Books to Read

Blanc/Noir

Blanc/Noir

This isn't exactly me asking for suggestions but I was thinking we could collect a vast range of recommended readings on various subjects and then make a sticky of the list for newcomers or old comers to take a look.

Books would be about all the different aspects of film.

Directing:

*Cinematic Motion by Steven Katz
*Film Directing Shot by Shot by Steven Katz

Acting:

* How to Stop Acting
* Audition
* Acting for the Camera
* Acting in Film
* An Actor Prepares
* The Business of Acting

Audio:

*Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema by David Sonnenschein
*The Sound Effects Bible: How to Create and Record Hollywood Style Sound Effects by Ric Viers
*The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound for Film, Games, and Animation by Vanessa Theme Ament
*Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art by John Purcell
*The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall
*Audio Post Production for Television and Film, Third Edition: An introduction to technology and techniques by Hilary Wyatt and Tim Amyes

Cinematography:

Editing:

Digital:

Film:

Marketing:

Lighting:

Screenwriting:

*The Poetics
*Writing Movies
*How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes
*Three Uses of the Knife

A touch of everything:

*$30 Film School

So basically just say some good books from any category. Then if enough are collected one of the mods can make a sticky of the final result.
 
Last edited:
Sort by date Sort by votes
Directing:

Acting:

* How to Stop Acting
* Audition
* Acting for the Camera
* Acting in Film
* An Actor Prepares
* The Business of Acting

Audio:

Cinematography:

Editing:

Digital:

Film:

Marketing:

Lighting:

Screenwriting:

* Three Uses of the Knife
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
AUDIO POST

Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema by David Sonnenschein

The Sound Effects Bible: How to Create and Record Hollywood Style Sound Effects by Ric Viers

The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound for Film, Games, and Animation by Vanessa Theme Ament

Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art by John Purcell

The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall

Audio Post Production for Television and Film, Third Edition: An introduction to technology and techniques by Hilary Wyatt and Tim Amyes
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Directing:
* Film Directing Fundamentals by Nicholas T. Proferes
* Film Directing Cinematic Motion by Steven D. Katz
* Film Directing Shot by Shot by Steven D. Katz
* Directing Actors by Judith Weston
* First Time Director by Gil Bettman
* I'll Be In My Trailer by John Badham & Craig Modderno
* The Film Director Prepares by Myrl A. Schriebman
* The Ultimate Directing Kit, produced by Jason Tomaric (DVD/CD ROM box set)
* The Ultimate Scheduling Kit, produced by Jason Tomaric (DVD/CD ROM box set)

Acting:
* Sanford Meisner Master Class (DVD)
* Uta Hagen's acting class (DVD)

Audio:
* Producing Great Sound for Film & Video, Third Edition by Jay Rose

Cinematography/Camera:
* Cinematography, Theory and Practice, Image making for Cinematographers, Directors and Vieodgraphers by Blain Brown
* Master Shots by Christopher Kenworthy
* Grammar of the Shot, Second Edition by Roy Thompson and Christopher J. Bowen
* Hollywood Camerawork, The Master Course in High-End Blocking and Staging (DVD box set)


Editing:
* Grammar of the Edit, Second Edition by Roy Thompson and Christopher J. Bowen
* Cutting Rhythms, Shaping the Film Edit by Karen Pearlman
* Digital Color Correction by Steve Hullfish

Digital:
* The Visual Story, Second Edition by Bruce Block
* Digital Video Production Cookbook by Chris Kenworthy
* Digital Video Secrets by Tony Levelle

Film:

Marketing:

Lighting:
* Placing Shadows, Lighting Techniques for Video Production, Third Edition by Chcuk Goldman and Tom Letrourneau
* Motion Picture and Video Lighting, Second Edition by Blain Brown
* Introduction to Lighting for Film and Video with Carl Gundestrup (DVD)
* Green Screen Lighting with Carl Gundestrup (DVD)

Screenwriting/Story Telling:
* The Screenwriter's Bible, Fourth Edition by David Trotter
* Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
* rewrite by Paul Chitlik
* Writing the Action-Adventure Film, The Moment of Truth by Neill D. Hicks
* Wring the Thriller, The Terror Within by Neill D. Hicks
* on writing Horror, revised edition a handbook by the Horror Writers Association edited by Mort Castle
* Comedy Writing Secrets, second edition by Mel Helitzer with Mark Shatz
* Comedy Film, Make 'Em Laugh by Stuart Voytilla and Scott Petri
* Dialogue by Gloria Kempton
* Description by Monica Wood
* Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress
* Conflict, Action & Suspense by William Noble
* Karl Iglesias, Writing for Emotional Impact series (DVD set)
* Syd Field's Screenwriting workshop (DVD)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey guys,

I thought I would just make a post in this thread rather than make a new thread. I did a search but couldn't locate what I wanted to know.

I'm wondering what the best books would be for a newbie to get? Basically I'm looking for books on Screenwriting (how to write, formatting and storytelling), Directing (general) and general "how to make movies/short films"

Any suggestions on a few books?

I've seen "Story" by Robert McKee, "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder and "The screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier mentioned a lot for screenwriting, would any one of those be good to get? Too advanced? Not what I'm looking for?

Thanks fellas
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top