Great books about filmmaking!

[Tuukka]

Has anyone of you read any filmmaking books, which you find informative and useful. They can consern directing, writing, cinematography, music... Whatever. Please give some names and tell something about them.

You can also tell about books like "How I made a hundred movies in Hollywood and never lost a dime" By Roger Corman. It's not an educational book, but tells a lot about making films. Has anyone read it?

[This message has been edited by Tuukka (edited 09-13-2000).]

[DaMovieMan]

Hey Tuukka,
I never really read any books concerning directing and writing e.t.c. but if u go to www.amazon.com, (http://www.amazon.com,) you'll see that the book entitled "Film Directing Shot By Shot: Visualizing From Concept To Screen" by Steven D. Katz got excellent reviews, so u should concider it.
As for acting (i know u never mentioned anything about it, im just doing it for some other ppl who want to become actors on this board like me!!!) i can recommend a book:
Acting Skills by Hugh Morrison
i have another one but i can't seem to find it now (sorry!) /ubb/frown.gif

And I have'nt read the book your talking about.

[Tuukka]

I actually owned Katz's book once. A very good book, I think. Possibly the best book I have read of the technical aspects of film grammar. And yeah, this topic is definitely meant for acting books as well. I have to check Morrison's book.

Here are some great books:

"Rebel without a crew" by Robert Rodriguez

The greatest book about filmmaking ever. Written by the director of El Maricahi, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn and Faculty. You might not like his films because of their scripts, but he IS a very talented filmmaker. Check out his section in Four Rooms. It's a 25 minute short film and it's just great. This book tells about the making of his debut film, a budget of 7000$ for a 16mm film that has made around 5 million worldwide... And he did it all by himself. Script, directing, camerawork, editing... Everything. It's also a very philosophical book. It really gives you energy and belief in yourself to make film on your own someday.

"How I made a hundred movies in Hollywood and never lost a dime" by Roger Corman.

The second greatest book about filmmaking ever. It's not exactly a book about filmmaking, but about Roger Corman. But then again, Corman as a person is all about filmmaking. This book has a great "anything goes" attitude in it. It makes you believe, that even if you're not a very talented guy, you can still have fun in the movie business and do what you love to do the most.

I will put some more names here later on.

Has anyone else ever read any books about filmmaking, acting, ANYTHING that has something to with some aspect of making movies? Please tell us about those books. This topic needs more posts.

Quentin, what did you think of "Rebel without a crew"?. Brock or Crynot, Have you guys ever read anything interesting?

[DaMovieMan]

I personaly enjoyed all three of the movies you mentioned by Rodriguez so I'm gonna check out that book "Rebel Without A Crew".

I think that if you really want to learn about acting anything or connected to theatre you should get books by/about Constantine Stanislavski.

example: "The Stanislavski System : The Professional Training of an Actor : Digested from the Teachings of Konstantin S. Stanislavski".

[QUENTIN]

I LOVED it, in fact I am now reading it for the second time. I picked it up at Borders after your glowing recommendation and it was well worht it. It inspired me in many ways, and gave me a higher respect for Rodriguez as a filmmaker (he gave his right arm to shoot a movie...literally!). It is one of my favorite all time books now, and I too now give it a glowing recommendation to all aspiring filmmakers (or as Rodriguez would say filmmakers) to read. Thank you very much Tuukka for the reco, and do you have AIM or any other form of chat?

[DaMovieMan]

aa i found the other book i had /ubb/smile.gif /ubb/smile.gif /ubb/smile.gif
It's: The Actor Speaks-voice and the preformer by Patsy Rodenburg. There is also a forward by Judi Dench!!!! U guys should really check it out. I gotta get that Rodriguez book soon!

[Tuukka]

This topic is almost two years old, but I would still advice everyone to read that great book by Robert Rodriguez...

[James Logan]

And I WILL read that one as soon as I leave for my well-deserved vacation...two weeks to go. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif

Anyway, I personally read a book entitled (in French) "Tim Burton by Tim Burton" or something like that, and I did enjoy it a lot. Although there's almost nothing there about the technical aspects of filmmaking, there's a lot about the artistic aspects, and about the process of creation. Read it if you like Burton.

[Tuukka]

Yeah, I've read it it. The "On" series are great. I have read Scorcese On Scorcese, Forman On Forman, Ed Wood On Ed Wood, David Lynch On David Lynch, etc... I don't remember all the books in the series, but there are lot's of them.

There is usually not very much technical or creative info on the books, but they are very interesting, entertaining and help you to really understand these filmmakers.

I don't know if Ed Wood On Ed Wood was titled that way outside Finland, but I think it's the best book in the series.

[This message has been edited by Tuukka (edited 07-13-2002).]

[James Logan]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Tuukka:
This topic is almost two years old, but I would still advice everyone to read that great book by Robert Rodriguez...</font>

There, ordered it off the Net. Hopefully it'll arrive in time for my holidays...

[Scarface98.9]

I just got some books today at Barnes and Nobles.

"Rebel W/O a Crew" by Rodriguez
"Writing the Action-adventure Film" by Neill Hicks
and
"Making a Winning Short" by Edmond Levy