Best performing arts reference books according to redditors
We found 169 Reddit comments discussing the best performing arts reference books. We ranked the 52 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 169 Reddit comments discussing the best performing arts reference books. We ranked the 52 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Kurtz is the spiritual heart of the Star Wars saga.
This is essential if you want to understand what Star Wars as a film series was, and where it was going.
Kurtz's remark that they'd do '8 or 9' films, each with a different director, and leading up to the finale that would be dethroning the Galactic Emperor is stunning when you see one man's vision compared with what we ended up getting (including Han's death changed because George didn't want to hurt toy sales...)
Koichi Kawakita loved his kaiju to have a "moving mountain" feel to them, so the more massive they appeared, the more imposing he believed them to be to an audience and the easier to perform trick filmography to make them appear giant.
From an actors perspective, the suits were far more comfortable than the Showa suits. They were often molded to fit the actor exactly but were made of heavier material. This also lead to some problems; ventilation, movement range were very limited, and the suits themselves had to be a bit scaled up due to the additional padding and room needed to ensure the actor could spend longer than 3 minutes in the suit without passing out. It was more of an issue with the make of the suits than their design and the limited budget Toho had to work with.
Edited: I was in the Showa section of my "A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series", so I mixed up the suit specs. Fixed it above.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Filmmakers-Handbook-Comprehensive-Digital/dp/0452297281
Filmmakers handbook. I read this after film school. I could have saved myself a years with of school if I just read this and invested the film school money into making films..
Has pretty much everything
This one and Rogue One need a "making of" book like these.
If access was given on that level, we might find out the truth.
This book is awesome.
It's an annotated script of A New Hope , Empire and Jedi. Keeping in mind Lawrence Kasdan (co)wrote Empire and Jedi, you will also find that all the great, witty lines from A New Hope have an asterisk and are attributed to Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz. Lucas seems great at writing the mystical, philosophical dialogue that we hear from Obi-wan and Yoda but not at sprinkling in humor.
Big picture, George Lucas is awesome but he is not good and writing scrips or directing actors.
Interestingly, in the interviews for the annotated script book Lucas said that he always wanted foils. Every character has someone they are in conflict with: R2D2/C3PO, Han/Obi-wan, Luke/Han and Leia/Han. These continue throughout the trilogy but was missing from prequels...especially from TPM. Everyone gets along too well.
Lucas has also stated that he cast ANH in ensembles. He found the three actors (Harrison Ford, Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher) who worked best together. The prequels were cast with known, successful actors.
So I always wondered why he didn't repeat the formula that worked for him so successfully before.
I haven't seen all of Wes Anderson's films but he's definitely not insubstantial.
I loved The Grand Budapest Hotel last year and just finished reading Matt Zoller Seitz' fantastic 250-page book pretty much all about that film. An insubstantial film can not be written about for 250 pages.
There's loads to this film. Inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig, it can be read as an allegory (as /u/UrNotAMachine says) or just about how History can invade and destroy all of our "normal" lives. And about how stories are passed down and become stories (the framing devices accentuate this). About how we tell stories - some of what would be important plot points in normal films are glossed over because of who is telling the story and in what context.
I mean, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a really dark story... if you just think about it or read a synopsis this is obvious. I think it's incredible on it's own how light and chirpy the film can seem despite the seriousness of it's content.
The film can be seen about the end of illusion... Seitz quotes Sweig here:
>There's a wonderful quote from The World of Yesterday, Zweig's memoir, which he completed and mailed to his editor in 1942, two days before he and his wife took their own lives in Brazil: "The generation of my parents and my grandparents were better off, they lived their lives from one end to the other quietly, in a straight line. All the same, I do not know whether I envy them. For they drowsed their lives away removed from all true bitterness, from malice and the force of destiny... We... for whom comfort has become and old legend, and security a childish dream, have felt tension from pole to pole of our being, the terror of something always new in every fiber. Every hour of our years was linked to the fate of the world. In sorrow and in joy we have lived through time and history far beyond our small lives, while they knew nothing beyond themselves.... Every one of us, therefore, even the least of the human race, knows a thousand times more about reality today than even the wisest of our forebears. But nothing was given to use freely; we paid the price in full".
Anderson has taken the dark sorrow of Stefan Zweig and joined it to his own sly melancholies to make a film that moves us because it is infinitely capable of disarming before it wounds us. In creating an imaginary world to speak about the end of illusion, Anderson court s a kind of literary double jeopardy. As with the best fables, however, his unreality is more emotionally vibrant than the truth.
Long quote, but I think it effectively shows the brilliance of Wes Anderson's vision.
The book also contains pretty in-depth interviews with many members of the cast... it's clear lots of thought was put into every aspect of the film - by Ralph Fiennes in how to portray Gustave H, a character inspired by a mutual friend of Wes Anderson and Hugo Guiness (and visually based on Stefan Zweig himself, to an extent, as also the young and old author is); by Adam Stockhausen in scouting for suitable locations and designing the elaborate sets; by Alexandre Desplat in composing suitable music which effectively gives a European vibe - and so on for everyone who worked on the film.
Honestly I think it's incredibly the amount of shtick Wes Anderson gets simply because of the way he films. He films in a pretty damn unique way, and manages to work around all the limitations of it - developing his own, unique, but highly effective (and highly funny) filming style.
Cars
Photography
Comic Books 1, 2
Apple
LEGO's
American Football
PostSecret
Video Games
Vinyl
Warhol
Outdoors
Star Wars
Motorcycles
The Dark Knight
Paris
Interior Design
World Atlas
Banksy
Wes Anderson
Tribal Cultures
Playboy
Girls
Libraries
The Cosmos
The Beetles
Travel
Preppy
Steve McQueen
The Moon
the filmmakers handbook
This might help.
I think I'm missing some info O: are you talking about this? https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Time-Enchiridion-Marcys-Scrapbook/dp/1419704494
Well, I can't tell you that these are essential reads by any means since I wouldn't consider myself well-versed in film literature, but here are some books that I really enjoyed:
Stanley Kubrick: Interviews - this is part of a whole series of books of compiled interviews of well-known directors, including David Fincher, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, etc.
Myth & the Movies - deconstructs the classic "hero's journey" storytelling trope and how it's commonly used as the structure for screenplays.
Good Scripts, Bad Scripts - breaks down traditional storytelling rules and evaluates movies which have followed the rules and broken them, whether for better or worse.
The Filmmaker's Handbook - a comprehensive breakdown of the technical areas of film and video production, from how film cameras work, to digital video editing, to distribution. Basically a textbook, this is considered by some to the the "bible" of film and video production.
https://www.amazon.com/Ishiro-Honda-Life-Godzilla-Kurosawa-ebook/dp/B0788KLDK9/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1538082752&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Eiji-Tsuburaya-Monsters-Defending-Ultraman/dp/1452135398/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538082718&sr=1-4
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-History-Filmography-Tohos-Godzilla/dp/1476672946/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538082718&sr=1-10
https://www.amazon.com/Japans-Favorite-Mon-Star-Unauthorized-Biography/dp/1550223488/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538082734&sr=1-2
These are basically the best books on the series that are easily available, although the Tsuburaya book is really about the effects. As for the 3 films that really capture the original theme of the series, I'd say the original, Mothra vs Godzilla, and GMK are the ones that really hold the most important messages. All three of these were made by pacifist directors who renounce war and the actions of imperial Japan. The original Godzilla is an anti-war film, period. Mothra vs Godzilla is about harmony between nations. GMK is about keeping the past military actions in mind, in a modern Japan which is whitewashing it's war crimes out of history. Some people might say Godzilla 1984 and Shin Godzilla carry similar messages, but 1984 is more about the height of the cold war and Japan's place in it while Shin is about the need for a stronger, fast-acting independent government. Similar themes, but they're not really tied to the original as much as Mothra vs Godzilla or GMK.
I'm not the best person to be giving advice, but I just dropped out of film school last year (I was only there for a year) and have begun making some progress on my own.
First of all, watch a lot of movies. Literally the only thing I miss about school was having access to so many classic films playing in the theater every weekend. Netflix can be just as good, however. But never stop going to the theater.
Secondly, read. Look up some textbooks that film classes use. I really enjoyed Shot By Shot and On Directing Film, since I want to be a director.
Thirdly, and most importantly. Make films. Try to work on projects all the time. Your projects, your friends projects, random web series that post on facebook asking for free crew members.... it doesn't matter. Stay surrounded by film, because that's another one of film school's biggest strengths. It can be difficult to stay motivated when you don't have a GPA looming over your head.
Again, I'm by no means a success so take my advice however you will. Good luck!
Source:http://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Wars-Definitive-Original/dp/0345494768/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452051119&sr=8-1&keywords=making+of+star+wars
Believe it is called "The Making of Return of the Jedi" (haha, I wasn't just being non-specific). Here's an amazon link. I believe there are some online copies floating around on various sites as well.
If you want to see what it is to truly break down action into its smallest and most concise bits, you need to read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224
You need to decide what the impact of the action is. WHY does he need to shown deciding to head for bed? Once you have that answer, you'll have the action which best correlates to displaying that decision.
This one?
https://www.amazon.com/Film-Directing-Shot-Visualizing-Productions/dp/0941188108
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054RVNTQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
Both of those will do you a world of good for learning a lot of the basics and ways to look at things. The Filmmaker's Handbook that someone else mentions is also great.
http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0896762556 the Tudor Tailor, one of my favorite, have made so many of these outfits
And if you want to buy it legally it’s available here: https://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Time-Enchiridion-Marcys-Scrapbook/dp/1419704494
I asked King how old Roland was in my interview in The Dark Tower Companion.
His answer: I don’t know any of these things. Your guess is as good as mine, really. My assumption is that something happened to Roland after Gilead fell and it has to do with the Beams and time getting funny and that he really has lived a more or less normal life, that it’s time itself that’s gone off the rails. That’s all I know. The only other thing that I can say is that my concept of the book when I started, when I was very young, like 22 years old, probably mutated to something that was a little less mythic as time went by.
There are a lot of great books on film out there. Don't listen to other possible saying watch YouTube or wrote your own screenplay. Well, do those things too, but learn some wisdom from some of the masters while you're at it.
You are going to want to read the following:
Hitchcock by Truffaut (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0671604295). One of the greatest directors of all time, interviewed by another of the greatest.
In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1879505622/ref=aw_d_detail?pd=1), one of the greatest editors ever. A pretty great director too.
On Directing Film by David Mamet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0140127224). A great book on directing by one of the great writer/directors.
Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0452271878). He wrote this after El Mariachi, before he went on to big budgets. It's one of the most inspiring books you'll ever read-- you'll want to make a film tomorrow. Basically, how to make a movie wit nothing but enthusiasm.
Here's a short book that might help you with starting your stage show
It is a tough industry in many ways, and built around some very specific cities. One decision you should make is what exactly you want to do in film. If you want to be an artist and create your own films, you don't necessarily need to go to film school or even work your way up in the industry. There is lots of cheap gear available. Chances are you have more than enough film making gear right now in your phone and PC, more than you could have dreamed of affording 20+ years ago- when film was film.
So if you want to work in the industry, it will mean 'paying your dues' and might mean never getting to make a film on your own - schools, training programs, etc... are a good idea. You might be poor for awhile, you might have a job so busy and high pressure that at the end of the day more film work (even on your own dream projects) might be the last thing you are interested in doing. Another approach is to come up with a solid day job outside of the industry so that you can pursue your own creative pursuits on the side until such time as they pay off. If you have to count on film making to pay the bills, you would be very fortunate to direct corporate videos and cooking shows and stuff you might not really feel. You will be so close to your dream, but so far away at the same time and that can be frustrating - depending on your goals. If you want to make films on your own terms, you can and should start right away. Don't feel bad if the first 5 or 10 of them are terrible. You are working the bugs out. Read Lumet, a bit of Mamet, and some Rodriguez. Watch a lot of Making of docs on Youtube.
​
Robert Rodriguez wrote El Mariachi with a bit of a brilliant approach. He listed all the interesting ('expensive') things he had access to through his friends (a pit bull, a bus) and incorporated those in his script so it looked a little more big budget. If you write a helicopter landing on a bridge, you would have to pay for it. If your grandma has access to a tennis court and your uncle has a dirt bike - write that instead, and you could pull it off for free. Don't get caught up buying gear, use what you have. You don't need to use lacking gear as an excuse for not making something, and don't need to use buying gear as a replacement for being creative. I have seen that a lot in film, photography, and music. You could hypothetically make a great film for free as a flip book on a pad of paper, and if you do you could show that to people that would help pay for more gear if you need it. Anyway, ramble ramble - free advice is usually worth what you pay for it. Good luck!
I actually saw a play, aptly titled Radium Girls, which is all about this.
The OT was in no way planned as the tragedy and redemption of Vader, that very much came out of the story sessions for ROTJ.
The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345494768/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2kAZDbST333GW
Read these three books, please.
He wrote a damn instructive book. He does you a favor by not sugar coating anything. He even admits he's not great at making movies, but he's good at teaching people about making movies. He has a way of explaining things thoroughly and in a way anyone can understand.
http://www.amazon.com/From-Reel-Deal-Everything-Independent/dp/0446674621
Godzilla on My Mind is a decent read, however the most serious piece of kaiju cinema criticism that I'm aware of is A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. That book is pregnant with information.
I could be mistaken but I believe you can read about that concept in Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays.
David Kalat
http://www.amazon.com/Critical-History-Filmography-Godzilla-Series/dp/0786447494
and Steve Ryfle http://www.goldenageofscifi.info/pdf/Japansfavoritemonster.pdf
are probably your best bets here.
It's a pretty great book. I used it to remind myself of things while my best friend read the series for the first time.
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Tower-Companion-Stephen-Fantasy/dp/0451237994
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!
Costuming books:
http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Tailors-Assistant-2nd-1100-1480/dp/0896762955
http://www.amazon.com/Tudor-Tailor-Reconstructing-Sixteenth-Century-Dress/dp/0896762556
http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Fashion-Construction-Clothes-1560-1620/dp/0896760839
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Maker-Mens-Century-Doublets/dp/0692264841
Shoes:
http://www.vikingleathercrafts.com/
http://boots-by-bohemond.myshopify.com/
Armour:
http://armourarchive.org/
Estudei cinema em 2010, na época um dos livros indicados no curso era o Power Filmmaking Kit, o livro é um overview de toda produção cinematográfica, eu recomendo. Um mais recente que segue a mesma linha, e mais bem avaliado na amazon é o The Filmmaker's Handbook, porém esse eu não li.
Sobre roteiro, um dos mais indicados é o Story do Robert Mackee, o cara tem cacife em Hollywood, tem uma cena no Adaptation, onde o personagem do Nicolas Cage está com writer's block e vai numa palestra do Robert Mackee pra tentar resolver o problema, é um dos meus filmes favoritos, recomendo tanto quanto o livro. Tem também os livros do Sid Field, que também são bem influentes quanto a roteiros.
Sobre edição, In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing, do Walter Murch.
Sobre atuação e direção, da uma lida sobre o Stanislavski, que desenvolveu o Método(já ouviu falar em atores metódicos? foi daqui que saiu), Stella Adler que estudou com o Stanislavski e escreu sobre atuação/direção também.
An entertaining read! (I tend to gravitate towards transcripts over videos.)
As promised, a few critiques:
> Everyone had a “whoah, what the...?” moment when they first saw Jar Jar Binks...What’s the racial message here Lucas?...And what about the aliens that the Jar Jarians were fighting, these creatures that had flat faces and yellow, slanted eyes, and were all secretive…
This is a treacherous road to walk, because a lot of this outcry came from people outside of the cultural groups, assuming offense for those in them. I'm not remotely trying to exonerate Lucas for his decisions here and I'd be lying if I said I didn't immediately see those stereotypes, but given the actual thesis of the rest of your piece, I feel like this set of controversies--real or imagined--might be better left excluded.
> Then in the new movies, there's Queen Amalama ...dabadoo , whatever her name is.
"Amidala" is not a terribly difficult or silly name. The recurring mockery of it throughout feels out of place and doesn't add anything.
> We're seriously meant to believe that they couldn't defend a shed in the woods from a pack of plush toys with pre-bronze age technology?
The realities of the situation on Endor often get overlooked because of the Ewoks' external appearance. Take a look at what we actually know about them (and none of this is "creative reinterpretation" -- it's straight-up in the movie):
Ewoks are small, furry, "cute" -- but are also roughly on par with wookiees in terms of physical strength!
All military technology can be abstracted as a "force multiplier." A spear causes more harm than a fist. A blaster more harm than a spear. But physiology is also a force multiplier. A 10 kilo stone hucked by a scrawny human is not going to have the same capacity for harm that a 10 kilo stone hucked by a world-class pitcher does. Ewoks, as silly as it may superficially seem, are scary with "pre-bronze age technology."
But even despite all of that, go back and watch how that battle plays out. After initial confusion in the Imperial ranks as the realization that they're under attack from a huge indigenous force that they previously had dismissed as harmless and docile, the Imperial forces are winning. The turning point in the battle comes only when a Rebel (Chewbacca) commandeers an AT-ST, granting the Rebel forces access to Imperial armor and bringing technological parity to the forces deployed on the battlefield. Only at this point do the Rebels start turning the tide of battle; before this, Ewoks are being slaughtered left and right.
> You see, think of it like this. History is written by the victors. So maybe what George Lucas is doing is writing this whole series from a meta-contextual point of view, showing us history as it would be depicted if the forces of evil had won.
> ...
> If that's what George Lucas is doing, it's fucking brilliant. The hints are there, but you have to peel back the layers of propaganda to look for the real story.
This is partly the premise on which this subreddit relies, but walking this line requires careful navigation. In particular, dismissing the movies purely as invented propaganda isn't terribly useful. If you have no canon on which to rely, you can't even have a discussion -- no matter who you favor. If, however, you take a limited view of the films-as-propaganda and assume everything depicted is "real" but it's edited in such a way to advance a specific narrative, then you have some room for interpretation that doesn't cast the baby out with the bathwater.
That brings us to...
> Was there really a death star? Everyone who supposedly witnessed a planet being destroyed by a “death star” are all dead now, except, by no coincidence, for Luke's sister.
> It was Luke and the Jedi cabal who blew up Alderaan!
This is where you lost me. If you go down this path, you've ditched canon and you're purely into fan fiction. That's fine; there's some great fan fiction out there, but it's not really something you can build a coherent, broadly-appealing argument out of the way you can when you limit the degree to which the films "lie" (namely: purely by omission, rather than actual distortion).
> And then I saw Indiana Jones part four , and was reminded that, Lucas is just a hack .
Lucas can't write a screenplay to save his life. There's a lot of "hidden" history to the development of Lucas's successful films and a great deal of it hinges on the moderating influence of his ex-wife Marcia. This book, in particular, is a remarkable look at how Star Wars came to be, far more in-depth than the better-known Rinzler book.
But Lucas can spin a good story. This thread from a few days ago has quite a few people realizing or sharing the beat-for-beat story of the prequels, for example, and exposing through those beats that the story that plays out in the prequels is actually really cool. It just gets lost in a terrible set of scripts.
> Still, we've got the story we've got, the most deceptive and seductive pro-fascist narrative ever written. The Jedi mind trick has been played on all of us. “This is not the hero's journey you were looking for.”
I get a little frustrated with the characterizing of the Empire as "fascist." For some perspective, when it comes to Star Wars, I am (obviously) pro-Empire. But when it comes to (for example) Star Trek? The Federation is the sort of future that I want for our world. And I don't consider those views in conflict.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to articulate all the reasons why with any brevity. Largely, it stems from the scope of the governing body vs. the sovereignty of member "states", the radical social and economic changes that occur in a post-scarcity (or, if not post-scarcity, at least super-tech) society, and a bunch of other high-concept ideas.
"Fascism", though, is frankly too simplistic a political mindset to feel applicable to the Empire. As is nationalism more generally, really. Nationalism carries with it implicit assumptions of other nations and that's simply not what we're talking about with the Empire--it is the galaxy (with a few small enclave exceptions and unsettled areas).
That aside, though, it's a fun read and I applaud the analysis.
Here are some resources I’ve found interesting and/or useful.
Books
There are over 10,000 results for “screenwriting” when you search for books on Amazon.com, and at least one new screenwriting book is published every week.
Here are some “how to” books I recommend:
There are also good books about the screenwriting life. Some of my favorites are:
Software
Some of the most popular screenwriting format programs include:
More options are discussed here, and you can find about 40 screenwriting programs at The Writer’s Store.
Most programs have free trials, so you can see which one you like best before you commit.
Having screenwriting software is necessary (IMHO) but not sufficient to write a properly formatted screenplay. The software will let you designate dialogue as V.O. (voice over) or O.S. (off-screen), but it won’t explain when you use which. For that, and for many other things, you need to read something that gets into the details of formatting, like The Screenwriter’s Bible.
Many format programs have lots of bells and whistles including:
There are also specialized software programs that supposedly help with plotting and structure, character development, etc., but I’ve never used any.
Screenplays
You can often find screenplays for produced movies by googling the name of the movie along with “PDF.”
Scott Myers has collected a list of 100+ scripts made available by studios and production companies here.
Scripts often appear online around awards season (roughly the three months before the Oscars) but they may disappear later. So if you find a copy of a script you really want to study, it’s a good idea to download and save it.
You can also try Simply Scripts, The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb), and Drew’s Script-O-Rama.
Many libraries and bookstores carry published scripts, but often the format will be somewhat different from the original version.
eh, when it comes to flashbacks I think less is more. there's not really any more questions there we need answered.
if you are looking for more and not less, you should check out the Enchiridion / Marcys Scrapbook it's completely canon and tells more of young Marceline's story
My SO got me a hitachi magic wand which I'm pretty fucking excited about, but tied really close with that was the Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel book he gave me, which is a full-color hardback with behind the scenes photos, interviews, essays, etc. about the movie, which is one of my all-time favorites. He was super on point with his gifts this year.
Read as many books on directing as you can. As the editor, you imbue a second level of direction: you're picking the performances, fine tuning the timing, deciding what the audience sees - albeit all within the context of what the director did during filming and within the limits of their editorial control.
http://www.amazon.com/Film-Directing-Shot-Visualizing-Productions/dp/0941188108
http://www.amazon.com/Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368184441&sr=1-1&keywords=david+mamet+on+directing
are two that come to mind. I'd recommend more but I'm about to crash from an near all nighter.
I love this book. Link for the lazy:
http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406345072&sr=8-1&keywords=on+directing+film
I often see questions like “How do I become a screenwriter?” or "How can I write a screenplay?"
So here’s an answer you can read in five minutes or less.
Read at least two screenwriting “how-to” books
For example, you could try:
I think it’s a good idea to read more than one book because you don’t want to get the idea that there’s only one right way to write a screenplay. Different authors have different approaches that you may find more or less useful.
TAKE NOTES ON WHAT YOU LEARN.
Read at least five professional scripts
You can often find them by googling the name of the movie along with “PDF.”
You can also try Simply Scripts and The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb).
Your reading list should include scripts for movies that have been made in the past five years, so you can see what styles are current.
TAKE NOTES ON WHAT YOU LEARN.
One thing you should notice is that professional scripts have certain things in common. For example, they almost all have sluglines that look something like this:
EXT. RAIN FOREST – DAY
Some writers put sluglines in bold (which is a current fashion), and some don’t.
You should also notice that other things are different. For example, some writers use CAPS for objects and sounds a lot more than other writers do. Some writers write long, detailed descriptions of locations; others don’t.
One reason for this exercise is to get a sense of what a professional script looks like – what’s “standard,” and what’s more a matter of individual taste/style.
Another reason to read a lot of scripts (especially award-winning ones) is to get a feel for what “good” looks like.
Think about how these pro scripts follow (or not) the “rules” in the books you’ve read.
Follow along in the script as you’re watching the movie
Notice how words on a page translate into sights and sounds on the screen.
Notice how much detail is written out by the screenwriter, and how much is left to others (like the costume designer, set designer, or fight choreographer).
Come up with a screenplay idea/story
A good source for help with developing commercial story ideas is Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds.
Or read this blog: https://lauridonahue.com/fantastic-ideas-and-where-to-find-them-stps-5/
It can be helpful to put your idea into logline form. One basic model for loglines is:
>[Type of person or group] must [do or overcome something] in order to [achieve some goal].
You can also add details about where and when the story takes place, if relevant.
For example:
>A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a restless farm-boy must rescue a princess and learn to use his supernatural powers in order to defeat an evil empire.
Create a beat-sheet
A beat-sheet is a short (1-2 page) outline of what happens in your script.
For example, you can use the famous/infamous Blake Snyder “Save the Cat” Beat Sheet.
The books you’ve read may have other models for this.
Some people don’t like outlining. They just like to jump right into the story and start writing. How you work is up to you. But you may find that having an outline will let you know if you’ve got enough story (or too much), keep you on track, and save you from wasting time.
Write a treatment or a scriptment
A treatment or scriptment is a longer kind of outline.
Again, you may prefer just to dive in. It’s up to you.
Try to write a screenplay
It’s a good idea to get script formatting software, like Celtx or Highland or Final Draft. If you try to write a script in Word or another standard word processing program, you may drive yourself nuts dealing with format issues, and the end result may not look professional.
Or, just can write your first draft in a notebook, and do your second draft using formatting software. (I decided I wasn’t going to spend money on Final Draft until I proved to myself I could finish a first draft by hand.)
If you finish, congratulations. You’re now a screenwriter. Most wannabes never make it to that point.
However, your script probably isn’t very good. Most first scripts are awful.
What if you want to be a GOOD screenwriter?
Then you’ve got a lot more work ahead of you.
Put the script aside
Don’t work on it for at least a week. You want to be able to see it with fresh eyes.
Don’t show it to anyone yet, however much you want people to tell you how awesome it is.
This would be a good time to start working on your next script.
Rewrite
Look back at your notes from the screenwriting books and scripts you read. Think about what makes a script good.
Compare your script to the professional scripts, in terms of format, structure, dialogue, pacing, description, action, etc.
Re-read the chapters on revisions in the books you read.
Read a book like Making a Good Script Great and apply what it suggests.
Rewrite again and again and again until your script is as good as you think you can make it.
Get feedback
Do NOT get feedback on your first draft. Get feedback on your BEST draft.
So where do you get feedback?
Whatever you do, don’t be a douche about the feedback you get. Accept it with THANKS and graciously, even if you think the reader is an idiot for failing to recognize your genius.
And before you ask anyone for free feedback, read this – and don’t be that guy.
Rewrite again and again and again
Again, in between rewrites and while you’re waiting for feedback, put your script aside and work on more scripts.
You could experiment with different formats (feature, TV, short, webisode, etc.), genres, and styles. Discover where your strengths and interests lie.
Get more feedback; revise; repeat
Repeat as needed until people who know what they’re talking about (not your buddies, not your mom) say it’s good, and/or you start placing in contests like the Nicholl and Austin and/or getting 8s and up on The Black List.
Keep in mind that it may take years, and many drafts of many scripts, before you get to this point… if you ever do. (Most people don’t.)
If you do make it that far – congratulations again! You’re now a pretty good screenwriter.
(If you like this, please subscribe to my blog: https://lauridonahue.com/how-to-become-a-screenwriter-in-five-minutes-or-less-stps-4/)
Edit: this isn't mine it's Seshat_the_Scribe but it should help
Hey man. I agree with you on the 'more meaningful way' bit. I definitely got heated. Might have something to do with sleep deprivation and the marathon of HIMYM I'm currently on.
Regardless, excuses aside. Sorry man, shouldn't have been that harsh.
I would LOVE to go into detail about every single one of your shots and what I would've done and what I thought needed work. But to be honest. It's all subjective. It's an art. You might like something that I hate.
THAT BEING SAID, there are some basics you should really avoid. And there are are things you need to learn in order to accurately pull that idea out of your head and successfully get it into film.
Instead of yelling at you. I'm gonna gather up some resources for you that I really hope you take the time to learn from.
Now, you asked to see some of my work. Linking you stuff would just throw away the point of the 'throwaway' account since my first comment was so god damn harsh and to the point. Now I stated that
"You wasted 2:45 seconds. A lot of short films can make a grown man weep in that time"
I would just like to show you an example of what 2:42 seconds can do.
Here's the list:
QUICK VIDEOZ UP IN DIS BITCH:
Hands on lecture about Cinematography
Get out of AUTO mode! Some quick tips on shooting with a DSLR. I assume you're using a DSLR because that's what I started with. Regardless of camera this is great advice to start with
Wise words from my man Kevin Smith on independent filmmaking
Intro lecture on pre-production, script writing, and filmmaking in general
More DSLR tips and tricks
READING MATERIALS YO, READ DIS SHIT:
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Filmmakers-Eye-Cinematic-Composition/dp/0240812174
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Filmmakers-Handbook-Comprehensive-Digital/dp/0452297281
Now I understand if you can't afford to buy the books. When I was in highschool I was lucky enough to be able to beg my friends to borrow their camcorders in order to film my shorts. It's how I got started.
That being said I don't want to break rule #2 of this subreddit that I fucking love.
THAT BEING SAID.
LET'S JUST SAY.... THAT A CERTAIN BEARDED PIRATE.... IS CHILLING AT A CERTAIN BAY... AND IF YOU JUST GO TO HIM AND SAY THE WORDS "The Filmmaker" I'M SURE HE COULD HOOK A BROTHA UP WITH SOME OF DEM KNOWLEDGE PAPERS YA DIG?
Anyways brother/sister. I'm sorry about being harsh on your film. I wish you the best of luck in the future. All the stuff I've thrown your way you don't have to go through it all in one sitting. Just delve into some of them on your freetime every now and then.
Peace bitch. (I mean bitch in the nicestest most Aaron Paul way possible)
This.
I am currently working on building somewhere between 50-60 full (skin out) outfits, male and female, from this era, for an A Song of Ice and Fire themed feast-viewing party for the first episode of next season. It's quite awhile off, true, but putting these together is a lot of work and fairly time consuming. On top of that, I'm also teaching my younger sister how to sew... she's cutting her teeth on this project. I refer to this as "being tossed into the deep end to learn to swim".
My build references right now are limited to a couple of books (only one of which is any good, and it's a recent acquisition), and what I can find on the internet (and wrestling my laptop while wrestling with fabric is never fun), as my previous person I went to for advice and help for Tudor/Elizabethan garb is no longer around. This book I've heard nothing by good things about. :) It is on my most wanted list, and is something I will likely be picking up myself within a couple months.
Oh, and Hi!
Sweet collection! You should look into JW Rinzler's extensive making of books. Here's the first one: http://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Wars-Definitive-Original/dp/0345494768 They are treasure troves of amazingly detailed behind the scenes info, photos, stories, interviews and just about anything and everything you could ever want to know about these movies. They will absolutely blow your mind. Highly recommended!
Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet
(http://www.amazon.com/Making-Movies-Sidney-Lumet/dp/0679756604/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394078386&sr=1-1&keywords=making+movies+sidney+lumet)
On Directing Film, by David Mamet
(http://www.amazon.com/Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=la_B000APXE7Q_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394078307&sr=1-1)
Film Directing Shot by Shot, by Steven D. Katz
(http://www.amazon.com/Film-Directing-Shot-Visualizing-Productions/dp/0941188108/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394078422&sr=1-1&keywords=film+direction+shot+by+shot)
They're the highest regarded movie making books. They're extremely practical without losing a sense of wonder or passion about movie making.
On Directing Film is a very short and easy read, and it will answer soooo many questions about 'show don't tell', 'exposition vs. drama' etc. I can't recommend it enough, especially if you often have difficulty understanding why these sage-like mantras are so often repeated.
Yes it's about directing, I guess, but it's really about story telling and it definitely helped my writing immensely.
Sounds like this book, that fascinated me back in the day.
If you're interested in going down the rabbit hole, the "Making of Star Wars" series of books by JW Rinzler are a tremendously good read.
There's a book for each Original Trilogy movie.
Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman, Godzilla, and Friends in the Golden Age of Japanese Science Fiction Film by August Ragone
A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series by David Kalat
This book is expensive, but pretty exhaustive about George Lucas rewriting and making STAR WARS.
Hooboy. If you pull this off make sure you write a screenplay about it.
Okay, so we'd all be here for weeks trying to teach you everything you need to know. Google tutorials on your 5D, on your lenses, on the GoPros, whatever. You need to know those the most first. If you're shooting the "making of" of the commercial, you're probably not going to be using your own lights except for when you're shooting interviews, so look up lighting techniques on lighting interviews.
Read this book. It's massive. It's a text book, but it's a great book to learn from. You aren't going to be able to read the book in a week, so focus on the chapters about cameras and lenses and such. Read the rest before you accept any other jobs.
Honestly, man, my conservative mind is saying to see if it isn't too late to turn the job down. Just say something comes up and you won't be able to make it. If you screw this up, then it may be a bigger humiliation than just backing out.
My liberal mind says get used to coffee and don't sleep until this shoot is done. I'm still in amateur status myself, so I get the whole you gotta start somewhere thing. Learn everything you can through google and that book if you can swing 1 day shipping and just keep it BASIC. Don't try anything fancy or shit.
Good luck.
Yes that's her. Her book is "Recording Unhinged" for those interested :
https://www.amazon.com/Recording-Unhinged-Creative-Unconventional-Techniques/dp/1495011275
And yeah, she completely rocks.
Read this book before going any further. It will explain the nuts and bolts of the process.
Also, hire someone experienced to read the script and tell you whether it's good enough to get financed.
I don't know if this is in the direction you're looking, but I really enjoyed "On Directing Film" from David Mamet. It's a pretty quick read, too.
I rent out a room in my house to a guy who has been a really solid guy. Quiet, somewhat shy, tidy fellow, big time classic nerd (Room is filled with MTG, Pokemon Cards, Nintendo systems, X30, and a lot of star wars stuff).
Anyhow, money is always somewhat tight, but my gf and I really like this guy. So, we ordered him, The Making of Star Wars, The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film Which is an AMAZING book, probably one of the best of its kind.
But we didn't think that was enough. I figured that I would add on to the star wars theme, and I made him a 6 disc box set of the Star Wars: Despecialized Edition (article about it for those that don't know) I burned both Blu-Ray HD copies, and regular DVD, since he doesn't have an HDTV. I put the two discs for each film in some nice dual disc Blu-Ray boxes, and printed off these wonderful despecialized edition labels I found online as well.
Finally, ever since he moved in during the summer, he has not had a computer. Web browsing for him has been Xbox based, so, my GF talked to her mom about an old laptop/netbook that was laying around at her house. My GF installed ubuntu on it, and we gave it to him as an, "As long as you live here this is yours." type of gift.
I didn't notice any tears, but he was definitely very happy.
:)
For mixing, as already mentioned: Mixing Engineer's Handbook (Bobby Owsinski), Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio (Mike Senior) and also Mixing Audio (Roey Izhaki).
For mastering: Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science (Bob Katz)
And here are some great books that are not strictly about mixing, but which are very insightful about music production in general:
To add:
Theodore Barber, one of the two researchers in that paper, made hypnosis a lifelong study. He is credited not with disproving forms of hypnosis, but rather demonstrating that power of suggestion alone can work just as well.
From a posthumous piece on Theodore Barber [New York Times]:
Earlier, in a series of experiments performed door to door, he and other researchers found that they could induce sleepiness by suggestion alone, without the swinging watches or formal protocols used by hypnotists. Power of suggestion worked effectively on about 20 percent of the people tested, although another 25 percent had no reaction.
The results stimulated Dr. Barber's interest in the hypnotic state, and he examined people who could be easily or deeply hypnotized. In the 1970's, he helped identify a small minority - 2 percent to 4 percent of the population - who were especially responsive, and he then studied the group. With other researchers, he found that the people most susceptible to hypnosis included those who were "gifted fantasizers" or "amnesia prone."
The more recent book Hypnosis: Research Developments And Perspectives cites your article and comes to many of the same conclusions, but decides not to try to disprove the "hypnotic" cause of the various measured effects, they merely sought out to re-define the word. They cite Barber's research in many points, even detailing the exact "stage hypnosis" instructions that Meeker and Berber were given when they did their influential 1971 study.
Both the study by Fromm and the lifelong study by Barber come to the same conclusions:
The power of suggestion can have a real effect on people, more so with certain "highly suggestible" people.
"Stage" Hypnotists use their know-how to capitalize on every available opportunity to enhance suggestibility and screen for it. This, more than "hypnosis", is their skill.
Hypnotherapists use suggestion and various other tools and techniques to enhance "suggestibility" but don't always have the option to do screening. They have a different outcome in mind as well - one of healing a patient.
Part of the problem in Hypnosis is its definition is rarely agreed upon. I've been a member of a serious non-reddit hypnosis forum for a few years now, and I have learned not to bring it up. If you want to start a fight amongst a room full of hypnotists, ask one of them to define it.
I define hypnosis as the systematic use of suggestion to elicit a desired result. In this way, I can sit on the fence and say that Yeah, they're both real. Having done and performed hypnosis, I have no problem with what a stage hypnotist does - even though he's essentially "re-branding" screened-for compliance as hypnosis for the sake of suspending an audience's disbelief. This is a necessary evil, and is necessary to be able to handle the randomness and chaos of audience participation. I don't have any doubt that a good "stage" hypnotist would be able to produce real therapeutic results in a one-on-one session, with different techniques, but on stage, with short time, this method is the safest and most reliable.
That said, those interested in really understanding how this works and the various techniques involved should get it right from the source. Jonathan Chase has a long history of successful stage hypnosis, and the book I've linked to details exactly the techniques used. In chapter one he explains presentation, and how it is key that you simply make sure everyone expects you to be "THE Hypnotist!". You must not leave any doubt, and you must follow through on this to the letter. He explains why it won't work on your family or friends, because they won't see you as "THE Hypnotist!", they'll just see you as "my friend", or "my son", or whatever. Most of the book is about seeding expectations and building compliance so that you can suggest further compliance. It's a cycle.
"Remember that everything relies on the volunteers’ belief systems. Stage Hypnosis works because they want it to and believe it can. Therefore once hypnotised they will behave in the way they believe to be correct for the state of mind they believe they are in." -Jonathan Chase
Also of note is fantastic hypnotist James Tripp who has recently just released his class to the public on Youtube. Here's a hypnotist who, in a one-on-one conversation can get people to forget their names, numbers, or become stuck to the floor or unable to move their arms. And he does it without ever putting them into "trance" or with the command to "Sleep!", which you've probably seen in hypnosis videos. His method works. It's just power of suggestion, but it exists in a powerful framework which makes use of the mind's own mechanisms. He doesn't have to look for high suggestibility people, because he is able to inject himself into the mechanisms of their own mind. Cool stuff.
TL;DR Power of suggestion is what it's all about. But we're all constantly bewildered by how powerful it is.
Watch FilmmakerIQ, DSLRguide, D4Darious, Basic Filmmaker, Film Riot, Every Frame a Painting, LightsFilmSchool, nofilmschool and etc. similar channels that you discover on your own
Watch a fuckton of movies.
Make your own projects--write, shoot, direct, light, etc. just create stuff and learn about what specific parts of the process intrigue you the most, and focus on those.
Read this book and also this book.
Get on set, that's how you'll gain most of your experience. Start as a PA in the production department and you can work your way up from there to another department. Get on as many sets as you can in the beginning, like indie shorts and web series and student films, and make friends with the people you meet. BE A NICE PERSON AND STAY IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE.
Be open to all the possibilities and don't assume you know what all the jobs are and what they involve, because you don't. You never know what you'll end up being interested in--as an aspiring writer/director I really wanted to learn cinematography (I dropped out of school) by working in camera department and tried to transition to being a 2nd AC or camera PA from just a regular PA on a student thesis so I could learn the ins and outs of how cameras work, however I ended up being assigned to G&E (grip and electric) which I wasn't thrilled about. However I ended really enjoying it and a year later it's still what I do.
You'll go through bouts of discouragement and experience lots of ups and downs, and it'll be easy to lose hope quickly, but the only way you'll know for sure that you'll fail is if you give up, so don't ever give up if this is really what you want to do.
I got the new lego Falcon, the topps trading card SW book, a long sleeve raglan tee with the first order trooper helmet on it (can't find a link, they have it at Target), and the making of Star Wars coffee table book.
If you're looking for a scholarly/academic take on metal, then you honestly cannot go wrong with Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge by Keith Kahn-Harris and Heavy Metal: Controversies and Counterculture (Studies in Popular Music). Both are excellent reading, and as they're academic studies can be quite in-depth. Definitely worth a look if you can find them.
I find black metal interesting for a wide variety of reasons. First of all, I am attracted to its sonic aesthetic, like you have been. It's immersive and cathartic, and I think its suited to express a certain set of emotions in a way no other style can. In addition, I think it is a shining example of the post-modern condition. It fits seamlessly into models of modernity from many social theorists. It is the rejection of Lyotard's metanarrative (casting aside "traditional heritage" (music, religion, you name it), expressing distrust for community/national leaders, etc.). It is the result of Durkheim's 'anomie' and an example of Simmel's urban subculture predictions. People all over the world are using this music as a vehicle to express misanthropy, hopelessness, anxiety, hate, and a profound frustration with the modern condition, yet are connecting with one another in carving out this subcultural niche. And it's not all about hate! A lot of black metal is about more than just rejecting or retreating, it's about offering up alternative philosophies/advocating people go decide what matters to them, and stressing personal responsibility.
Beyond that, as with every globalized musical style, space still plays an important role, and it is interesting to note idiosyncrasies. Local/regional folklore plays into black metal a lot, especially with NSBM (not unlike German Volkskunde), and it is interesting to see this co-opted (***note: I'm not an NSBM fan!)
I also just want to study it because it's an opportunity to connect with people who share something with me, however arbitrary what we share may be.
If you're interested, there have been a number of great recent publications on heavy metal. Check out this, this, this, this, this
Edit: grammar
I've never done shooting plans and storyboards before my latest short film and it simply would have been impossible to schedule anything without storyboards and shooting plans. It also helped a lot in post, because of the size of the project. So I'd definitely start using those tools. It doesn't have to be pretty or anything, just so you remember how you wanted it it to be and to show the crew/cast how you want them to act. Here is a teaser for my short film just to show how big it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ApmSNvhQA ..... BTW. It's also quite satisfying to look at your footage in post and it looks just like you imagined it in your storyboard. Also, I'd recommend you to read this book by Mamet. http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224 It's very good!
Besides all of these lovely quotes from fellow metalheads, another source you could use is this book, which describes the culture surrounding the various forms of extreme metal, which is what most people think of when they think about the negative side of metal. I read it, and while for me it was preaching to the choir, it might be exactly what you're looking for.
Thanks to Mike Ryan from The Huffington Post for this excerpt.
The book is going to be released on October 1.
Check out this and this book if you want to know more about his influences. He talks about them at great length.
This is discussed pretty significantly in David Kalat's book. I was actually surprised to read this symbolism, Godzilla is definitely perceived as a deeper character in Japan that I thought he was. One of the items that really drove this point was Godzilla destroying the Diet building but then returning to the ocean when he looked at the Imperial Palace. Tangentially related: I thought it was an interesting observation that the Japanese critics like to point out how no assistance comes from the American's in any of the Japanese cuts of the movies.
http://www.amazon.com/Critical-History-Filmography-Godzilla-Series/dp/0786447494
Here are two screenwriting books that I really love that don't get a lot of love:
Writing for Emotional Impact and The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters by Karl Iglesias. Those two go pretty unnoticed but are really insightful.
I also really enjoy:
Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television and The Film Director's Intuition: Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques by Judith Weston. It really helped give me an understanding on how actors look to find their performances and has really informed how I write both dialogue and character actions.
Let the Crazy Child Write!: Finding Your Creative Writing Voice by Clive Matson is great for just untethering your inner critic in some ways.
Lastly, a bit of an unexpected one The Definitive Book on Body Language which gives some interesting insight on how people behave.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Dark-Tower-Companion-Stephen/dp/0451237994
Ken Caillat's Book
Glyn Johns' Book
Slyvia Massey's book
Michael Beinhorn's book
Ken Scott's Book
Geoff Emerick's Book
And the whole "midichlorian" stuff doesn't make sense either. I'm just telling you what I read in this and this and saw in this.
I agree with a vast amount of what shifty says, but add these differences :
I saw this video not long ago, and have revisited it since. I wanted to share it as a source of inspiration to you because, while Sylvia is an audio engineer who doesn't focus on EDM styles (though she has photographed Skrillex and others), her contributions to "beyond your comfort zone" creativity are substantial and relevant to electronic genres. Her joy for music is incredible.
For example, some of us are very familiar with how artists like NGHTMRE, Amon Tobin, and NOISIA use "found sounds" from everyday life in their recordings. Whether it's drawers closing, branches snapping, or turning an actual hoover vacuum into a hoover-style bassline, there is (to paraphrase Diego Stocco), music can be mined from the sound all around us.
Sylvia talks about creative ways to build microphones, shape your tone in quirky ways, physically go on travels to inject your music with more energy, and other techniques to preemptively liberate yourself from being blocked. As mentioned, she has a new book out: https://www.amazon.com/Recording-Unhinged-Creative-Unconventional-Techniques/dp/1495011275
What are you trying to do in film? If you are trying to get into camera or grip/electrics I would check out the local IATSE chapters. IATSE is the union that deals with many film and stage crew, they also have many good trainee programs for people starting out. Another union to check out would be the DGA (Director's Guild of America). If you want to Direct there is not much I can say but go out and do it. There are many books and things that can help with directing, [David Mamet's "On Directing Film"] (http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224) is pretty solid. Also, if you need an editor for any films you work on... wink wink nudge nudge
I am in Canada so I don't really have any contacts for you to call in NYC (sorry man) but I guess the number one thing would be: make sure to love film. This is a very difficult industry to make it in so be sure that it is what you want to do.
Good luck man, I am sure I will see you around mumble. If you have any more question feel free to PM me or chat me up on mumble.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that if you are not sure what you want to do, the try to get on a film as a PA then watch everyone do their jobs, then you can try to see what you like.
This might help your journey: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Tower-Companion-Stephen-Fantasy/dp/0451237994/ref=nodl_
Rock 'n' Roll Twilight: The Rock Age Reaches The End Of The Road
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LFK4Y17
FREE until February 6th
> A compilation of concert reviews from some of the greatest stars of the rock age. As time passes, fewer and fewer of the greatest stars of popular music will be 'out there' for us all to see and hear.
>This is a testimony to the performances of some of our greatest music stars in their later years. Get your front row ticket now - because when it's gone, it's gone....
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
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Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
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This is an incredibly broad question since fashion is changing notable every decade during that time period. If you are looking for a general costume history overview of the pre-modern era I'd start by looking for some books in your local library. They're generally vague and sometimes use outdated ideas, but it's always a good base to start with. Sometimes even Barnes & Noble carries "Fashion", a book covering some of the Kyoto Costume Institutes collection from 18th-20th c. From there, researching original garments on museum collection websites or portraiture and fashion plates can give you a more detailed idea of the styles once you know the garment names and basic shapes. The Met Museum and the V&A have two of the largest online collections. Pinterest is also very helpful for this kind of search, though things are not always well documented and modern reproductions slip in occasionally. There are also many in-depth books on these eras, though none that covers the whole of it in great detail.
The Tudor Tailor, Seventeenth-century Women's Dress Patterns Book One and Book Two, and What Clothes Reveal are some of my often referenced books. There are many more depending on whether you are more interested in the clothing construction side, the high fashion, textiles, or trade and everyday wear.
I just got this book the other week. It's outstanding, and has a ton of stuff I hadn't seen before.
Not free, but worth it - I would start with The Filmmaker's Handbook (https://www.amazon.com/Filmmakers-Handbook-2013-Steven-Ascher/dp/0452297281).
It has detailed and extensive knowledge on almost every aspect of independent and industry filmmaking. Excellent book if you're trying to get a grasp on filmmaking as a practice. It was a good starting point for me.
I haven't gotten to the bit on editing yet but as a general tool for all around filmmaking, I've found this book to be amazing so far. Really well written and extremely detailed.
What area do you want to focus on? Film theory or production? There are a lot of good books on both, and it my opinion that you should brush up on both. But, you don't necessarily need books on either as there are plenty of on-line resources on both. But here are some good books for beginning film making.
http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Movies-Introduction-Film-4th/dp/0393913023/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372746403&sr=1-1&keywords=looking+at+movies+4th+edition
You can find better prices by getting earlier editions of the book. These are all books that I've had in film school and you can learn a lot from them.
http://www.amazon.com/Film-Art-Introduction-David-Bordwell/dp/0078007879/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372746555&sr=1-1&keywords=film+art+an+introduction
http://www.amazon.com/Filmmakers-Handbook-Comprehensive-Guide-Digital/dp/0452297281/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372746624&sr=1-1&keywords=the+filmmakers+handbook
But check out http://vimeo.com/videoschool
I hope this helps.
It's wikipedia, but gets the point across. The "Writing" sub-section makes mention of Leigh Brackett dying before she was able to complete her draft of the story, Lucas picked it up and went with it, making some changes along the way. It also very clearly mentions that nobody thought about Vader being Luke's father (Anakin Skywalker) until early 1978, well after the first kiss in '77.
The ROTJ article mentions the back-and-forth Lucas had with producers about killing off Han Solo, and how the film should end.
Star Wars: The Annotated Screen Plays is almost 20 years old, but does a fantastic job of doing footnotes on all the different changes and drafts that took place to the movies; I've had it on my shelf sinc eI was about 11. Suffice to say, if they had filmed Lucas's original first draft of A New Hope, it'd be darn near unrecognizable as the film that we know.
Hmm, I read this last year, and I'm pretty sure I remember them having to add that scene because of Mark Hamill's accident. I'll have to look for it later.
They made up Leia as his sister in RotJ. In ESB itself Lucas had only a vague idea...
George Lucas: "My feeling about Luke being the last hope was really done in an effort to make sure that he was in some jeopardy, that he might not succeed. I was trying to set up subliminally in the audience's mind that something is going on here, that he could fail. And if he does fail, 'there is another hope.' So the audience is saying, 'Don't go, finish your training.'"
From "Star Wars - The Annotated Screenplays".
My top choice, always: "On Directing Film" by David Mamet
http://www.amazon.com/On-Directing-Film-David-Mamet/dp/0140127224/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345657124&sr=8-4&keywords=david+mamet
After you get through all of the basic mixing books and acquire a solid foundation, I highly recommend this one.
Recording Unhinged: Creative and Unconventional Music Recording Techniques
https://www.amazon.com/Recording-Unhinged-Creative-Unconventional-Techniques/dp/1495011275
It's a great coffee table book for the studio, and will basically encourage you to lighten up, get creative and have more fun. A great counterbalance to all the foundational textbooks.
Rinzler discusses this along with the director's guild stuff in his Making of Book. The guild would have been a problem if they used Kershner, but he wanted to do his own thing after Empire.
https://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Wars-Return-Jedi/dp/0345511468
Interestingly one of the reasons they went with Marquand, a tv director, is similar to the problems Disney is having now. They wanted someone competent who could basically do what George wanted. In television, the director is a hired gun who is executing the vision of the executive producer or show runner. Think of Kathleen Kennedy as the show runner for a star wars tv series. In film, even back then, directors expect to have more control of the vision.
I think there's a quote from George in Rinzler's book making this comparison.
This is old (2003 and focused on film), but I liked it's explanation for the range of prices for each line item (inflation adjusted, the figures, other than film, are probably still useful):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0446674621/
I approach projects by deciding how much money I think I can raise, then develop a budget to fit within that amount. And don't forget post (particularly editing) and distribution!
Just a fair warning: you need to expect that you'll lose all that money. Except for horror, basically no movie made under $2-3 million stands any chance of a distribution deal, and distribution is where you have a realistic chance to make your budget back. And horror is no guarantee, just that it's been successful vastly more often than any other genre.
Glad I could help!
I'm glad you asked about books. Advice from the internet (including mine :)) has its limits. Here is what I recommend [Referral Links]:
Again, hope this is helpful and best of luck!
Bill
The Filmmaker's Handbook is a great read that covers all aspects of film making
Cinematography: Theory and Practice We had to read this book in film school. I can honestly say I learned more from this than I did any of my teachers lectures.
Rebel Without a Crew Is more inspirational and entertaining that informative, but it's worth a read. Written by Robert Rodriguez during the making of his first uber-low-budget feature film.
Perhaps we will see a comeback for some of the products below?
10 Radioactive Products That People Actually Used lists the following products that used radium:
The Scrotal Radioendocrinator was invented by William Bailey who created the radium water Radithor.
>The inventor of this fabulous product was one William J. Bailey, who claimed to regularly use his own products, and to have drunk more radium water than any other living man.
Bailey's consumption of his own product eventually killed him. He died of cancer of the bladder in 1949.
For women, there was the radioactive face cream, Tho-Radia. The company marketing the product producly proclaimed "Each and every ‘Radior’ Toilet Requisite contains a definite qualtity of Actual Radium."
Sadly for the young female watch painters who worked for the Radium Dial Company, their exposure to radium when they used it to paint watches, clocks, and other instrument dials to make them luminescent, so that people could read them in the dark, had a quite deleterious effect on their health.
There have been a number of books written about what happened to those young women. They had been told it was safe, but many of them died quite horribly, because of their close contact with the radium. Some of the books about them include Radium Girls: Women and Industrial Health Reform, 1910-1935,
Deadly Glow: The Radium Dial Worker Tragedy,
Radium Girls,
and The Radium Watch Dial Painters. There are a number of others as well.
If you have the time and money to spend learning by their structure, why not, it'll give you alot of benefits you'll find handy in the future.
I'm not confident saying this but you'll probably find whatever they are teaching there for free on the internet.
I see that they offer courses by Karl Iglesias who wrote The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers which I remember preordering a long time ago, it included talks with working screenwriters, taught it was a great read.
Ultimately it comes to this:
PROS: Instructor, lectures, fast paced.
CONS: Costs money-you could find what they teach anywhere on the NET/books