The Big Filmmaking Book List

I write this blog for a specific audience. It’s all written to be appealing to the “me” of ten years ago. By that, I mean the young eager person who loves film and is avidly trying to absorb as much knowledge and experience as possible. I hope I can help share some insight, and help people realize that everyone in this industry is still trying to learn how to make a good movie.

In that spirit, these are some books that I’ve read over the last decade or so that helped shape my approach to filmmaking and my understanding of the film business. I think these books all have considerable educational value to the aspiring or working filmmaking. The list is broken into categories, but I recommend cross-pollinating your knowledge. I find that breakthroughs in one filmmaking discipline often come from knowledge and experience acquired in another. The art, craft, and businesses of filmmaking are not orthogonal; they intertwine and it’s expected for an expert in any field to at least have a basic understanding of how their work impacts their colleagues.

This list is just a starting point. I will spend a lot of my free time in 2012 reading more books related to filmmaking. Check out the list of filmmaking books on my “to read” queue, and if you want to recommend a book please shoot me a note on Twitter. I will update this list if I find a book of exceptional value, otherwise you can follow my responses to other books by browsing the “film books” tag.

Some disclaimers:

  • Obviously I have not read every book on filmmaking, and please don’t take the omission of books from this list as a sign that the book does not have value.
  • That said, I have omitted some well known books intentionally because I think they don’t have any meaningful value. For example, most screenwriting books.

GENERAL FILMMAKING / PERSONAL ANECDOTES

Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez
At the age of 23, Robert Rodriguez made El Mariachi for $7,000 (excluding post-production and delivery). This book contains his personal journal from that period, and is a fascinating read. It also includes many wonderful practical tips on guerilla filmmaking.

Getting Away With It by Steven Soderbergh and Richard Lester
This is my favorite film-related book of all time, and one that I have revisited a few times over the years. At a low point in his career, before the huge success of the Ocean’s Eleven films and his studio system re-entry of Out of Sight, Soderbergh sat down for a series of interviews with legendary director Richard Lester. This book is a fascinating look at both artists, and you can see the conversations shape Soderbergh’s future path as a filmmaker.

DIRECTING

Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
This is the single most useful book on directing that I have ever read. Lumet is obviously a legend, and this book contains priceless nuts-and-bolts wisdom. If you are going to read one book before shooting your first film, this is the book.

My First Movie edited by Stephen Lowenstein
If you are going to read two books before shooting your first film, this is the second book. This book contains interviews with twenty directors exclusively on the subject of shooting their first film. It covers the anxiety and stress of making your first film, and contains priceless tips that will help any aspiring filmmaker get over that hump. Note: there are two volumes in this series, and I think that the first volume is vastly superior to the second.

Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen by Steve Katz
Another book that I read a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure helped to formulate by thoughts on visual storytelling. This book analyzes many of the options and reasons for planning composition and shot selection for a film. I haven’t revisited the book for well over a decade, so I’m not sure if my opinion would change today, but I remember liking it as a novice.

On Directing Film by David Mamet
It’s fascinating reading Mamet’s thoughts on directing. He has some opinions that I definitely disagree with, and I think his approach to directing has also limited the cinematic potential of his films. That said, there are some real gems of insight, and I recommend it mostly as a divisive book that can help foster your own original thought on how to approach the art and craft of filmmaking.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Painting With Light by John Alton
Supposedly the first book on cinematography written by a working director of photography (in fact one of the inventors of the film noir look), this somewhat dated book is a true classic that focuses on the use of light on film.

The Five C’s of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques by Joseph V Mascelli
To be honest, I read this book a very long time ago, but I remember it shaping my thoughts on cinematography and the fundamentals of visual temporal storytelling.

New Cinematographers by Alex Ballinger
OK, so you’ve had enough of these old books with old fogies talking about classic cinematography. New Cinematographers contains interviews with six cutting edge current cinematographers: Lance Acord, Jean-Yves Escoffer, Darius Khondji, John Mathieson, Seamus McGarvey, and Harris Savides.

SCREENWRITING

Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman
This memoir by William Goldman is a must read for any screenwriter. It covers the early part of his career in great detail, and even includes the script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This is one of the essentials.

On Writing by Stephen King
This is not a book about screenwriting, but it is a book about writing. Many of the insights and thoughts that Stephen King shares in this book are wonderful. A lot of his suggestions will be totally misleading when applied to the craft of screenwriting, and when reading the book it’s important to keep in mind the differences between the two forms. However, on the whole I think this is a fascinating read on the process of a writer.

EDITING

In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch
If you only read one book on film editing, this is the book. Walter Murch is a master, and covers all the fundamentals of editing with wonderful expertise. This is a book to come back to again and again over the years, always gleaning new insights.

First Cut: Conversations with Film Editors by Gabriella Oldham
This book consists of interviews with 22 amazing film editors, and provides a huge number of insights into their creative and technical process. As I’m sure you can tell by now, I am very drawn to first-hand information from filmmakers, and this is a treasure trove of information on film editing.

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje
After reading “In the Blink of an Eye” get even more Walter Murch in this series of interviews by Michael Ondaatje. Walter reveals even more secrets and insights into his trade, making this a must read.

When The Shooting Stops… The Cutting Begins: A Film Editor’s Story by Ralph Rosenblum
There is a trend that my favorite film craft books are written by expert craftspeople, and Rosenblum is no exception having edited films like The Pawnbroker and Annie Hall (both of which I consider to contain some of the finest picture editing of all time). This book is a fascinating insight into his process, but most importantly I think it’s the best source for information on the art of cutting for comedy.

PRODUCING

So You Want to Be a Producer by Lawrence Turman
Larry Turman is another legend. The man produced The Graduate, The Thing, and American History X and now runs the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. There aren’t many good hands-on books on film producing, and Larry’s book is by far the best I’ve read.

THE BUSINESS OF FILMMAKING

Ovitz: The Inside Story of Hollywood’s Most Controversial Power Broker by Robert Slater
At one point in time Michael Ovitz was the most powerful agent, and perhaps the most powerful person in Hollywood. This official biography was published in 1997 so you won’t hear about his stunning fall from power or any real dirt. What you will hear about is how he helped form CAA (Creative Artists Agency) into a powerhouse, and a brief understanding of how agents and agencies derive their power and influence. The book is so hugely one-sided about what a great person Ovitz is, it actually exists as its own proof of how much power Ovitz could once wield.

Storming the Magic Kingdom by John Taylor
Maybe I have a thing for old books on the film business. The book covers the period in the early 80s when Michael Eisner and his team took over Disney and reshaped it to be the current media powerhouse that it is. It’s a fascinating read, and has a lot of detailed information and analysis of how things work at the top of an entertainment company.

Hollywood A Go-Go: The True Story of The Cannon Film Empire by Andrew Yule
Published in 1987, this book is about the rise and collapse of the Golan-Globus film empire. It goes into some detail on their business model, and holds no punches as it’s clear that the author doesn’t like what he has to see. It’s one of the few books that actually has insight into the world of international independent film finance, production, and distribution. It gives you a sense of the types of people you will end up dealing with if you get into the film industry. Unfortunately this book is long out-of-print, and isn’t even listed on Amazon’s website. The above link should go to a search for the book on AbeBooks, but if the link is broken you’ll have to search for it yourself.

So that’s the list. Was there a book you were expecting to see that wasn’t listed? Perhaps it’s in my to-read pile. If you don’t see it there, please drop me a note on Twitter with a suggestion.

2012 Movie #26 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) After the pleasant surprise of the first Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes film, I was looking forward to the next film in the franchise. The high points continue to be the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and moments of visual brilliance. Unfortunately the movie quickly devolves into “stuff happening” for the majority of its run-time, as the many visual flourishes often distract from the key information and character beats needed to engage in the story. It’s dangerous to focus so heavily on style over story with a film like this, as it’s easy to lose the audience involvement when you rely so heavily on unseen mysterious machinations to drive the plot. What I’ll take away: slow-motion is a dangerous thing. If you use it well, it can be thrilling and beautiful. If you use it poorly, it can distance the audience, ruin the storytelling pace, and lose focus on the important elements of a scene. High-res

2012 Movie #26 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

After the pleasant surprise of the first Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes film, I was looking forward to the next film in the franchise. The high points continue to be the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and moments of visual brilliance. Unfortunately the movie quickly devolves into “stuff happening” for the majority of its run-time, as the many visual flourishes often distract from the key information and character beats needed to engage in the story. It’s dangerous to focus so heavily on style over story with a film like this, as it’s easy to lose the audience involvement when you rely so heavily on unseen mysterious machinations to drive the plot.

What I’ll take away: slow-motion is a dangerous thing. If you use it well, it can be thrilling and beautiful. If you use it poorly, it can distance the audience, ruin the storytelling pace, and lose focus on the important elements of a scene.

Lists of Note: VERTIGO title suggestions

When Alfred Hitchcock was shooting an adaptation of D’entre les morts for Paramount, there was a point of contention between the director and the studio. Hitchcock wanted to use the title VERTIGO, and the studio didn’t. Of course in the end Hitchcock won this argument, but Lists of Note has the 47 alternative titles that Paramount suggested for the film.

2012 Movie #25 - Roman Holiday (1953) I love this movie. I’ve seen it a few times before, but I’m always amazed by how a well made movie based on a simple concept and perfect cast can be so incredible. Audrey Hepburn is unbelievably good in the film. For me, this is the definition of a movie-star performance for an actress like Hepburn. Her acting is fantastic, but beyond that it’s the fresh open joy and discovery that you can read on her face. That goes beyond acting ability and into pure movie star territory. What I’ll take away: The scene at the Bocca della Verità is one of my favorite scenes of all time. It manages to create a focal point for every element of the film, and create a scene that perfectly embraces the power of cinema. The Bocca della Verità (the “Mouth of Truth,” image below) is a large round sculpture in Rome of a large face with an open hole for a mouth. Gregory Peck’s character (Joe) tells Audrey Hepburn’s character (Ann) the legend of the statue. That if someone is lying while they have their hand in the statue’s mouth, the hand will be bitten off. Joe then encourages Ann to put her hand in the mouth. Of course, Ann won’t do this because she’s lying to Joe about her identity (pretending not to be a princess), and of course Ann doesn’t know that Joe knows this already, which is probably why Joe brought her here and put her in this situation. It heightens the scene for the audience who is already aware of Ann pretending to not be a princess, and Joe’s knowledge of this. Ann edges towards putting her hand in the hole, but is too afraid, pulling back her hand just before the edge. She turns the tables, asking Joe to do it instead. Now we know that Joe is lying to Ann about his identity, but Ann doesn’t realize this. She thinks that she’s innocently asking Joe to put his hand in the hole. This makes the table-turning even funnier, as we see Ann unintentionally put Joe in an awkward situation. So the audience is gleefully juggling the inter-dynamics of the character relationships, what the characters know about each other, and what lies they’re telling to each other. And the film creates a natural situation that fulfills both the exotic travel possibilities of the premise and the central character dynamic that drives the engine of the film. Of course, Joe puts his hand in the mouth. And he pretends it’s bitten off. Causing a jump for Ann and for the audience, as for a moment we think that perhaps the myth of the statue is real! He removes his arm from the mouth, and his hand is gone! But he quickly reveals the hand up his sleeve. The scene has a short fright of horror, and then a quick laugh release and bonding between the two characters after the innocent joke is revealed. The true mastery of this scene is in how expertly it plays with the interplay of audience knowledge about the situation and the characters. Almost line to line we jump forwards and backwards in our knowledge of the situation between the characters. It’s done so well that during the scene the audience feels like an invisible third character in the film. And it does all this while providing us with a scene that advances the plot, the character arcs, and the marketing hook of visiting an exotic location with two beautiful movie stars. It even has a quick jump-scare! So, yeah, ROMAN HOLIDAY is a good movie. High-res

2012 Movie #25 - Roman Holiday (1953)

I love this movie. I’ve seen it a few times before, but I’m always amazed by how a well made movie based on a simple concept and perfect cast can be so incredible. Audrey Hepburn is unbelievably good in the film. For me, this is the definition of a movie-star performance for an actress like Hepburn. Her acting is fantastic, but beyond that it’s the fresh open joy and discovery that you can read on her face. That goes beyond acting ability and into pure movie star territory.

What I’ll take away: The scene at the Bocca della Verità is one of my favorite scenes of all time. It manages to create a focal point for every element of the film, and create a scene that perfectly embraces the power of cinema. The Bocca della Verità (the “Mouth of Truth,” image below) is a large round sculpture in Rome of a large face with an open hole for a mouth. Gregory Peck’s character (Joe) tells Audrey Hepburn’s character (Ann) the legend of the statue. That if someone is lying while they have their hand in the statue’s mouth, the hand will be bitten off. Joe then encourages Ann to put her hand in the mouth. Of course, Ann won’t do this because she’s lying to Joe about her identity (pretending not to be a princess), and of course Ann doesn’t know that Joe knows this already, which is probably why Joe brought her here and put her in this situation. It heightens the scene for the audience who is already aware of Ann pretending to not be a princess, and Joe’s knowledge of this. Ann edges towards putting her hand in the hole, but is too afraid, pulling back her hand just before the edge. She turns the tables, asking Joe to do it instead. Now we know that Joe is lying to Ann about his identity, but Ann doesn’t realize this. She thinks that she’s innocently asking Joe to put his hand in the hole. This makes the table-turning even funnier, as we see Ann unintentionally put Joe in an awkward situation.

So the audience is gleefully juggling the inter-dynamics of the character relationships, what the characters know about each other, and what lies they’re telling to each other. And the film creates a natural situation that fulfills both the exotic travel possibilities of the premise and the central character dynamic that drives the engine of the film.

Of course, Joe puts his hand in the mouth. And he pretends it’s bitten off. Causing a jump for Ann and for the audience, as for a moment we think that perhaps the myth of the statue is real! He removes his arm from the mouth, and his hand is gone! But he quickly reveals the hand up his sleeve. The scene has a short fright of horror, and then a quick laugh release and bonding between the two characters after the innocent joke is revealed.

The true mastery of this scene is in how expertly it plays with the interplay of audience knowledge about the situation and the characters. Almost line to line we jump forwards and backwards in our knowledge of the situation between the characters. It’s done so well that during the scene the audience feels like an invisible third character in the film. And it does all this while providing us with a scene that advances the plot, the character arcs, and the marketing hook of visiting an exotic location with two beautiful movie stars. It even has a quick jump-scare!

So, yeah, ROMAN HOLIDAY is a good movie.

The Mouth of Truth

ALIEN Polish poster - Style A ALIENS Polish poster ALIENS Polish poster - Style B

These are three of the original Polish posters for ALIEN and ALIENS. I believe all three were designed by legendary Polish poster designer Witold Dybowski.

If this is your introduction to the amazing world of Polish film posters, you are in for a world of delight. The Polish film industry has a history of utilizing creative artistic posters long after most of the world moved to photographs of movie stars. But even if you’re already familiar with the wonders of Polish film posters, I hope I’ve uncovered some hidden gems in this post that can further your appreciation of the subject.

I’m not an expert on the subject, so I don’t want to fill your head with misinformation or my own amateur interpretation, but here is my basic understanding of how Polish film posters became so awesome. In essence, there was a single film distribution entity in Poland from the mid 1940s until 1990. Film Polski was the state run film monopoly, and all non-Polish films were released through this entity. The lack of competition and unorthodox approach to commercialism certainly provided an environment where poster artists were able to flourish, but I like to think the high quality of Polish advertising was mostly driven by people and a culture that wanted to embrace great art. The focus was on making stunning images that could stand on their own, not just a sales tool to promote the stars of a film. You can see incredible artistry in Polish design across almost all forms of print advertising including opera, theater, film, concerts, and even normal product billboards.

The Kemistry Gallery in London will be having an exhibit entitled “Mr T: The Posters of Jerzy Treutler” from February 2nd to March 17th. Jerzy Treutler designed Polish film posters through a big part of the 20th century, and has this to say about his work on Polish film posters:

The Polish School of Posters can be best described as being bold and colourful with painterly orientation and one I embraced as a graphic artist with all my heart, it was an exciting and creative time for me.

Some of my favorite Polish film posters…

AIRPLANE polish film poster

AIRPLANE (1984) designed by Witold Dybowski

BACK TO THE FUTURE Polish Film Poster

BACK TO THE FUTURE (1986) designed by Mieczyslaw Wasilewski 

DANTON Polish Film Poster

DANTON (1993) by designed by Wieslaw Walkuski 

JAWS Polish Film Poster

JAWS (1977) designed by Andrzej Dudzinski 

JAWS 2 Polish Film Poster

JAWS 2 (1980) designed by Edward Lutczyn 

ROCKY Polish Film Poster

ROCKY (1978) designed by Edward Lutczyn

ROSEMARY'S BABY Polish Film Poster

ROSEMARY’S BABY (1984) designed by Wieslaw Walkuski 

STORMING MONDAY Polish Film Poster

STORMING MONDAY (1988) designed by Wieslaw Walkuski

THE GRADUATE Polish Film Poster

THE GRADUATE (1973) designed by Maciej Zbikowski 

THE OMEN Polish Film Poster

THE OMEN (1977) designed by Andrzej Klimowski

UN CHIEN ANDALOU Polish Film Poster

UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1996) designed by Wieslaw Walkuski 

To explore more of the world of Polish film posters, I suggest the following links:

The New French Hacker-Artist Underground

UX’s most sensational caper (to be revealed so far, at least) was completed in 2006. A cadre spent months infiltrating the Pantheon, the grand structure in Paris that houses the remains of France’s most cherished citizens. Eight restorers built their own secret workshop in a storeroom, which they wired for electricity and Internet access and outfitted with armchairs, tools, a fridge, and a hot plate. During the course of a year, they painstakingly restored the Pantheon’s 19th- century clock, which had not chimed since the 1960s. Those in the neighborhood must have been shocked to hear the clock sound for the first time in decades: the hour, the half hour, the quarter hour.

UX (“Urban eXperiment”) is an artist collective that have been surreptitiously infiltrating, restoring, and maintaining abandoned cultural works in Paris for decades. I highly recommend reading this Wired article about UX.

There are five stages in the life of an actor: Who’s Mary Astor? Get me Mary Astor. Get me a Mary Astor type. Get me a young Mary Astor. Who’s Mary Astor? - Mary Astor Mary Astor’s statement on the life and career of an actor undoubtably still holds true today. Sadly the most obvious evidence is that I’m sure most people currently working in the film industry have no clue who Mary Astor was.

There are five stages in the life of an actor:

  1. Who’s Mary Astor?
  2. Get me Mary Astor.
  3. Get me a Mary Astor type.
  4. Get me a young Mary Astor.
  5. Who’s Mary Astor?

- Mary Astor

Mary Astor’s statement on the life and career of an actor undoubtably still holds true today. Sadly the most obvious evidence is that I’m sure most people currently working in the film industry have no clue who Mary Astor was.

2012 Movie #24 - Haywire (2011) Things that I liked about HAYWIRE. Bill Paxton. The deer smashing through the rear view window during a car chase. That one pretty exterior establishing shot of Bill Paxton’s character’s house. What I’ll take away: I need to remember to cast Bill Paxton in something, he makes sure every moment he’s on screen is interesting. High-res

2012 Movie #24 - Haywire (2011)

Things that I liked about HAYWIRE.

  1. Bill Paxton.
  2. The deer smashing through the rear view window during a car chase.
  3. That one pretty exterior establishing shot of Bill Paxton’s character’s house.

What I’ll take away: I need to remember to cast Bill Paxton in something, he makes sure every moment he’s on screen is interesting.

2012 Movie #23 - Margin Call (2011) I continue my trend of always liking Stanley Tucci. The costume designer (Caroline Duncan) did a great job of having all the characters in suits, yet still figuring out ways to differentiate their looks and to get across their relative success and position within the company. What I’ll take away: You can get a lot of mileage out of good actors and compelling current subject matter. High-res

2012 Movie #23 - Margin Call (2011)

I continue my trend of always liking Stanley Tucci. The costume designer (Caroline Duncan) did a great job of having all the characters in suits, yet still figuring out ways to differentiate their looks and to get across their relative success and position within the company.

What I’ll take away: You can get a lot of mileage out of good actors and compelling current subject matter.

2012 Movie #22 - Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) For my first viewing of the film in over 12 years, I was lucky enough to watch it in 35mm at the BFI in London. On second viewing, I’m less enamored with the Elliot (Michael Caine) and Lee (Barbara Hershey) storyline, but hugely charmed by the journeys of Hannah (Mia Farrow), Holly (Dianne Wiest), and Mickey (Woody Allen). The film features some of Woody’s best work as a dramatist, with impeccable scene and sequence construction. This is exemplified by the restaurant scene with the three sisters. The construction of this scene is simply incredible, with the dialog showing both clarity and subtlety, an unfortunately rare combination. Each sister has something they want to get out of the scene, and despite all of them having the best intentions towards each other, their goals are at odds. We see this in what the sisters are saying, and in what they are obviously struggling not to say. The scene serves to propel the narrative, give insight into character, shift the character arcs, and still remains highly compelling and entertaining. And it’s just three sisters talking at a table. Too many writers don’t understand the narrative point of a scene. Characters interact with each other to advance their personal goals, and we see a scene because the outcome of that interaction advances the narrative. If you don’t have a sense of character goals and you don’t have an interaction and you don’t have a resulting narrative drive… then it’s not a scene! Cut it from your script or figure out a way to turn it into a real scene. It’s astonishing how many films have scenes that serve no narrative or character purpose. This can be fine if the artistic point of the scene is to undermine traditional narrative expectations, or the filmmaker is seeking an alternative impact, but the problem is that you see it all the time in films that are ostensibly traditional narratives. If you don’t have a proper scene, it just becomes “stuff happening” which is the path to audience disinterest. What I’ll take away: Woody Allen sure knows how to write. High-res

2012 Movie #22 - Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

For my first viewing of the film in over 12 years, I was lucky enough to watch it in 35mm at the BFI in London. On second viewing, I’m less enamored with the Elliot (Michael Caine) and Lee (Barbara Hershey) storyline, but hugely charmed by the journeys of Hannah (Mia Farrow), Holly (Dianne Wiest), and Mickey (Woody Allen).

The film features some of Woody’s best work as a dramatist, with impeccable scene and sequence construction. This is exemplified by the restaurant scene with the three sisters. The construction of this scene is simply incredible, with the dialog showing both clarity and subtlety, an unfortunately rare combination. Each sister has something they want to get out of the scene, and despite all of them having the best intentions towards each other, their goals are at odds. We see this in what the sisters are saying, and in what they are obviously struggling not to say. The scene serves to propel the narrative, give insight into character, shift the character arcs, and still remains highly compelling and entertaining. And it’s just three sisters talking at a table.

Too many writers don’t understand the narrative point of a scene. Characters interact with each other to advance their personal goals, and we see a scene because the outcome of that interaction advances the narrative. If you don’t have a sense of character goals and you don’t have an interaction and you don’t have a resulting narrative drive… then it’s not a scene! Cut it from your script or figure out a way to turn it into a real scene.

It’s astonishing how many films have scenes that serve no narrative or character purpose. This can be fine if the artistic point of the scene is to undermine traditional narrative expectations, or the filmmaker is seeking an alternative impact, but the problem is that you see it all the time in films that are ostensibly traditional narratives. If you don’t have a proper scene, it just becomes “stuff happening” which is the path to audience disinterest.

What I’ll take away: Woody Allen sure knows how to write.