62 Best 「cinema」 Books of 2024| Books Explorer
- Cinematography: Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers and Directors
- Painting With Light
- Reflections: Twenty-One Cinematographers at Work
- Writing with Light: The Muses
- Masters of Light: Conversations with Contemporary Cinematographers
- Lighting for Cinematography: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Lighting for the Moving Image (The Cinetech Guides to the Film Crafts)
- The Five C's of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques
- Notes on the Cinematograph (New York Review Books Classics)
- The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age: Fifth Edition
- Behind the Lens: Dispatches from the Cinematographic Trenches
The world of cinematography has changed more in the last few years than it has since it has in 1929, when sound recording was introduced. New technology, new tools and new methods have revolutionized the art and craft of telling stories visually. While some aspects of visual language, lighting and color are eternal, shooting methods, workflow and cameras have changed radically. Even experienced film artists have a need to update and review new methods and equipment. These change affect not only the director of photography but also the director, the camera assistants, gaffers, and digital imaging technicians.Cinematography: Theory and Practice covers both the artistry and craftsmanship of cinematography and visual storytelling. Few art forms are as tied to their tools and technology as is cinematography. Take your mastery of these new tools, techniques, and roles to the next level with this cutting-edge roadmap from author and filmmaker Blain Brown.Whether you are a student of filmmaking, just breaking into the business, currently working in the industry and looking to move up to the next level, or an experienced professional who wants to update their knowledge of tools and techniques, this book provides both a basic introduction to these issues as well as more advanced and in-depth coverage of the subject.The companion website features additional material, including lighting demonstrations, basic methods of lighting, using diffusion and other topics.Topics Include:Visual language Visual storytelling Continuity and coverage Cameras and digital sensors Exposure techniques for film and video Color in-depth Understanding digital images Waveform monitors, vectorscopes, and test charts Using linear, gamma, and log encoded video Image control and grading on the set The tools and basics of film lighting ASC-CDL, ACES and other new methods Optics and focus Camera movement Set operations Green screen, high speed and other topics.
Few cinematographers have had as decisive an impact on the cinematic medium as John Alton. Best known for his highly stylized film noir classics T-Men, He Walked by Night, and The Big Combo, Alton earned a reputation during the 1940s and 1950s as one of Hollywood's consummate craftsmen through his visual signature of crisp shadows and sculpted beams of light. No less renowned for his virtuoso color cinematography and deft appropriation of widescreen and Technicolor, he earned an Academy Award in 1951 for his work on the musical An American in Paris. First published in 1949, Painting With Light remains one of the few truly canonical statements on the art of motion picture photography, an unrivaled historical document on the workings of postwar American cinema. In simple, non-technical language, Alton explains the job of the cinematographer and explores how lighting, camera techniques, and choice of locations determine the visual mood of film. Todd McCarthy's introduction provides an overview of Alton's biography and career and explores the influence of his work on contemporary cinematography and the foreword, written expressly for this edition by award-winning cinematographer John Bailey, explores Alton’s often contentious relationships with colleagues, the American Society of Cinematographers, and the movie industry itself.
An in-depth examination of the techniques and films of some of the worlds greatest cameramen.
A unique tribute to art films as seen through the eyes of master cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, the winner of three Academy Awards.The volume is a compendium of Storaro's extraordinary fifty-year career and a tribute to the creative sources of his work, as celebrated through more than 500 illustrations that reflect his singular style.In cinematography, there is not just one kind of light, but an infinite range of variants: not only the day and night specified in the screenplays, but also the daylight and artificial light, the darkness and the twilight, the sunrise and the sunset, the sun and the moon. And each one tells a story, expresses an idea or an emotion, and digs down into the subconscious. "The Muses" are the female figures of Greek mythology who have inspired the cinematography of Storaro in terms of aesthetics, light, color, and value.
Through conversations held with fifteen of the most accomplished contemporary cinematographers, the authors explore the working world of the person who controls the visual look and style of a film. This reissue includes a new foreword by cinematographer John Bailey and a new preface by the authors, which bring this classic guide to cinematography, in print for more than twenty-five years, into the twenty-first century.
With the aid of photographs and diagrams, this text concisely presents concepts and techniques of motion picture camerawork and the allied areas of film-making with which they interact with and impact. Included are discussions on: cinematic time and space; compositional rules; and types of editing.
The French film director Robert Bresson was one of the great artists of the twentieth century and among the most radical, original, and radiant stylists of any time. He worked with nonprofessional actors—models, as he called them—and deployed a starkly limited but hypnotic array of sounds and images to produce such classic works as A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, Diary of a Country Priest, and Lancelot of the Lake. From the beginning to the end of his career, Bresson dedicated himself to making movies in which nothing is superfluous and everything is always at stake.Notes on the Cinematograph distills the essence of Bresson’s theory and practice as a filmmaker and artist. He discusses the fundamental differences between theater and film; parses the deep grammar of silence, music, and noise; and affirms the mysterious power of the image to unlock the human soul. This book, indispensable for admirers of this great director and for students of the cinema, will also prove an inspiration, much like Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, for anyone who responds to the claims of the imagination at its most searching and rigorous.
Filmmaker Jay Holben has been battling in the production trenches for most of his life. For the past 17 years, he’s chronicled his adventures in the pages of American Cinematographer, Digital Video, Videography, and TV Technology. Now, in Behind the Lens: Dispatches from the Cinematic Trenches, he’s compiled nearly 100 of his best articles on everything from camera technology and lenses to tips and techniques for better lighting. Whether you’re making independent films, commercials, music videos, documentaries, television shows, event videos, or industrials, this full color collection provides the tools you need to take your work to the next level and succeed in the world of digital motion imaging.Featured topics include:*Tech, including the fundamentals of how digital images are formed and how they evolved to match the look of a film, as well as image compression and control*Optics, providing a thorough examination of lenses and lens interchangeability, depth of field, filters, flare, quality, MTF, and more*Cameras, instructing you in using exposure tools, ISO, white balance, infrared, and stabilizers*Lighting, featuring advice on using lighting sources and fixtures and how to tackle common lighting problemsAdditional tips and tricks cover improving audio, celestial photography, deciding if film school is right for you, and much more.For over a decade Jay Holben has worked as a director of photography in Los Angeles on features, commercials, television shows, and music videos. He is a former technical editor and frequent contributing writer for American Cinematographer, the current technical editor and columnist for Digital Video, and the lighting columnist for TV Technology. The author of A Shot in the Dark: A Creative DIY Guide to Digital Video Lighting on (Almost) No Budget, Holben is also on faculty for the Global Cinematography Institute. He is now an independent producer and director.
Product Description \nFrom\nDrugstore Cowboy to\nElephant,\nMilk and\nGood Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant's films have captured the imagination of more than one generation. Alongside his filmaking, however, Van Sant is also an artist, photographer and writer. Based on a series of completely new and exclusive interviews, this book provides a personal insight into how Van Sant successfully approaches these different and very varied artforms, providing an inspirational look into the working life of one of America's most pivotal cultural and creative practitioners.\n About the Author \nKatya Tylevich is an arts and fiction writer. She is author of many notable artist collaborations, monograph contributions, essays and interviews,\nArt Oracles,\nSuccess Oracles, and co-author of\nMy Life as a Work of Art. With her brother, Alexei, she co-founded Friend & Colleague, a platform for editions, fiction and special projects. Katya is currently working on two large projects with Marina Abramović and a fiction book titled\nFear Eats The Soup. katyatylevich.com
About the Author\\nMatt Zoller Seitz is the editor in chief of RogerEbert.com; the TV critic for New York magazine; the author of The Wes Anderson Collection, The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Oliver Stone Experience, and Mad Men Carousel; and the coauthor of The Sopranos Sessions. He is based in New York City.\\nThe official behind-the-scenes companion to The French Dispatch and the latest volume in the bestselling Wes Anderson Collection series\nThe French Dispatch—the tenth feature film from writer-director Wes Anderson—is a love letter to journalists set at the titular American newspaper in the fictional 20th-century French city of Ennui-sur-Blasé. The film stars a number of Anderson's frequent collaborators, including Bill Murray as the newspaper's editor in chief; Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, and Frances McDormand, as well as new players Jeffrey Wright, Benicio del Toro, Elisabeth Moss, and Timothée Chalamet, who bring to life a collection of stories published in The French Dispatch magazine.\\nIn this latest one-volume entry in The Wes Anderson Collection series—the only book to take readers behind the scenes of The French Dispatch—everything that goes into bringing Anderson's trademark style, meticulous compositions, and exacting production design to the screen is revealed in detail. Written by film and television critic and New York Times bestselling author Matt Zoller Seitz, The Wes Anderson Collection: The French Dispatch presents the complete story behind the film’s conception, anecdotes about the making of the film, and behind-the-scenes photos, production materials, and artwork.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A memoir of leadership and success: The CEO of Disney shares the ideas and values he embraced while reinventing one of the world’s most beloved companies and inspiring the people who bring the magic to life.AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEARRobert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Competition was more intense than ever and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger—think global—and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.Today, Disney is the largest, most admired media company in the world, counting Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox among its properties. Under Iger’s leadership, Disney’s value grew nearly five times what it was, making Iger one of the most innovating and successful CEOs of our era.In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger answers the question: What are the qualities of a good leader? He shares the lessons he learned while running Disney and leading its 220,000-plus employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including:• Optimism. Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and blaming.• Courage. Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity.• Decisiveness. All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale.• Fairness. Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them.This book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger since the day he started as the lowliest studio grunt at ABC. It’s also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the Star Wars mythology.“The ideas in this book strike me as universal,” Iger writes. “Not just to the aspiring CEOs of the world, but to anyone wanting to feel less fearful, more confidently themselves, as they navigate their professional and even personal lives.”
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Mike Nichols burst onto the scene as a wunderkind: he was half of a hit improv duo with Elaine May that was the talk of the country. Next he directed four consecutive hit plays, won back-to-back Tonys, and ushered in a new era of Hollywood moviemaking with The Graduate, which won him an Oscar and became the third-highest-grossing movie ever. An intimate and evenhanded accounting of success and failure alike, this portrait presents the full story of one of the most richly interesting, complicated, and consequential figures the worlds of theatre and motion pictures have ever seen.
The latest groundbreaking tome from Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek.From the author:“For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads.“This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.“What makes the show different is a relentless focus on actionable details. This is reflected in the questions. For example: What do these people do in the first sixty minutes of each morning? What do their workout routines look like, and why? What books have they gifted most to other people? What are the biggest wastes of time for novices in their field? What supplements do they take on a daily basis?“I don’t view myself as an interviewer. I view myself as an experimenter. If I can’t test something and replicate results in the messy reality of everyday life, I’m not interested.“Everything within these pages has been vetted, explored, and applied to my own life in some fashion. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration.“I created this book, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.”
Newly revised and expanded, Film Lighting is an indispensable sourcebook for the aspiring and practicing cinematographer, based on extensive interviews with leading cinematographers and gaffers in the film industryFilm lighting is a living, dynamic art influenced by new technologies and the individual styles of leading cinematographers. Reporting on the latest innovations and showcasing in-depth interviews with industry experts, Film Lighting provides an inside look at how cinematographers and film directors establish the visual concept of the film and use the lighting to help tell the story. Using firsthand material from experts such as Oscar-winning cinematographers Dion Beebe, Russell Carpenter, Robert Elswit, Mauro Fiore, Janusz Kaminski, Wally Pfister, Haskell Wexler, and Vilmos Zsigmond, this revised and expanded edition provides an invaluable opportunity to learn from the industrys leaders.
Delivering the most comprehensive coverage available, Herb Zettl�s SIGHT SOUND MOTION: APPLIED MEDIA AESTHETICS, 8e thoroughly describes the major aesthetic image elements -- light and color, space, time-motion, and sound -- as well as presents in-depth coverage on how they are creatively used in television and film. Real-world applications bring the text�s detailed coverage of aesthetic theory to life. It equips you to think critically about media aesthetics and apply them to production situations. Now presented in full color, the Eighth Edition�s engaging presentation is richly illustrated with strong visuals that often draw on traditional art forms, such as painting, sculpture, and dance.
In the Blink of an Eye is celebrated film editor Walter Murch's vivid, multifaceted, thought -- provoking essay on film editing. Starting with what might be the most basic editing question -- Why do cuts work? -- Murch treats the reader to a wonderful ride through the aesthetics and practical concerns of cutting film. Along the way, he offers his unique insights on such subjects as continuity and discontinuity in editing, dreaming, and reality; criteria for a good cut; the blink of the eye as an emotional cue; digital editing; and much more. In this second edition, Murch reconsiders and completely revises his popular first edition's lengthy meditation on digital editing (which accounts for a third of the book's pages) in light of the technological changes that have taken place in the six years since its publication.
The New York Times bestseller that follows the making of five films at a pivotal time in Hollywood history In the mid-1960s, westerns, war movies, and blockbuster musicals like Mary Poppins swept the box office. The Hollywood studio system was astonishingly lucrative for the few who dominated the business. That is, until the tastes of American moviegoers radically- and unexpectedly-changed. By the Oscar ceremonies of 1968, a cultural revolution had hit Hollywood with the force of a tsunami, and films like Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and box-office bomb Doctor Doolittle signaled a change in Hollywood-and America. And as an entire industry changed and struggled, careers were suddenly made and ruined, studios grew and crumbled, and the landscape of filmmaking was altered beyond all recognition.
Film is an art form with a language and an aesthetic all its own. Since 1979, David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's Film Art has been the best-selling and widely respected introduction to the analysis of cinema. \nTaking a skills-centered approach supported by a wide range of examples from various periods and countries, the authors strive to help students develop a core set of analytical skills that will deepen their understanding of any film, in any genre. Frame enlargements throughout the text enable students to view images taken directly from completed films, while an optional, text-specific tutorial CD-ROM helps clarify and reinforce specific concepts addressed in the text with the use of film clips. Building on these strengths, the ninth edition adds coverage of new technologies, updated examples, and references to the authors' acclaimed weblog to provide unparalleled currency and connect students with the world of cinema today.
The first in the FilmCraft Series, this beautiful book covers the complex craft of cinematography through discussions with notable cinematographers, like Vittorio Storaro and Christopher Doyle. With stills, photos from the sets, and in-depth exploration of both iconic and contemporary projects, from Psycho and the French New Wave classic The Week End to Chicago and Zhang Yimou's saga Hero. Get access to lauded professionals, who provide you with the perspective to think like the pros and create compelling visual stories. Apply the perspective you'll gain to your own work with practical tips, or just sit back and coast along this thoughtful, behind-the-scenes road.
Named One of The Hollywood Reporter’s “100 Greatest Film Books of All Time”Famed independent screenwriter and director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids, Machete) discloses all the unique strategies and original techniques he used to make his remarkable debut film El Mariachi on a shoestring budget.This is both one man's remarkable story and an essential guide for anyone who has a celluloid story to tell and the dreams and determination to see it through. Part production diary, part how-to manual, Rodriguez unveils how he was able to make his influential first film on only a $7,000 budget. Also included is the appendix, "The Ten Minute Film Course,” a tell-all on how to save thousands of dollars on film school and teach yourself the ropes of film production, directing, and screenwriting.A perfect gift for the aspiring filmmaker.
The Essential Guide to the Cameraman's CraftSince its initial publication in 1973, Cinematography has become the guidebook for filmmakers. Based on their combined fifty years in the film and television industry, authors Kris Malkiewicz and M. David Mullen lay clear and concise groundwork for basic film techniques, focusing squarely on the cameraman's craft. Readers will then learn step-by-step how to master more advanced techniques in postproduction, digital editing, and overall film production.This completely revised third edition, with more than 200 new illustrations, will provide a detailed look at:How expert camera operation can produce consistent, high-quality results How to choose film stocks for the appearance and style of the finished film How to measure light in studio and location shooting for the desired appearance How to coordinate visual and audio elements to produce high-quality sound tracksWhether the final product is a major motion picture, an independent film, or simply a home video, Cinematography can help any filmmaker translate his or her vision into a quality film.
An updated edition - with completely new chapters - of the most accessible and compelling history of the cinema yet published, now also a fascinating 15-hour film documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey. Film critic, producer and presenter, Mark Cousins shows how film-makers are influenced both by the historical events of their times, and by each other. He demonstrates, for example, how Douglas Sirk's Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s influenced Rainer Werner Fassbinder's despairing visions of 1970s Germany; and how George Lucas' Star Wars epics grew out of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. The Story of Film is divided into three main epochs: Silent (1885-1928), Sound (1928-1990) and Digital (1990-Present). Films are discussed within chapters reflecting both the stylistic concerns of the film-makers and the political and social themes of the time. This edition includes new text that encompasses the further-reaching scope of world cinema today, and the huge leaps in technology that have changed cinema screens forever. Film is an international medium, so as well as covering the great American films and film-makers, The Story of Film explores cinema in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and South America, and shows how cinematic ideas and techniques cross national boundaries. Avoiding jargon and obscure critical theory, the author constantly places himself in the role of the moviegoer watching a film, and asks: 'How does a scene or a story affect us, and why?' In so doing he gets to the heart of cinematic technique, explaining how film-makers use lighting, framing, focal length and editing to create their effects. Clearly written, and illustrated with over 400 stills, including numerous sequences explaining how scenes work, The Story of Film is essential reading for both film students and moviegoers alike.
This book examines the art and craft of motion picture photography through a veteran professional cinematographer's personal experiences on five major motion pictures, each selected to illustrate a particular series of challenges for the photographer."Every Frame a Rembrandt" is an expression heard on sound stages and locations the world over. While in most cases the expression is used lightly and not infrequently with a certain amount of sarcasm, its true meaning speaks highly of most cinematographers' commitment to producing the best, most interesting, unusual and memorable images for the screen. Through the five films he selected for this book Laszlo is able to show the broad range of complexity in motion picture photography, from the relatively simple "point and shoot" in the typcal western to complex in-camera effects. In recounting his "war stories" Laszlo is able to show the day to day activities of a cinematographer before, during and after filming the project, discussing equipment, film stocks, testing, labs, unions, agents, budget requirements, and working with the director and producer. The five films discussed are Southern Comfort, The Warriors, Rambo: First Blood, Streets of Fire, and Innerspace. The book is illustrated throughout with production stills from Laszlo's extensive collection (12 in a color insert).
Five hundred movie stills and photographs highlight this comprehensive overview of European cinematographic art, which offers incisive analyses of one hundred seminal films---from Battleship Potemkin to The Elephant Man--along with a technical and creative history of the cameraperson's craft.
Visual narrative formulas for anyone involved in the film and tape industry.
Shot by Shot is the world’s go-to directing book, now newly updated for a special 25th Anniversary edition! The first edition sold over 250,000 copies, making it one of the bestselling books on film di-recting of all time. Aspiring directors, cinematographers, editors, and producers, many of whom are now working professionals, learned the craft of visual storytelling from Shot by Shot, the most com-plete source for preplanning the look of a movie. The book contains over 800 photos and illustrations, and is by far the most comprehensive look at shot design in print, containing storyboards from movies such as Citizen Kane, Blade Runner, Dead-pool, and Moonrise Kingdom. Also introduced is the concept of A, I, and L patterns as a way to sim-plify the hundreds of staging choices facing a director in every scene. Shot by Shot uniquely blends story analysis with compositional strategies, citing examples then il-lustrated with the storyboards used for the actual films. Throughout the book, various visual ap-proaches to short scenes are shown, exposing the directing processes of our most celebrated au-teurs ― including a meticulous, lavishly illustrated analysis of Steven Spielberg’s scene design for Empire of the Sun.
Since its initial publication in 1973, "Cinematography" has become the standard guidebook on filmmaking techniques that emphasizes the cameraman's craft. Now completely revised and updated, it clearly and concisely covers what today's filmmaker needs to know about camera structure and operation, lenses, film stocks, filters, lighting and light measuring, and accessory equipment. In addition it provides up-to-date information on sound recording, editing, video transfer, studio and location shooting, production logistics, and modern techniques of picture manipulation with optical printers -- a subject rarely treated in such detail in existing film books. Building on the groundwork he lays, Kris Malkiewicz explores more advanced techniques of overall picture quality control -- how the filmmaker can translate the envisaged image to the screen through coordinating all aspects of cinematography. As Malkiewicz explains, whatever concept is desired, the filmmaker must be in full control of the technology in order to ensure success. Illustrated with more than 350 photographs and drawings, this new second edition of "Cinematography" will continue to prove invaluable to filmmakers, film students, and film teachers.
Enhance the visual quality of your motion pictures and digital videos with a solid understanding of lighting fundamentals. This complete course in digital video lighting begins with how the human eye and the camera process light and color, progresses through the basics of equipment and setups, and finishes with practical lessons on how to solve common problems. Filled with clear illustrations and real-world examples that demonstrate proper equipment use, safety issues, and staging techniques, Lighting for Digital Video presents readers with all they need to create their own visual masterpieces.Features: Film style techniques for digital video productions Creating "movie" looks on a low budget Lighting for HD How to maximize existing light Interview setups color correction techniques in mixed lighting situations
The 1990s saw a shock wave of dynamic new directing talent that took the Hollywood studio system by storm. At the forefront of that movement were six innovative and daring directors whose films pushed the boundaries of moviemaking and announced to the world that something exciting was happening in Hollywood. Sharon Waxman of the New York Times spent the decade covering these young filmmakers, and in Rebels on the Backlot she weaves together the lives and careers of Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction; Steven Soderbergh, Traffic; David Fincher, Fight Club; Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights; David O. Russell, Three Kings; and Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich.
The noted cinematographer discusses his technical and aesthetic approaches to cinematography in forty of his films and profiles some of the major stars and directors with whom he has worked
Newly revised and updated, Film Lighting is an indispensible sourcebook for the aspiring and practicing cinematographer, based on extensive interviews with leading cinematographers and gaffers in the film industry.Film lighting is a living, dynamic art influenced by new technologies and the changing styles of leading cinematographers. A combination of state-of-the-art technology and in-depth interviews with industry experts, Film Lighting provides an inside look at how cinematographers and film directors establish the visual concept of the film and use the lighting to create a certain atmosphere.Kris Malkiewicz uses firsthand material from the experts he interviewed while researching this book. Among these are leading cinematographers Dion Beebe, Russell Carpenter, Caleb Deschanel, Robert Elswit, Mauro Fiore, Adam Holender, Janusz Kaminski, Matthew Libatique, Rodrigo Prieto, Harris Savides, Dante Spinotti, and Vilmos Zsigmond. This updated version of Film Lighting fills a growing need in the industry and will be a perennial, invaluable resource.
The Conversations is a treasure, essential for any lover or student of film, and a rare, intimate glimpse into the worlds of two accomplished artists who share a great passion for film and storytelling, and whose knowledge and love of the crafts of writing and film shine through. It was on the set of the movie adaptation of his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, that Michael Ondaatje met the master film and sound editor Walter Murch, and the two began a remarkable personal conversation about the making of films and books in our time that continued over two years. From those conversations stemmed this enlightened, affectionate book -- a mine of wonderful, surprising observations and information about editing, writing and literature, music and sound, the I-Ching, dreams, art and history.The Conversations is filled with stories about how some of the most important movies of the last thirty years were made and about the people who brought them to the screen. It traces the artistic growth of Murch, as well as his friends and contemporaries -- including directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Fred Zinneman and Anthony Minghella -- from the creation of the independent, anti-Hollywood Zoetrope by a handful of brilliant, bearded young men to the recent triumph of Apocalypse Now Redux. Among the films Murch has worked on are American Graffiti, The Conversation, the remake of A Touch of Evil, Julia, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather (all three), The Talented Mr. Ripley, and The English Patient.“Walter Murch is a true oddity in Hollywood. A genuine intellectual and renaissance man who appears wise and private at the centre of various temporary storms to do with film making and his whole generation of filmmakers. He knows, probably, where a lot of the bodies are buried.”
The Fifth Edition of The Camera Assistant's Manual has been completely updated to reflect the technology of today, providing crucial guidance to student filmmakers as they prepare to enter the professional world and work as camera assistants.David Elkins has the technical know-how to provide students with easy to follow advice about how to act on set, what a camera assistant is expected to do, and all the tips and tricks that will make a first or second camera assistant ready to advance to the next level. Readers will learn how the skill sets of a 1st or 2nd AC (Camera Assistant) in film and digital (HD) intertwine, how they differ, and all they need to know to do both jobs well. The advancements in HD and digital video are only adding to an already demanding job, and this fifth edition of The Camera Assistant's Manual provides Camera Assistant novices and experienced ACs alike with valuable knowledge that they need to work in both formats. This nuts and bolts guide covers the basics of cinematography, how to maintain a camera, how to transport a camera, how to troubleshoot common problems that arise on set, and even advice about interviewing for the job. The new edition has also been updated to include new forms, checklists, tables, and illustrations that will be essential to the success of any camera assistant. Using problem solving skills, readers will hone proficiency both on the set and off, and they will find a vital tool for their toolkits in this book. * Completely updated for the latest film and video technologies, including the multi-skill set needed to work in both film and HD* The author's companion website provides online tutorials, clips, and techniques that camera assistants can easily use while on location (www.cameraassistantmanual.com)* Aspiring camera assistants will never be left in the dust again by using this complete guide
Master Shots gives filmmakers the techniques they need to execute complex, original shots on any budget. By using powerful master shots and well-executed moves, you can develop a strong style and stand out from the crowd.Most low-budget movies look low-budget, because the director is forced to compromise at the last minute. Master Shots gives you so many powerful techniques that you'll be able to respond, even under pressure, and create knock-out shots. When the clock is ticking and the light is fading, the techniques in this book can rescue your film, and make every shot look like it cost a fortune.Every technique is illustrated with samples from great feature films and computer-generated diagrams for absolute clarity.
"If you're ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of screenwriting, meet John Truby . . . [his lessons inspire] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script."―LA Weekly \nJohn Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood's most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. The Anatomy of Story is his long-awaited first book, and it shares all his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting, The Anatomy of Story draws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology, offering fresh techniques and insightful anecdotes alongside Truby's own unique approach to building an effective, multifaceted narrative.
Dialogue scenes are the most important moments in your film, but most directors get them wrong.If you block your scenes well, you do more than capture the basic scene; you echo the meaning, emotion, and drama of every moment. That is never more important than with dialogue.Whatever your budget, there is an exciting way to capture dialogue.It is a tragedy that so many directors are happy to open a scene with a moving master shot, and then just settle into dull coverage for the dialogue. You can do better than that and Master Shots Vol 2 gives you 100 ways to shoot dynamic dialogue.
Lighting is at the heart of filmmaking. The image, the mood, and the visual impact of a film are, to a great extent, determined by the skill and sensitivity of the director of photography in using lighting. Motion Picture and Video Lighting explores technical, aesthetic, and practical aspects of lighting for film and video. It covers not only how to light, but also why. This revised edition of Motion Picture and Video Lighting is the indispensable guide to film and video lighting. Written by an experienced professional, this comprehensive book explores light and color theory, equipment, and techniques to make every scene look its best, and is heavily illustrated throughout. Three new chapters discuss best practices of using light to benefit your film, and an extensive appendix includes discussion on additional tips and tricks. In addition, a robust companion website includes up-to-date video tutorials and other resources for students and professionals alike. Three new chapters: \nScene Lighting Lighting as Storytelling Controlling Light\n\nTopics include: \nLighting sources The lighting process Lighting basics LED, tungsten, Kino-Flo, HMI, and plasma lights Methods of controlling light Planning your lighting The basic methods: a lighting playbook Visual storytelling with light Understanding and controlling color Terminology Electricity and distribution Gripology Set operations The team: DP, gaffer, grips, lighting technicians Technical issues Lighting for greenscreen/bluescreen Typical equipment orders for large and small jobs Lighting for high speed and macro photography Lighting plans for small, medium, and large films\n
This book is a highly visual exploration of the best shots, moves, and set-ups in the industry. It reveals the secrets behind each shot's success, so it can be adapted to a director's individual scenes.Your job is to create shots that reveal story, expose emotion, explore character and capture the unique feeling of your film. At the same time, you should stamp your film with your own style. This book can help you do that, whatever your experience, because it challenges you to imagine a creative solution for every scene in your film.
Much has been written about the storied New Hollywood of the 1970s, but at the same time that Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorcese were producing their first classic movies, a parallel universe of directors gave birth to the modern horror film. Shock Value tells the unlikely story of how directors like Wes Craven, Roman Polanski, and John Carpenter revolutionized the genre in the 1970s, plumbing their deepest anxieties to bring a gritty realism and political edge to their craft. From Rosemary’s Baby to Halloween, the films they unleashed on the world created a template for horror that has been relentlessly imitated but rarely matched. Based on unprecedented access to the genre’s major players, this is an enormously entertaining account of a hugely influential golden age in American film.
Quart here extends her previous writings on what she terms `the best narrative cinema: women-centered cinema' and feminist filmmaking. Quart addresses American, Western European, and Eastern European directors, closing with Third World examples. Arguing that independent filmmaking best serves the quest for a woman's voice and vision, Quart chronicles the survival of women directors. She traces a heritage of women directors inside the Hollywood system and beyond. . . . This excellent study . . . [is] recommended for undergraduates in film and women's studies. Choice\nThe current level of activity among women directors is unequalled in the history of feature films. This unprecedented study examines major contemporary women directors of narrative feature film--their themes, their art, and the circumstances under which they work. Quart contends that women are creating a film language and film sensibility that are unique, strong, and--until now--unexplored. Her discussion centers on the ties between women directors, rather than on a survey of women who direct films. Beginning with the antecedents to today's burgeoning number of women directors, the study progresses to American women directors. Subsequent chapters focus on womenn directors in Western Europe and Eastern Europe, with some attention as well to Asia and Latin America.
Visual Storytelling covers all major components of creating powerful images including lighting, camera functions, composition and storytelling. However, the main focus of the book is not just creating compelling visuals, but more importantly creating images that inform and move the audience. Images carry emotional weight and Visual Storytelling teaches readers how to harness these emotions to maximize the emotion of the story, while minimizing the amount of dialogue necessary. What makes Visual Storytelling unique is that it not only covers the theoretical concepts of filmmaking but also the technical elements necessary to achieve the emotional outcome. This combination of theory and practice helps to create well informed and skilled filmmakers.
Instant New York Times bestseller The long-awaited first work of nonfiction from the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: a deliriously entertaining, wickedly intelligent cinema book as unique and creative as anything by Quentin Tarantino. In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with Cinema Speculation, the time has come, and the results are everything his passionate fans--and all movie lovers--could have hoped for. Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he first saw as a young moviegoer at the time, this book is as intellectually rigorous and insightful as it is rollicking and entertaining. At once film criticism, film theory, a feat of reporting, and wonderful personal history, it is all written in the singular voice recognizable immediately as QT's and with the rare perspective about cinema possible only from one of the greatest practitioners of the artform ever.
The essential handbook for directors and aspiring filmmakers who want to get the best visuals for their films while establishing a collaborative relationship with their cinematographer. This is the only book that focuses exclusively on the relationship between the director and cinematographer.
By Todd Rainsberger. ISBN 0-498-02405-9. From an Amazon reader review: This book is now out of print, but thanks to Amazon, it can be readily found, and more affordable than ever. My great-aunt helped the author with this important work, and I've learned so much about the cinematography of James Wong Howe, my great-uncle. It's a "must-read" for all students of film and cinematography. I'm so glad that the memory of JWH's life and work is preserved forever through Todd Rainsberger's exhaustive research and hard efforts.
The image that appears on the movie screen is the direct and tangible result of the joint efforts of the director and the cinematographer. A Hidden History of Film Style is the first study to focus on the collaborations between directors and cinematographers, a partnership that has played a crucial role in American cinema since the early years of the silent era. Christopher Beach argues that an understanding of the complex director-cinematographer collaboration offers an important model that challenges the pervasive conventional concept of director as auteur. Drawing upon oral histories, early industry trade journals, and other primary materials, Beach examines key innovations like deep focus, color, and digital cinematography, and in doing so produces an exceptionally clear history of the craft. Through analysis of several key collaborations in American cinema from the silent era to the late twentieth century―such as those of D. W. Griffith and Billy Bitzer, William Wyler and Gregg Toland, and Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Burks―this pivotal book underlines the importance of cinematographers to both the development of cinematic technique and the expression of visual style in film.
Introduction to Cinematography offers a practical, stage-by-stage guide to the creative and technical foundations of cinematography. Building from a skills-based approach focused on professional practice, cinematographer and author Tania Hoser provides a step-by-step introduction for both cinematographers and camera assistants to the techniques, processes, and procedures of working with cameras, lenses, and light. She provides hands-on insight into negotiating with production constraints and understanding the essentials of the image workflow from shot to distribution, on projects of any scope and budget.Richly illustrated, the book incorporates exercises and sample scripts throughout, exploring light, color, movement, ‘blocking’, and pacing scenes. The principles and techniques of shaping and controlling light are applied to working with natural light, film lamps, and, as with all areas of cinematography, to low budget alternatives. This makes Introduction to Cinematography the perfect newcomer’s guide to learning the skills of cinematography that enables seamless progression from exercises through to full feature shoots. Assessment rubrics provide a framework to measure progress as the reader’s ability to visually interpret scripts and enhance the director’s vision develops.The book also teaches readers: To understand and develop the combination of skills and creativity involved in cinematography; Photographic principles and how they are applied to control focus exposure, motion blur, and image sharpness; To identify the roles and skills of each member of the camera department, and how and when each are required during a shoot; The order and process of lighting on all scales of productions and the use and application of the four main types of lamps; How to use waveforms, false color, and zebras for monitoring light levels, and meters for guiding exposure choices; The principles of the color wheel, color palettes, and the psychological effects of color choices; How to shoot for different types of fiction and nonfiction/documentary films and how to apply these skills to other genres of TV and film production; Strategies for both starting and progressing your career within cinematography and the camera department.**Winner of 'Best new Textbook in Humanities and Media Arts' in the Taylor and Francis Editorial Awards 2018**
David A. Ellis has interviewed some of the most influential and highly regarded cameramen of the last half century and more, and he has assembled these exchanges in Conversations with Cinematographers. While their names may not be known by the general public, these men and their work have left indelible imprints on the silver screen. Among those interviewed are several award-winning artists:• Douglas Slocombe (Kind Hearts and Coronets, Julia, Raiders of the Lost Ark)• Oswald Morris (The Guns of Navarone, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver!)• Christopher Challis (A Shot in the Dark, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Top Secret!)• Billy Williams (Women in Love, The Wind and the Lion, Gandhi)• Freddie Francis (Sons and Lovers, The Elephant Man, Glory)• Chris Menges (The Killing Fields, The Mission, The Reader)• John De Borman (The Full Monty, Hamlet, An Education)• Gilbert Taylor (Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day's Night, Frenzy, Star Wars)• Jack Cardiff (Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, The African Queen)• Nicolas Roeg (Fahrenheit 451, Far from the Madding Crowd, Petulia)• Alex Thomson (Excalibur, Legend, Hamlet)• Walter Lassally (Tom Jones, Zorba the Greek, Heat and Dust)• Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire, The Last King of Scotland, 127 Hours)Along with several camera operators who were also interviewed, these cinematographers recount their experiences on sets and reveal what it was like to work with some of the most acclaimed directors of all time, including Alfred Hitchcock, Fred Zinnemann, Carol Reed, John Huston, David Lynch, and Steven Spielberg. With valuable insight into the craft of moviemaking, this collection of interviews will appeal to film professors, scholars, and students, as well as anyone with an interest in the art of cinematography.
The book uses extensive illustrations to explain how to create extended sequence shots, elaborate moving camera choreography, and tracking shots with multiple story points.
In film history, director-cinematographer collaborations were on a labor spectrum, with the model of the contracted camera operator in the silent era and that of the cinematographer in the sound era. But in Weimar era German filmmaking, 1919-33, a short period of intense artistic activity and political and economic instability, these models existed side by side due to the emergence of camera operators as independent visual artists and collaborators with directors.Berlin in the 1920s was the chief site of the interdisciplinary avant-garde of the Modernist movement in the visual, literary, architectural, design, typographical, sartorial, and performance arts in Europe. The Weimar Revolution that arose in the aftermath of the November 1918 Armistice and that established the Weimar Republic informed and agitated all of the art movements, such as Expressionism, Dada, the Bauhaus, Minimalism, Objectivism, Verism, and Neue Sachlichkeit (“New Objectivity”). Among the avant-garde forms of these new stylistically and culturally negotiated arts, the cinema was foremost and since its inception had been a radical experimental practice in new visual technologies that proved instrumental in changing how human beings perceived movement, structure, perspective, light exposure, temporal duration, continuity, spatial orientation, human postural, facial, vocal, and gestural displays, and their own spectatorship, as well as conventions of storytelling like narrative, setting, theme, character, and structure. Whereas most of the arts mobilized into schools, movements, institutions, and other structures, cinema, a collaborative art, tended to organize around its ensembles of practitioners. Historically, the silent film era, 1895-1927, is associated with auteurs, the precursors of François Truffaut and other filmmakers in the 1960s: actuality filmmakers and pioneers like R. W. Paul and Fred and Joe Evans in England, Auguste and Luis Lumière and Georges Méliès in France, and Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton in America, who, by managing all the compositional, executional, and editorial facets of film production—scripting, directing, acting, photographing, set, costume, and lighting design, editing, and marketing—imposed their personal vision or authorship on the film. The dichotomy of the auteur and the production ensemble established a production hierarchy in most filmmaking. In formative German silent film, however, this hierarchy was less rank or class driven, because collaborative partnerships took precedence over single authorship. Whereas in silent film production in most countries the terms filmmaker and director were synonymous, in German silent film the plural term filmemacherin connoted both directors and cinematographers, along with the rest of the filmmaking crew. Thus, German silent filmmakers’ principle contribution to the new medium and art of film was less the representational iconographies of Expressionist, New Objective, and Naturalist styles than the executional practice of co-authorship and co-production, in distinctive cinematographer-director partnerships such as those of cinematographer Theodor Sparkuhl and director Ernst Lubitsch; Fritz Arno Wagner with F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, and G. W. Pabst; Rudolf Maté with Carl Theodor Dreyer; Guido Seeber with Lang and Pabst; and Carl Hoffmann with Lang and Murnau.
On Suspiria and Beyond is a book-interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC, who has collaborated with directors such as Vittorio De Seta, Michelangelo Antonioni, Dario Argento, Maurice Pialat, Valerio Zurlini, Francis Veber, Andrej Tarkovskij, Ettore Scola, Julie Taymor, Barbet Schroeder and many others. Tovoli is also the creator of the European Federation of Cinematographers Imago. The volume retraces all the stages of making Suspiria, from test shots to printing. It describes in detail the making of various sequences, relations with the director, explores the cultural premises of this immortal work and the historical context of the struggle for innovation in the cinematography of the Seventies. Above all, it reveals Luciano Tovoli’s passion and tireless search for an expressive use of color in films, providing us with a first-hand experience of an incredible adventure in aesthetics.
Cinematography is the art and craft of visualizing and recording the moving image. The cinematographer therefore has to use their technical and creative skills to photographically capture the mood of the film and the vision of the director. Done properly, they add the magic and depth to a film, giving it a defining edge. This practical book explains the principles behind cinematography, as well as the skills of the cinematographer. Having described the equipment, it looks at how to interpret the script and advises on how to find a visual style. Written by a respected cinematographer, it also explains the roles of the camera crew and the importance of working as a team.
"Simply put, Harry Mathias has done it again. "The Death & Rebirth of Cinema" solidifies Mathias's standing as THE great translator of film-to-digital imaging technology."The world's cinema has mostly left behind its 100-year tradition of cinematography on film, and begins its search for a new visual foundation. What is next for cinema, is what this book is about. This book discusses the big questions of the future of cinematography, in a cinema that is increasing preoccupied with technology and not with artistic moving images."Just as he did with "Electronic Cinematography" 30 years ago, Mathias cuts through the web of misinformation and lays out a brilliant method to gain control over new and constantly changing imaging technologies without losing sight of the valuable lessons cinematographers have taught us for over 100 years. Harry Mathias has the professional experience, technological savvy, and artistic integrity to connect the rich, foundational knowledge of past photographic systems to today's rapidly changing "technology of the month" attitude.--William McDonald,UCLA Professor & ChairDepartment of Film, Television and Digital Media, said about this book.This book teaches the vital new cinematography skills that are needed to make great films in a digital cinema world. It covers lighting, lens selection, image control methods, and much more--whether using digital cinema or (photochemical) film with today's technology-driven cinema.Mathias is a very experienced film cinematographer, one who also is a pioneer of digital cinema cinematography. He outlines concrete plans to take the best path forward to a digital imaging future, without leaving behind the photographic skills and lighting arts of films of the past.Exploring the path from our past to the future, this book is not only for cinematographers; it is for anyone who cares about telling dramatic stories visually to film audiences. Film directors, producers, production designers, art directors, editors, colorists, and film critics are all concerned with communicating cinematic images effectively to a theatre audience. Often the issue today is not how can this be done effectively with digital cinema, but how can it be done in spite of all this new technology. In this book, Mathias boldly sets out the plan to reach that cinematography of the future.What is important to cinema is image quality and the art of cinematography--and that is why the major skills required are the same whether a Director of Photography is using film or digital cinema. This book is about making images the right way, regardless of the camera technology being used.Cinema is, after all, technology in the service of art, not the other way around...
A friendly, hands-on training manual and reference for lighting technicians in motion picture and television production, this handbook is the most comprehensive guide to set lighting available. It provides a unique combination of practical detail with a big-picture understanding of lighting, technology, safety, and professionalism, essential to anyone doing motion picture lighting.The fifth edition delves into every aspect of lighting and features vastly expanded sections on controlling LED lights, color science, lighting control systems, wireless systems, Ethernet-based control systems, battery power, and modern set protocol for productions small and large. With a generous number of original images, the book illustrates the use of soft light, the effect of lighting angles, and how the gaffer and DP build an effective lighting plan around the blocking of the actors. This encyclopedic volume of technical knowhow is tempered with years of practical experience and a much-needed sense of humor.This is the ideal text for professional lighting technicians across film and television including lighting directors, gaffers, DOPs, and rigging crews, as well as film and television production students studying lighting, camera techniques, film production, and cinematography.It includes a revamped companion website with supplementary resources, forms, checklists, and images.
The Filmmaker’s Guide to Visual Effects offers a practical, detailed guide to visual effects for non-VFX specialists working in film and television. In contemporary filmmaking and television production, visual effects are used extensively in a wide variety of genres and formats to contribute to visual storytelling, help deal with production limitations, and reduce budget costs. Yet for many directors, producers, editors, and cinematographers, visual effects remain an often misunderstood aspect of media production. In this book, award-winning VFX supervisor and instructor Eran Dinur introduces readers to visual effects from the filmmaker’s perspective, providing a comprehensive guide to conceiving, designing, budgeting, planning, shooting, and reviewing VFX, from pre-production through post-production.The book will help readers:Learn what it takes for editors, cinematographers, directors, producers, gaffers, and other filmmakers to work more effectively with the visual effects team during pre-production, on the set and in post, use visual effects as a narrative aid, reduce production costs, and solve problems on location;Achieve a deeper understanding of 3D, 2D, and 2.5D workflows; the various VFX crafts from matchmove to compositing; essential concepts like photorealism, parallax, roto, and extraction; become familiar with the most common types of VFX, their role in filmmaking, and learn how to plan effectively for the cost and complexity of VFX shots; See visual effects concepts brought to life in practical, highly illustrated examples drawn from the real-world experiences of industry professionals, and discover how to better integrate visual effects into your own projects.