CS777
Spring 2003

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Readings On Film

Every year, we spend a week discussing fillmaking and the film arts. For this I ask you to do 2 things:

1) Read a book on Film
2) Read a paper on the Psychology of Film

Movies in the Minds Eye. Hochberg and Brooks. from Post-Theory, edited by Boardwell and Carroll.

There are a lot of books on filmmaking.

I wanted to find ways to give you tastes of as many of the "film arts" (acting, lighting, directing, ...) as possible, without having you read tons and tons of stuff. Some of you might be more interested in this kind of stuff and more willing to read more.

Some of you will want to buy a book, others will want to borrow something.

Each year, I read a new book on film to prepare for this class. Usually, it becomes a recommendation. This year, I am adding a book that I haven't even read.

I don't necessarily expect you to read the whole book of all of these. Read the parts you think are relevant (except if you pick the little filmmakers book below).

This year's book suggestions:

Shot by Shot; A Practical Guide to Filmmaking by John Cantine, Brady Lewis, Susan Howard

This little book is targetted at a very basic filmmaking course. In fact, the way I learned about it was from taking an intro film class at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, which used a predeccessor to this book (a photocopies bunch of typed notes). On one hand, this book is very basic, since it gets down to the nuts and bolts of filmmaking (how to turn on the camera), but it does give a very concise overview of the basic ideas of all aspects of filmmaking. If you want a copy, you'll have to buy it through Pittsburgh Filmmakers (www.pghfilmmakers.org).

Film Directing Shot by Shot : Visualizing from Concept to Screen by Steven D. Katz .

This is a pretty comprehensive book on cinematography and editing. I get the feeling that this book is something a professional filmmaker would use to learn about their craft. The book includes lots of examples. It also has a nice emphasis on storyboarding and preplanning. The second volume of the set is interesting because it consists entirely of examples, many from famous movies. This book is more than you need to know for this class, but if you have any interest in filmmaking, or in using the craft of filmmaking for computer animation, I highly recommend it. It's the kind of book you keep coming back to. If you can't find it locally, you can get it mail order. (amazon)

Film Art. by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson.

This is a textbook for a comprehensive book on film. It is less technical than the others (because its more about film history and criticism). However, it does survey all of the technique of filmmaking. It's a nice book, and its written by UW authors!

Cinematography: Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors and Videograaphers. by Blain Brown. Focal Point Press.

I just got this one. From skimming through it, I like it a lot because it covers a very wide range of topics ranging from basic cinematic theory and history to color manipulation and non-linear editing. The mix of technical and artistic subjects could make this one be my favorite, buy I haven't actually read it myself yet. (amazon)

Borrowing one of these books from someone who took the class in a previous year is a good idea. (I have a copy of each, although I can't lend out Cinematography since I need to read it myself).

Note: my giving links to Amazon is not necessarily an endorsement, and I'm not set up to get a kickback from them. Personally, I'd rather see people support local mechants. However, since you might need to get this in a hurry...