In
response to requests for additional resources and information I have opened
the Hollywood Jesus store.
-David Bruce
POP CULTURE FROM A SPIRITUAL
POINT OF VIEW
CINEMA
BOOKS
How
it works.
Click the title you want. This will take you to Amazon.com. Click "add
to shopping cart." Return to Hollywood Jesus with your browser "Back"
button. Make your next selection. This will take you back to Amazon.com.
Click "add to shopping cart" etc. When you are ready to purchase
click "Proceed to Checkout" from the Amazon.com shopping cart
page and follow directions. Easy.
This is the
basic reference guide to the international cinema. Put it next to your
TV and VCR and you'll be able to answer the questions that inevitably
arise when you watch a movie: "What other films has she been in?";
"Haven't I heard that director's name before?"; and "What in tarnation
is a gaffer?" The Film Encyclopedia contains biographies
and filmographies of actors, directors, producers, and cinematographers,
as well as screenwriters, editors, musical directors, production designers,
and critics. You can look up films by nationality and find a history
of a given country's contribution to the art. Technical data is also indexed,
so you can read not only about film stock and the apparatus of the camera,
but also about the duties of the gaffer, the key grip, and the best boy.
The book's introduction states that Ephraim Katz, who died in 1992, set
out to write "the most comprehensive one-volume encyclopedia
of world cinema ever published in the English language." The Film
Encyclopedia contains more information than any other single-volume film
reference and is also the best written movie guide of its kind. Because
most of the entries were written by Katz himself, reading this book is
like talking to a witty and learned film historian who has devoted his
life to understanding--and loving--the cinema.
Roger Ebert's
-reviews
-interviews,
-essays
-"Ask the Movie Answer Man"
The
reviews are the main feature of the book. The book functions
as a valuable browser's read and video-store companion, providing a list
of recent movies. I guess we all have a favorite reviewer. Ebert
is mine.
This is the
best film catalogue with the best and most complete cross-references.
You can use title, subject, actor, director, cinematographer, composer,
award winning. There is no better guide.
Murch delivers
a short, but insightful analysis of film editing. The
just of the title refers to Murch's theory that an eye blink is the equivalent
of an edit. He found that when an audience is riveted they will
seldom blink. His further studies led him to believe that an audience
will generally blink when a film cut should be made. Whether true or not,
it was truly thought provoking. I also found his analysis of non-linear
editing quite insightful. He goes a good way to explain the positive and
the negative of editing on a computer versus the old cut and paste method.
The computer oriented method offers quicker editing and fixing. When you
physically cut film it cannot be undone without a lengthy ordeal. On a
computer, you can quickly restore any changes. Murch, though, feels that
the necessity of rolling through raw footage on a movieola sometimes led
to better shot selection during his re-edits. When editors digitize what
they initially like, they limit themselves to the other takes that might
make more sense after a rough cut is made. Interesting. These are just
some of the many jewels offered in this short work.
The Visual
Story offers those interested in cinematography, production design, directing
and screenwriting a clear view of the relationship between
the story/script structure and the visual structure of a film or video.
An understanding of the visual components will serve as the guide in the
selection of locations, set dressing, props, wardrobe, lenses, camera
positions, lighting, actor staging, and editorial choices. The vocabulary
as well as the insight is provided to purposefully control the given components
to create the ultimate visual story. For example: know that a saturated
yellow will always attract a viewer's eye first; decide to avoid abrupt
editing by mastering continuum of movement; and benefit from the suggested
list of films to study rhythmic control. The Visual Story shatters the
wall between theory and practice, bringing these two aspects of the craft
together in an essential connection for all those creating visual stories.
About the Author Bruce Block is producer and consultant to feature film
and television directors, animation studios, and TV commercial production
companies. He is a Professor at the USC School of Cinema and Television
and teaches seminars in visual structure at the UCLA Extension Program,
as well as corporate seminars for Walt Disney, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers,
PIXAR and others. He is a regular contributor to American Cinematographer
Magazine. His film credits include What Women Want, Baby Boom, and The
Parent Trap (Producer), As Good As It Gets, Stuart Little (Visual Consultant)
and many others.
Since its
initial publication in 1973, Cinematography has become the
standard guidebook on filmmaking techniques that emphasizes the
cameraman's craft. Now completely revised and updated, it clearly and
concisely covers what today's filmmaker needs to know about camera structure
and operation, lenses, film stocks, filters, lighting and light measuring,
and accessory equipment. In addition it provides up-to-date information
on sound recording, editing, video transfer, studio and location shooting,
production logistics, and modern techniques of picture manipulation with
optical printers -- a subject rarely treated in such detail in existing
film books. Building on the groundwork he lays, Kris Malkiewicz explores
more advanced techniques of overall picture quality control -- how the
filmmaker can translate the envisaged image to the screen through coordinating
all aspects of cinematography. As Malkiewicz explains, whatever concept
is desired, the filmmaker must be in full control of the technology in
order to ensure success. Illustrated with more than 350 photographs and
drawings, this new second edition of Cinematography will continue to prove
invaluable to filmmakers, film students, and film teachers.
"Every Frame
a Rembrandt" is an expression heard on sound stages and locations all
over the world. While in most cases the expression is used lightly and
not infrequently with a certain amount of sarcasm, its true meaning speaks
highly of most cinematographers' commitment to producing the best, most
interesting, unusual and memorable images for the screen. Through
the five films he selected for this book Laszlo is able to show the broad
range of complexity in motion picture photography, from the relatively
simple "point and shoot" in the typical western to complex in-camera effects.
In recounting his "war stories" Laszlo is able to show the day-to-day
activities of a cinematographer before, during and after filming the project,
discussing equipment, film stocks, testing, labs, unions, agents, budget
requirements, and working with the director and producer. The five films
discussed are Southern Comfort, The Warriors, Rambo: First Blood, Streets
of Fire, and Innerspace. The book is illustrated throughout with production
stills from Laszlo's extensive collection (8 in a color insert).
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?
Hip,
hilarious, and irreverent, and in full awareness of the healing powers
of film, this fantastic guide recommends a movie to
suit and soothe a woman's every possible mood. From Entertainment
Weekly: You gotta love a movie tome that lists films under subheads that
really matter. "The Handy Hunk Chart" (featuring Ralph Fiennes' and Matt
Dillon's "Top Drool Pics"), "Faking It: Phony Gal Films That Really Piss
Us Off (Pretty Woman, Fatal Attraction)," and "Hoopskirt Dreams: Dresses-to-Die-for
Movies" (The Age of Innocence) are just a few of the helpful categorizations
that make this snarky little review compilation such a hoot. Peske and
West's hilarious observations range from the trenchant ("Sandra Bullock...can
take off a knit cap and not have hat head much less flyaway") to the feverish
("Vincent Perez is so beautiful, he'll make your joints ache"). A must
for your next girls' night in. Grade: A Minus.
"This
book is a must. It is a straightforward, insightful, and articulate
account of what it takes to make a successful feature film." --Ridley
Scott
"Absolutely crucial for filmmakers." --FILMS IN REVIEW
"A clear, direct guide. I wish I had had this book when I started."
--John Carpenter
"Superb in both its conception and execution." --David Puttnam
"Anyone involved in the making of motion pictures, from television commercials
to studio pictures, should read this book before beginning their next
production." --Fay Kanin, former president of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences
"First rate . . . belongs in the classroom and should be read by many
of those now teaching film history and criticism." --LOS ANGELES TIMES
What does
Richard Roeper know about the movies? Plenty. As the celebrated syndicated
columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, Roeper has devoted
at least a column a week to the buzz from Hollywood and the countless
urban legends that emanate from Tinsel Town. And now, he's the
co-host of "Ebert and Roeper and the Movies." Did Jane Fonda betray American
POWs while visiting Hanoi? What's the story behind Tom Green's supposed
raid on a bar mitzvah? Was Marilyn Monroe really a size 16? Was Mel Gibson
horribly disfigured in a barroom brawl, leading to more than five years
of rehab and plastic surgery before he could show his face in public?
And what's the truth about the infamous bloopers on such shows as "The
Newlywed Game," "Password" and the "Tonight Show"? Richard Roeper recounts
these stories in Hollywood Urban Legends, as he gives us the truth behind
the most deliciously false stories about our favorite stars.
Making
it in Hollywood is possible,
as long as you have a strategy. That is the message of Hollywood 101:
The Film Industry. This fascinating and comprehensive book breaks down
the film industry and tells you exactly what it takes to crack into each
market (except acting) and then parlay your entry-level job into a show
business career. Hollywood 101 is the story of how Frederick Levy came
to Hollywood without knowing a soul and became a serious player. But it's
not just his story. It's a game plan that will get you your shot as producer,
director, writer, production designer, agent, or any other behind-the-camera
profession you want to pursue. More than simply a technical how-to book,
Hollywood 101 is full of inside stories and advice from industry leaders.
In his book,
Vogler, borrowing ideas from Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, argues that
every story follows certain patterns--which he
collectively characterizes as a mythic "hero's journey." In Myth and the
Movies, Voytilla breaks this journey up into stages, using 50 famous films
to illustrate the universality of Vogler's method. During the course of
the book, he unpacks the mythic structure of horror, war, drama, romance,
comedy, science fiction, action-adventure, the western, and the thriller,
drawing on films as diverse as Seven Samurai, The Silence of the Lambs,
Annie Hall, and Boyz N the Hood. His charts, maps, and consideration of
various archetypal characters ("the shadow," "the trickster," "the herald,"
"the shapeshifter") and narrative devices ("the elixir," "the adventure,"
"the threshold," "the road back") provide a clear picture of how Campbell's
archetypes can be used for film analysis. And who knows? Perhaps as you
follow Voytilla's descriptions, you will be inspired to create some myths
of your own.
NEW!
48 FAITH AFFIRMING MOVIES from HOLLYWOOD
-click here.
The
Visual Story: Seeing the Structure of Film, Tv, and New Media
Cinematography
: A Guide for Film Makers and Film Teachers
Every
Frame a Rembrandt, Art and Practice of Cinematography
Screenplay
: The Foundations of Screenwriting 
Myth
and the Movies : Discovering the Mythic Structure of 50 Unforgettable
Films
