An in-depth analysis of how characters speak on the screen, on the stage, and on the page in believable and engaging ways.

From concept to character, from opening scene to finished script.. Here are easily understood guidelines to make film-writing accessible to novices and to help practiced writers improve their scripts. Syd Field pinpoints the structural and stylistic elements essential to every good screenplay. He presents a step-by-step, comprehensive technique for writing the script that will succeed. •Why are the first ten pages of your script crucially important? •How do you collaborate successfully with someone else? •How do you adapt a novel, a play, or an article into a screenplay? •How do you market your script?

Originally conceived as a workbook for young directors, The Little Blue Book for Filmmakers has become a handbook for easy reference, with all the information a student director/actor/producer needs to create a film, from inception through production, to sales, distribution, and exhibition. The book discusses issues faced by all beginning filmmakers, with a historical perspective that explains problems and solutions that reach back to the invention of movies at the turn of the last century, and stretch forward to include new digital technology and the popularization of videography as global self-expression. A valuable addition to the shelves of all film school instructors who've not had years of practical experience working in the trade, it's also a syllabus in itself and can be the foundation for a course schedule. More important, it's something every film student will want to own as a reference and guide.

"It's Only a Movie is the best book ever written about my father. It really is amazing." -Patricia Hitchcock North by Northwest. Psycho. Rear Window. The Birds. Vertigo. When it comes to murder and mayhem, shock and suspense, the films of Alfred Hitchcock can not be surpassed. For this book, Charlotte Chandler interviewed Hitchcock, his wife, daughter, film crew members, and many of the stars who appeared in his films, including Kim Novak, Janet Leigh, Cary Grant, Tippi Hedren and James Stewart. Throughout the book, Chandler shares Hitchcock's wit and wisdom. When actors took themselves too seriously, he would remind them, "it's only a movie." Chandler introduces us to the real Hitchcock, a devoted family man and notorious practical joker, who made suspenseful thrillers mixed with subtle humor and tacit eroticism.

The Complete Guide to Writing, Producing, and Directing a Low-Budget Short Film is a comprehensive step-by-step overview of how to complete and promote a low-budget short film. It begins with how to write a short script, keeping in mind the goal of shooting it in one or at most two days. It discusses how to finalize your script by getting feedback and then preparing it for production through doing a scene breakdown and possibly a storyboard. It describes how to direct the film yourself or work with a director, audition the actors and cast the short, plan for and participate in the shoot, and work with an editor to finish your film. Finally, it discusses how to get your film shown, including entering it in festivals, and concludes with an extensive list of resources and references, including books, articles, script and storyboard software, conferences, expos, festivals, and more.

Republished for the first time since the 1980s, a legendary book on the cinema from one of the most important figures in the history of film Vivid, eccentric, and free-ranging, this memoir is written in a style reminiscent of the brilliant visual effects of montage and dynamic progression of the legendary Russian director. Eisenstein wittily portrays his life in Russia from the time of the Revolution, his travels in the West, and his encounters with an amazing medley of people on both sides of the Iron Curtain, including Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich, and Man Ray. With 48 pages of illustrations from the author's own collection, including photos and personal sketches, this is the fullest picture possible of a man and his films, from one of the most iconic eras of the art form.

Provides the complete script for JFK, which details the investigation into President Kennedy's assassination, and includes reponses and comments about the film, and official reports and documentation

A combination of film theory and a discussion of practical process, this attractive volume on the films of Vincent Ward (Map of the Human Heart, What Dreams May Come, The River Queen) examines the concept of the "transformational moment" in film and explores both the metaphysical effects of the process as well as concrete tools used by Ward and others to accomplish this achievement. The volume includes hundreds of color and black and white stills from Ward's films as well as storyboards, sketches, score snippets and other ephemera. The material is divided into sections covering the staging of the moment, composing the moment, and examination and analysis of the finished moment, and several exercises and conceptual summaries are included. Flemming is a professor of film and media studies at the University of Waikato, NZ. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Foreward by Jeremy Irons and preface by Adrian Lyne. Based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. In the introduction to the Applause LOLITA, Schiff tells the astounding story behind the most controversial movie of our time.