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An illustrated, accessible introduction to filmmaking from an award-winning Hollywood producer, screenwriter, film school professor, and script consultant to major movie studios Anyone with a cellphone can shoot video, but creating a memorable feature-length film requires knowledge and mastery of a wide range of skills, including screenwriting, storytelling, directing, visual composition, and production logistics. This book points the aspiring filmmaker down this complex learning path with such critical lessons as: * how to structure a story and pitch it to a studio * ways to reveal a story's unseen aspects, such as backstory and character psychology * the difference between plot, story, and theme * why some films drag in Act 2, and what to do about it * how to visually compose a frame to best tell a story * how to manage finances, schedules, and the practical demands of production Written by an award-winning producer, screenwriter, film school professor, and script consultant to major movie studios, 101 Things I Learned® in Film School is an indispensable resource for students, screenwriters, filmmakers, animators, and anyone else interested in the moviemaking profession.… (more)
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I think it was about fifteen years ago that I started noticing that I was no longer "watching" movies like I always had, but instead I was "studying" them. Paying attention to camera angles and movement, editing, lighting, shot length, etc. Asking "Why did the character say that line like that?" or "How exactly did the director get that shot?", instead of just passively watching. Surprisingly to me, instead of ruining my movie-watching experience, this transformation has made movies much more interesting for me and I find myself watching movies that I like repeatedly to discover how the story was told rather than just the story itself.
If you like studying movies and find yourself wondering about the behind the scenes effort that goes into their production, you will enjoy 101 Things I Learned in Film School.
This is a "broad and shallow" work
I'd call this little 5 x 7 inch book the Cliffs Notes of film making. The 101 items are discrete little snippets on how to make a good film, and what traps to avoid. I can picture this as a packet of 3x5 index cards (flash cards) from which a prospective auteur could occasionally pull out a random piece of useful advice. Things learned range through concise insights on plot, cinematography, lighting, dialogue, props, writing, character, etc.
This book is NOT a text or reference book on film making. It is not a comprehensive overview of the process. I think this work is most useful, and interesting, to the amateur film maker with a short attention span (like me).
And in the end, I enjoyed going through it randomly (I'm pretty sure I got through all 101 things) and learned quite a bit. My favorite: "Beware children, animals, and liquids!" (item 43)
Favorite part: Many of the tips reference specific movies
Least favorite part: Drawings that are supposed to be of famous actors or directors are almost unrecognizable.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is attributed to filmmaker Sidney Lumet: 'All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.'
Having little interest in the making of films I asked to review this book because my son had made application to several film schools after obtaining his MFA. When he arrived home after graduation, I presented him with the review copy. He laughed and
I was immediately impressed by the simplicity of the book. Both the graphics and the instruction worked together to lead you through the book.. As a teacher of young adult reading I also was impressed at the interrelations between the genres. When I had finished the book I loaned to one of my students who was a film buff and he treated it as it was sacred. For one who is just a casual student of film or has film in the future, this is a good beginning.
Jim McGuire