For years, award-winning independent filmmaker Rick Schmidt has been teaching aspiring directors how to make “no-budget” films, both in workshops and in his classic guide Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices. Now Schmidt shows them how it is easier—and cheaper—than ever to make an innovative, high quality work, thanks to digital video. Filled with the latest information on equipment and software, ideas for experimenting with new moviemaking techniques, and advice based on Schmidt’s own ex...

A "meticulous history" of the classic suspense film based on exclusive interviews with the director, writers, cast, and crew ( The New York Times Book Review).First released in June 1960, Psycho altered the landscape of horror films forever. But just as compelling as the movie itself is the story behind it, which has been adapted as a movie starring Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville, and Scarlett Johansson as Jane...

• Insider author gives no-nonsense advice• Required reading for film students, educators, anyone interested in filmFrom script analysis to post production, here is the all-inclusive guide to directing for film and television. Written by noted director-producer Myrl Schreibman, The Film Director Prepares offers practical insights on filmmaking, using real-life examples directors won’t learn in school. With topics including working with actors, using the came...

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...

The Sound of Pictures is an illuminating journey through the soundtracks of more than 400 films. How do filmmakers play with sound? And how does that affect the way we watch their movies? Whether pop or classical, sweeping or sparse, music plays a crucial role in our cinematic experience. Other sounds can be even more evocative: the sounds of nature, of cities and of voices.In The Sound of Pictures, Andrew Ford listens to the movies. He speaks to acclaimed directo...

Production designers are artistic masters in their own right. They are responsible for the 'look' of a movie; joining productions at an early stage, they coordinate costume design, special effects, set design, make-up, and location scouting to ensure a unified visual appearance. In Production Design, 16 production designers share their insights, anecdotes, and technical achievements, through a series of exclusive interviews. Fascinating for both film fans and practitioners, this book is th...

Myrl Schreibman has written a comprehensive and practical, step-by-step guide for organizing and running a film from pre-production through post-production and delivery. This invaluable resource provides fundamental tools to produce a more thorough, more organized, and more professional film production. Packed with engaging and useful anecdotes, Schreibman provides a superlative introduction and overview to all of the key elements in producing for film and television. Useful to film studen...

ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S 100 GREATEST FILM BOOKS OF ALL TIME • The first book to bring together interviews of master moviemakers from the American Film Institute’s renowned seminars, Conversations with the Great Moviemakers, offers an unmatched history of American cinema in the words of its greatest practitioners.Here are the incomparable directors Frank Capra, Elia Kazan, King Vidor, David Lean, Fritz Lang (“I learned only from bad films”)...

An in-depth study of the world's only aikido instructor turned movie star/director/writer/blues guitarist/energy drink inventor, the ass-kicking auteur Steven Seagal. The hilarious "instant cult classic", hailed by the New York Post, Entertainment Weekly and even Time magazine, is back, updated and extended with 10 new chapters! Brand new material includes Vern's hilarious deconstruction of Seagal's appearance in the Robert Rodriguez movie Machete, and coverage of Seagal's own hit reality ...

Ultimately responsible for the creative content on screen, directors are the captains of the ship on every film. All actors and heads of department report to them. Some directors are also writers, employing unique styles of dialogue and characterizations. Others, like Pedro Almodóvar, create inimitable visual and tonal styles that set their films apart from the crowd. Unlike the other volumes in the FilmCraft series, Directing covers all the disciplines of film art that pass through the di...

A sequel to the critically acclaimed My First Movie, Stephen Lowenstein once again talks to some of our most celebrated filmmakers about their debut films. Lowenstein interviews ten directors about their career-launching film and how they got the movie off the ground: how they raised the finance, found actors, searched for locations, worked with the crew and saw the project through to completion. Filmmakers interviewed include Richard Linklater on Slacker; Alejandro Gonzá...

Actors often say they only really assume the identity of their character when they have donned the costumes painstakingly created for them by the costume designer. In this volume of the FilmCraft series of books, 16 of the world's leading costume designers come together to share their inspiration and knowledge with the reader. They provide insights into the challenges of building a team, working with budgets, and collaboration with production designers, actors and directors. Designers feat...