TEXTBOOKS for
Film Production Courses

Filmcraft: Costume Design
Deborah Nadoolman Landis
ISBN: 978-0-240-81866-5

Actors often say they only really assume the identity of a character when they have donned the costumes painstakingly tailored by their costume designer. Colleen Atwood, one of the subjects of this volume, went into unbelievable detail to effect authenticity on her costumes for Public Enemies, right down to using vintage clothes and recreating hats from 1930s Chicago. In Nine, she moved to mid-sixties Italy and the world of a Fellini-style film director. That's not to mention the more fantastical designs for Tim Burton films like Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow. The attention to detail, imagination, flair and range of these designers will be explored in this volume along with the more practical elements of working with budgets, costume teams, production designers, actors and directors. As well as Atwood, other designers that will be featured include multiple Oscar winner Sandy Powell, Albert Wolsky, Jacqueline Durran, Catherine Martin, Milena Cananero, Alexandra Byrne and Ann Roth... [more]

The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide: A Down & Dirty DV Production
Anthony Q. Artis
ISBN: 978-0-240-81487-2

The Shut Up and Shoot Freelance Video Guide is an easy-read crash course in the ins and outs and hundred little details of creating video works for hire. This ultra-friendly visual field guide for freelance videographers picks up where The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide leaves off and gives you more detailed practical production strategies and solutions not found anywhere else on:

• Marketing videos
• Music videos
• Wedding videos
• Music performance videos
• Live event videos
• Corporate videos...and more!

Covering everything from dealing with clients, production strategies and step-by-step guidance on planning, shooting, lighting and recording the most common video-for-hire genres this book sets out to help you rise above the competition and make more money by doing quality work... [more]

Video Production Handbook, 5th Edition
Jim Owens
Gerald Millerson
ISBN: 978-0-240-52220-3

Video Production Handbook shows the full production process, from inception of idea to final distribution. The book focuses especially on why each step occurs as it does and provides guidance in choosing the simplest methods of creating the shots your students want in their video projects. Concentrating on the techniques and concepts behind the latest equipment, this book demonstrates the fundamental principles needed to create good video content on any kind of budget. Suitable for students and beginning videographers, the new edition of this classic text retains its clarity and directness but has been completely revised and updated... [more]

Voice and Vision: A Creative Approach to Narrative Film and DV Production, 2nd Edition
Mick Hurbis-Cherrier
ISBN: 978-0-240-81158-1

Voice and Vision is a comprehensive manual for the independent filmmakers and film students who want a solid grounding in the tools, techniques, and processes of narrative film in order to achieve their artistic vision. This book includes essential and detailed information on relevant film and digital video tools, a thorough overview of the filmmaking stages, and the aesthetic considerations for telling a visual story.

The ultimate goal of this book is to help you develop your creative voice while acquiring the solid practical skills and confidence to use it. Unlike many books that privilege raw technical information or the line-producing aspects of production, Voice & Vision places creativity, visual expression, and cinematic ideas front and center. After all, every practical decision a filmmaker makes, like choosing a location, an actor, a film stock, a focal length, a lighting set-up, an edit point, or a sound effect is also an expressive one and should serve the filmmaker's vision. Every decision, from the largest conceptual choices to the smallest practical solutions, has a profound impact on what appears on the screen and how it moves an audience... [more]

Shoot on Location: The Logistics of Filming on Location, Whatever Your Budget or Experience
Kathy M. McCurdy
ISBN: 978-0-240-81497-1

You have a strong vision for how your movie should look, but how do they find the perfect spot to shoot and how do they organize the complex logistics of such a shoot once they find that perfect location? In this comprehensive guide, industry veteran Kathy M. McCurdy provides everything needed to get out on location-from how to break down the script, public relations tips for successful location scouting, negotiating with property owners, permitting on public property, how to handle complaints, and even where to put the very unattractive port-a-potties. It also includes samples of all the different necessary forms and contracts and breaks down everything from where to park the trucks to when filmmakers need police on the set. Filled with real-life examples and actual filming situations, Shoot on Location provides everything you need to know from scouting through the wrap...[more]

Filmmaking: Direct Your Movie From Script to Screen Using Proven Hollywood Techniques
Jason Tomaric
ISBN: 978-0-240-81700-2

Filmmaking, the definitive resource for filmmakers, blows the doors off the secretive film industry and shows you how to adapt the Hollywood-system for the low-budget production. Full of thousands of tips, tricks, and techniques from Emmy-winning director Jason Tomaric, Filmmaking systematically walks you through every step of how to produce a successful movie - from developing a marketable idea through selling the completed movie. Whatever your movie's budget might be, Filmmaking reveals some of Hollywood's best-kept secrets. Make your movie and do it right...[more]

The Complete Film Production Handbook, 4th Edition
Eve Light Honthaner
ISBN: 978-0-240-81150-5

The Complete Film Production Handbook is a comprehensive step-by-step guide covering the essentials of the business, from checklists and sample pre-production and post production schedules to contracts and company policies relating to insurance, talent management, and even customs and immigration details. The book contains all of the many necessary forms including SAG, DGA, and WGA forms, together with standard production forms, deal memos, and release forms which are found both in the book and on the companion CD... [more]

Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video, 4th Edition
David K. Irving
Peter W. Rea
ISBN: 978-0-240-81174-1

Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video is the definitive book on the subject for beginning filmmakers and students. The book clearly illustrates all of the steps involved in preproduction, production, postproduction, and distribution. Its unique two-fold approach looks at filmmaking from the perspectives of both producer and director, and explains how their separate energies must combine to create a successful short film or video, from script to final product... [more]

Video Shooter: Storytelling With HD Cameras, 2nd Edition
Barry Braverman
ISBN: 978-0-240-81088-1

Tired of the all the digital filmmaking guidebooks that only give the nuts and bolts of how to use a camera? Video Shooter 2nd Edition takes that how-to knowledge and takes it a step further by showing students how to craft a story in their video. Barry Braverman is a highly experienced shooter whose name is gold in the field. This book covers everything from framing a shot, to lighting, to the type of camera (and tripod) one should use, and perhaps most importantly—how to translate the use of all this equipment and techniques into a story... [more]