into producing or directing, it is always helpful to understand lighting and camera and why the people working with you need the things they do.
GO LEARN THINGS!
This book is a good start:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Visual-Story-Creating-Structure/dp/0240807790/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395689894&sr=8-1&keywords=the+visual+story
Also these are great and easy to return to when storyboarding:
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Shots-Vol-2nd-Techniques/dp/1615930876/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395690041&sr=8-1&keywords=master+shots
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Shots-Volume-Shooting-Dialogue/dp/1615930558/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395690059&sr=8-3&keywords=master+shots
http://www.amazon.com/Cinematic-Storytelling-Powerful-Conventions-Filmmaker/dp/193290705X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395690130&sr=8-1&keywords=cinematic+storytelling
Swear I'm not an Amazon affiliate, just love me these books. They're worth reading twice.
One of my grad school professors was a producer on this film, and is very into visual storytelling. Here's one of his books - highly recommended!
This is a great reinforcement of some basic principals of eye-trace that have consciously been used in film since the early 20th century.
Bruce Block covers all the principals that attract the viewer's gaze in this text. The whole book is a good read for aspiring filmmakers; its basically a summation of principals that date back to renaissance painting combined with Eisenstein's montage theories.
Edit: I'm in no way affiliated with Mr. Block. Just a fan of his work.
The Visual Story by Bruce Block is pretty good for the basics of film language. It's commonly used in film schools.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240807790/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_rAF9ub0CCKZ0X
Pick up this book.
My favorites:
The Visual Story
In the Blink of an Eye
How to Read a Film (personally bored by it but a lot of film classes I took in uni versity used it)
The Filmmaker's Eye (huge fan of this book)
The rest of this post is just general advice on how to gain a deeper knowledge of film.
If you want to learn the grammar of film, read about film history (it will help introduce you to editing/camera movement/directing techniques and the filmmakers/films that influenced your favorite directors).
Read criticism from Pauline Kael, Andrew Sarris, David Bordwell (his blog is a fantastic resource), Jonathan Rosenbaum, and older critics such as Bazin/Eisenstein. There are more out there, but this is a good start.
Read reviews after you watch a film instead of beforehand--those reviews will hopefully give you a deeper view of the film. That being said, you really have to look around to figure out who you like, stylistically speaking. There are a lot of critics that have no idea what they're talking about from a technical standpoint. If you're bored with short reviews without substance you might like FILMCRITHULK.
Watch YouTube tutorials and video essays on filmmaking. Video essays are particularly helpful at illustrating and pointing out things that you might not have noticed otherwise. It's also a hell of a lot more entertaining than reading criticism that was written in 1962 in another language.
From a practical standpoint, pick up a camera and shoot something. Edit it. Read books on composition--I've found that photography composition books are pretty helpful. Read scripts from films you love and films you haven't seen to get an idea of how a film exists before the first day of shooting takes place.
Keep watching films, and watch them actively. Don't text during films, and try to watch them in one sitting. The goal is to immerse yourself in the image and analyze the shots/cuts/etc. as they happen. Watch films with commentaries, watch them with the sound off, and branch out into different genres and time periods so that you can attain a more concise view of film.
Above all else, watch as many films as you can. You'll find that the watchlist keeps growing, no matter how many films you see.
Hey, while not directly a VFX book, I highly recommend reading this book, The Visual Story, by Bruce Block. I actually took his class back when I was in SC, and I think it's one of my hidden weapons that has given me an edge as a VFX Supervisor. Basically, it's all about how we perceive images on a 2D screen, and the chapters on Depth Cues would help you a lot here.
https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Story-Creating-Structure-Digital/dp/0240807790/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494700999&sr=8-1&keywords=the+visual+story
Here's my take on where you can go, from back to forward:
Hope this info helps!
I'm a little late to the party but I recommend
Cinematography - Blain Brown
The Visual Story - Bruce Block
The Visual Story may seem more focused on directing the cinematography, and maybe thats true, but when I'm looking to hire a DP, I want to know they understand how to tell a story visually as much as I do.
I've read pretty much all of the books referenced here and I would say The Visual Story:
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Story-Second-Creating-Structure/dp/0240807790
Nothing else provided as much useful information about how to make a good movie as this for me.
Good question. I don't quite know how to start. So this may be a bit random.
SOUND/MUSIC - Back when I used to edit a lot, if there was music, I always would edit to the beat. It just made sense to me. If there isn't music, a sound effect can bring a transition to life. Like a whoosh or something. Even a straight cut from one scene to the other, it's common practice to allow sound from the second scene to start before the cut.
RHYTHM - It needs to go along with the rhythm of the visuals and the rhythm of the audio, even if the audio is just voice over. If the transition is some kind of wipe with multiple elements, all those elements have a visual rhythm.
CONSISTENCY - A simple transition carried out consistently is better than many complex transitions that are not related. It you are going to do many complex transitions, they should have an underlying concept in common. Also, they should be consistent with the project as a whole.
MOVEMENT - If doing a cut, pay attention to the movement from the first scene as compared to the second scene. If doing a wipe transition, look how the movement of the wipe interact with the movement of the two scenes.
FRAMING - Keep in mind the focus of the scenes and how the transition moves the viewer's eye.
Well, those are some ideas I had. I hope they get your own ideas going. There is a lot of resources out there about visual theory. Like The Visual Story
My favorite is still The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media
It gives you wonderful knowledge that let's you create truly powerful images.
The Visual Story by Bruce Block
The Visual Story