READINGS
Presented here by Tier group are the collections of recommended and required readings to accompany the course of study. Essays, articles, technical guides and conceptual perspectives all form reference material for your course work and the page here should serve as a ready reference library for core elements of your study.
Where possible, the readings are made available here as downloadable PDF’s so you can have access to them off-line; in each case the online link for the article will be shown at the top of the PDF. Others here are links directly to the article as it sits online.
TIER 1
Film Analysis – Yale Film Studies
(This is the core reading for all areas of study at IFSS. Its provides a basic over view of all elements of cinema related to cinema language)
Ten Minute Film School – Robert Rodrieguez
The Language of Film – Michael Wohl
Dogme Manifesto95: Vow of Chastity
Murch and Dymytrk : Editing ‘Rules’…?
‘Dialogue and Sound’ – Siegfried Kracauer
‘ Film and Video Lighting for Low Budgets’
Panasonic DVC30 Equipment Test
Using Colorista in Final Cut Pro Introduction (mov)
Using Colorista in Final Cut Pro Advanced (mov)
___
TIER 2
Art of the Interview – by David Tames (PDF) + Notes on the interview
Images over time. Matt Soar & Peter Hall
The sound of sound: A Brief History of the Reproduction of Sound in Movie Theaters by Rick Altman
Practical Sound Recording Techniques for better Video by David Tames (pdf 34mb)
[absolute MUST READ document giving the most succinct and practical info on sound recording you can find Anywhere!]
Editing Voice Tracks Like a pro - by Jay Rose
Editing Dialogue – Panel discussion
Film Crew Glossary: Guide to roles and responsibilities
Digital Camera Composition part 1
Digital Camera Composition part 2
Composing a more dynamic frame with depth by Kendall Miller
___
TIER 3
Editing the Soprano’s. Interview with Conrad Gonzales by Tom Soper
Ken Dancyger The Technique of Film and Video Editing:
-Editing for Genre; Action Sequences
Color Correction by Kevin Shaw
When color correction is a necessity by Kevin Shaw
Layer it by Kevin Shaw – colour correction techniques
Professional Color Correction with Premiere Pro
Color Theory – Why do some colours work better together than others
After Effects or Velvet Revolution. Lev Manovich
Focal press easy guide to After Effects Motion Tracking
Depth of Field explained (video tutorial series focused on 35mm adapters such as P+S/RedRock)
Camera in Motion – Mode, Means, Method – an analysis of the moving camera
EX1 Shooting Tips; Avoiding OverExposure, Creating Film look, Reproducing vivid colours
Light: Why we need light by Ryan Patrick O’Hara
An Open letter from your Sound Department
US Editor’s Guild magazine : Norman Hollyn’s Interviews with feature editors
___
TIER 4
UnrealCity : How ILM used the Unreal game engine to pre-visualize Stephen Speilberg’s AI.
Form in Motion: An interview with filmmaker and motion graphic artist Matt hanson on title sequences and motion graphics.
Web Video 2.0: Delivering your video on the web - By David Tames
Creating ‘lean forward moments’ – In this podcast editor and USC film school teacher, Norman Hollyn, talks about using the craft of editing to create moments in films that affect the audience’s emotions. He also shares his advice to film students entering the job market and his take on managing the chaos in the edit room.
Art Direction Wiki – a free online repository of information relating to new and classic technologies and methodologies relevant to the art of film design.
___
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The history of the discovery of cinematography
Film Analysis – Yale Film Studies
The art of pulling focus video series. looks at technique and process of using follow-focus lens systems:
- The art of pulling focus Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3
Depth of field video tutorials:
- Understanding Depth-Of-Field
Concept Art Composition – Part1 – Part2- Part3
Exposure Meters for Cinematographers (PDF) – Gerald Hirshfield
Camera reports: The right way – Rayn Patrick O’Hara
Lowel EDU – comprehensive site dedicated to tutorials and information on lighting techniques
A Chronicle of the Motion Picture Industry
Colour Temperature – A crash course by Ryan Patrick O’Hara
35mm Film and the Golden Rectangle
RED RAW and Beyond HD (RAW format and IFSS Workflow)
___
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Below are a selection of books that should be on the shelf of every filmmaker and are recommended reading for all students.
The Lean Forward Moment by Norman Hollyn. A profoundly engaging, dynamic and inspiring book that gets right into the meat of what editign is and how the ‘lean forward’ moment is developed in the audience through change and difference. Not a technical editing book but one focused on the articulation of story, character and cinematic engagement.
On Filmmaking by Alexander Mackendrick. An introduction to tge craft of the Director.
The Filmmakers Handbook by Steven Ascher and Edward pincus. The absolute indispensable bible on cinema production.
Directing Feature Films: The Creative Collaboration Between Director, Writers, and Actors by Mark Travis
Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television by Judith Weston
The DV rebels guide by Stu Machwitz. Fresh, ‘no-bullshit’ and utterly packed with a dynamic and innovative approach to indie production.
The power of film by Howard Suber. An absolutely engrossing anthology of micro 1-2 page essays on cinematic ideas using creative surgery to isolate profound dramatic concepts.
Great sound for Digital Video by Jay Rose. Everything you ever need to know about digital sound production made very very accessible.
Writing the TV drama series by Pamela Douglas. Great read on episodic TV drama writign alogn side soem insightful interviews with some the best writers of the last 20 years such as Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) and David Milch (Deadwood)
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. A great insight into screenwriting and what it is that makes us Want to Watch.
Conversations: Walter Murch and the art of editing by Michael Ondaajte. A book compiled from interviews and discussiosn between acclaimed author Michael Ondaajte and film editor Walter Murch.
Film Art by David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson. The definitive text on film style and cinema analysis.
The Language of New Media by Lev Manovich. One of the most important text for understanding the language of cinema in the digital age.
So you want to be a producer? by Lawrence Turman. What does it take to be a producer, how does one get started, and what on earth does one actually do?
[...] Readings [...]
[...] Readings [...]
[...] Readings [...]
[...] READINGS [...]
hey mike – you need a blog on successful public screenings!!!!
Hey mike,
The readings page seems to be filled with technical stuff – which is beautiful.
But, can there be more about turning an idea into a film.
Hi Vidit. The IFSSPRODUCTION.NET BLOG is, as the name suggests, about ‘Production’ and technology. Hence the bias in the readings, they are connected directly to the classes that I and Christophe teach.
But this idea of “turning an idea into a film” is a strange and interesting question you ask? One one hand the answer is simple and so the question seems an odd one; you turn an idea into a film by knowing how to make a film – ie how to shoot, cut, edit, manage, produce and direct. And that’s exactly what the readings on this site cover and what the IFSS course is designed to do – empower you with the skills and knowledge to allow you to make films; and that knowledge has to be technical and practical in order to be enabler of the conceptual.
But I suspect you’re looking for something much more ephemeral… How do you turn an idea into a film? Well that’s a process of ‘cinematic distillation’; trial and error, understanding the principles of drama and visualization, writing and re-writing, experimentation, backed up by the dramatic problem solving that is part and parcel of every creative process.
“How to turn an idea into a film” is a question that has NO single answer and what answers there are will be different for each person as an individual artist. If you’re looking for the essay or article or book that tells you how to turn an idea into a film then My friend you are going to be looking for a long time….! Such a ‘reading’ simply doesnt exist.
The way to effectively turn an idea into a film is to experiment for yourself armed with the experiences and knowledge and ideas that you have. The job of film school is to give you an environment where you can experiment and explore and develop experience with people to guide you and peers to bounce ideas off. There isnt anything that can be read to give you the answer as there is no one answer to the question.
Apart from your own growing experience, what will help you find your own answer is to examine the techniques, processes and methods of other filmmakers. ‘What did they do?’, ‘How did they do that?’, ‘How would I do it differently?’, ‘What if they did it a different way?’ So in this regard take a look a little closer on the Readings page and I think you’ll see there are in fact many readings there that do exactly this…
Film Analysis – Yale Film Studies
The Language of Film – Michael Wohl
Images over time. Matt Soar & Peter Hall
Composing a more dynamic frame with depth by Kendall Miller
Editing the Soprano’s. Interview with Conrad Gonzales by Tom Soper
Creating ‘lean forward moments’ – Norman Hollyn
All these articles engage directly with technique – the processes by which ideas are translated into cinematic events. They deal with the language of cinema and the methods employed to exploit that language.
There are indeed countless articles on the web and books in the book store that will Tell you “How to write a great screenplay” “How to engage your creative mind” “How to turn ideas into reality” And they are all Bullshit. You Cannot teach creativity. You cannot teach someone to be an artist. All you can do is create an environment where people are given opportunities to discover for themselves how to be an artist and develop the skills that unlock their imagination so that they can then utilize practical and technical knowledge to make art (instead of leaving it trapped in their head) Thats what IFSS is designed to do, create that environment to unleash the talent that you have.
If you’re looking for a book to tell you how to be creative and how to make up good ideas, then you’re barking up the wrong tree.
Mike
Once again an awesome and comprehensive answer Mike..-Thank you.
What i am looking for is not a single answer to the question, i.e. how to turn an idea into a film?
But just information that can help expand knowledge. I am currently going through the articles on the readings page and they do seem like ‘it’.
I also think conversations/discussions help with that process as they stir up the mind.
I just hope that my peers would join in bouncing off ideas.
Thank you.