Cinematic Overtures : how to read opening scenes by
A great movie's first few minutes provide the key to the rest of the film. ..., they draw the viewer in, setting up the thematic concerns and stylistic approach that will be developed over the course of the narrative. [Some] sequences lead the viewer to trust the filmmakers. Other times, opening shots are intentionally misleading....From Joe Gillis's voice-over in Sunset Boulevard as he lies dead in a swimming pool to the hallucinatory opening of Apocalypse Now, from the stream-of-consciousness montage as found in Hiroshima, Mon Amour to the slowly unfolding beginning of Schindler's List, [the book] analyzes opening shots from a range of Hollywood as well as international films. Including dozens of frame enlargements that illustrate the strategies of opening scenes,-- from publisher data.
The complete idiot's guide to filmmaking by 
Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out: five keys to the art of making inspired movies and television by 
Cinéma Militant : Political Filmmaking and May 1968 by
This history covers the filmmaking tradition often referred to as cinéma militant, which emerged in France during the events of May 1968 and flourished for a decade. While some films produced were created by established filmmakers, including Chris Marker, Jean-Luc Godard, and William Klein, others were helmed by left-wing filmmakers working in the extreme margins of French cinema. This latter group gave voice to underrepresented populations, such as undocumented immigrants (sans papiers), entry-level factory workers (ouvriers spécialisés), highly intellectual Marxist-Leninist collectives, and militant special interest groups. While this book spans the broad history of this uncharted tradition, it particularly focuses on these lesser-known figures and works and the films of Cinélutte, Les groupes medvedkine, Atelier de recherche cinématographique, Cinéthique, and the influential Marxist filmmaker Jean-Pierre Thorn. Each represent a certain tendency of this movement in French film history, offering an invaluable account of a tradition that also sought to share untold histories.
Digital SLR Video and Filmmaking for Dummies by
tep-by-step guide for using your digital SLR to make quality video With digital SLR cameras becoming more and more popular as replacements for standalone video cameras, this book helps photographers become better videographers and shows videographers how to incorporate DSLRs into their work. The book includes an overview of the DSLR video tools and process and shows how to establish camera settings for effective capture, light a scene, get sound, and achieve the film look. The book also offers the basics on editing footage into a final product using common video editing tools. Offers everything needed to shoot, produce, and edit a professional looking videos using DSLR video equipment Written for both professional photographers and videographers and those just starting out Includes the steps for applying information to a film project, including developing a screenplay, approaching shooting like a cinematographer, and directing Contains a walkthrough of common video projects including making a music video, a wedding video, and video greeting card Digital SLR Video and Filmmaking for Dummies is designed to help photographers ramp up their video skills, videographers add DSLRs to their toolkits, and amateurs begin shooting their own short films and videos.
Independent Filmmaking Around the Globe by
Independent Filmmaking around the Globe calls attention to the significant changes taking place in independent cinema today, as new production and distribution technology and shifting social dynamics make it more and more possible for independent filmmakers to produce films outside both the mainstream global film industry and their own national film systems. Identifying and analyzing the many complex forces that shape the production and distribution of feature films, the authors detail how independent filmmakers create work that reflects independent voices and challenges political, economic, and cultural constraints.With chapters on the under-explored cinemas of Greece, Turkey, Iraq, China, Malaysia, Peru, and West Africa, as well as traditional production centres such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, Independent Filmmaking around the Globe explores how contemporary independent filmmaking increasingly defines the global cinema of our time.
Indie Reframed : Women's Filmmaking and Contemporary Independent Cinema by
Explores the films, practitioners, production and distribution contexts that currently represent American women's independent cinema. With the consolidation of "indie" culture in the 21st century, female filmmakers face an increasingly indifferent climate. Within this sector, women work across all aspects of writing, direction, production, editing and design, yet the dominant narrative continues to construe "maverick" white male auteurs such as Quentin Tarantino or Wes Anderson as the face of indie discourse. Defying the formulaic myths of the mainstream "chick flick" and the ideological and experimental radicalism of feminist counter-cinema alike, women's indie filmmaking is neither ironic, popular nor political enough to be readily absorbed into pre-existing categories. This ground-breaking collection, the first sustained examination of the work of female practitioners within American independent cinema, reclaims the "difference" of female indie filmmaking. Through a variety of case studies of directors, writers and producers such as Ava DuVernay, Lena Dunham and Christine Vachon, contributors explore the innovation of a range of female practitioners by attending to the sensibilities, ideologies and industrial practices that distinguish their work while embracing the "in-between" space in which the narratives they represent and embody can be revealed. Key Features Covers American women's independent cinema since the late 1970s. Analyses the work of acclaimed but critically overlooked female practitioners such as Kelly Reichardt, Christine Vachon, Miranda July, Kasi Lemmons, Nicole Holofcener, Mira Nair, Lisa Cholodenko, Megan Ellison, Lynn Shelton, Ava DuVernay, Mary Harron and Debra Granik. Distinguishes four different approaches to analysing women's independent cinema through: production and industry perspectives; genre and other classificatory modalities; political, cultural, social and professional identities; and collaborative and collectivist practices. ContributorsJ ohn Alberti, Northern Kentucky UniversityLinda Badley, Middle Tennessee State UniversityCynthia Baron, Bowling Green State UniversityShelley Cobb, University of SouthamptonCorinn Columpar, University of TorontoChris Holmlund, University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleGeoff King, Brunel University, LondonChristina Lane, University of MiamiJames Lyons, University of ExeterKathleen A. McHugh, UCLAKent A. Ono, University of UtahLydia Papadimitriou, Liverpool John Moores UniversityClaudia Costa Pederson, Wichita State UniversityClaire Perkins, Monash UniversitySarah Projansky, University of UtahMaria San Filippo, Goucher CollegeMichele Schreiber, Emory UniversitySarah E. S. Sinwell, University of UtahYannis Tzioumakis, University of LiverpoolPatricia White, Swarthmore CollegePatricia R. Zimmermann, Ithaca College
Minding Movies : Observations on the Art, Craft, and Business of Filmmaking by
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson are two of America's preeminent film scholars. You would be hard pressed to find a serious student of the cinema who hasn't spent at least a few hours huddled with their seminal introduction to the field—Film Art, now in its ninth edition—or a cable television junkie unaware that the Independent Film Channel sagely christened them the “Critics of the Naughts.” Since launching their blog Observations on Film Art in 2006, the two have added web virtuosos to their growing list of accolades, pitching unconventional long-form pieces engaged with film artistry that have helped to redefine cinematic storytelling for a new age and audience. Minding Movies presents a selection from over three hundred essays on genre movies, art films, animation, and the business of Hollywood that have graced Bordwell and Thompson's blog. Informal pieces, conversational in tone but grounded in three decades of authoritative research, the essays gathered here range from in-depth analyses of individual films such as Slumdog Millionaire and Inglourious Basterds to adjustments of Hollywood media claims and forays into cinematic humor. For Bordwell and Thompson, the most fruitful place to begin is how movies are made, how they work, and how they work on us. Written for film lovers, these essays—on topics ranging from Borat to blockbusters and back again—will delight current fans and gain new enthusiasts. Serious but not solemn, vibrantly informative without condescension, and above all illuminating reading, Minding Movies offers ideas sure to set film lovers thinking—and keep them returning to the silver screen.
