Video Production Books

This is perhaps the most original book written about Val Lewton's famous horror movies in decades. Nemerov looks at four images from Lewton's movies, images that center on little-known character actors Nemerov then shows how these tie into Lewton's Russian background, Lewton's career as a novelist, and American pop culture during World War II.

Rarely have I seen Lewton's films subjected to this kind of close analysis. While I might have wished that Nemerov focused on something from "The Seventh Victim" or "The Body Snatcher," I have to say that what he said made very good sense and placed Lewton in a broader context. (As opposed to the common idea that Lewton was such a genius that his films stand apart from everything else in the horror genre.) This is the rare book of which it can be said that I wish it were longer. Nemerov's enthusiasm for Lewton shines through, but he also has balanced judgment on Lewton's limitations as well. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in horror films or films of the Forties.

"Icons of Grief" is a fascinating critical study of producer Val Lewton's RKO horror films within a World War II context. Historian Alexander Nemerov examines the subtle power of Lewton's low-budget chillers (notably "Cat People," "I Walked With a Zombie" and "The Ghost Ship") and the cultural reflection upon wartime America. By providing new insights on Lewton and his work, Nemerov encourages the reader to seek out these remarkable films.

This introduction is direct, understandable by the early student, global in its outlook and very strong on context and globality. Its ENTHUSIASTIC ! Not dust dry. Kochberg had a real way with cutting to the point and leting academic buzz words go ... we use this book in conjunction with Nelmes' Intro to Film Studies, now in edition 3rd at June 2003. In the latter Kochberg contributes the critical part 01 and sets the standard for the rest. Well done - this reflects Kochberg's lecture style and infectious enthusiasm.

This is a truly excellent intro to documentary production for University and College. Its scope is wide., the writer's enthusiasm in infectious and it is a dynamic and relevant tool for those starting on the doc production road. Well done ! We will use it again for academic year 2003-04.

I purchased this book last year when I was taking a Digital Matte Painting class. I wanted to learn more about how it was accomplished during the golden age of cinema.

The pictures in this book are stunning! There are hundreds of before and after pictures, showing the original film and the glass plates separately.

They also take care to show all the various techniques used in Matte Painting... such as using a mirror to reflect the image, hanging a scaled model in the foreground, and even using a circular screen for a rotating background.

To anyone interested in the golden age of moviemaking, in special effects, or the art of this very specialized skill, this book will be a grand treat. The author knows his subject, and knows some of the images created by these artists are among the most powerful and indelible in the movies. Lavishly illustrated and quite thorough, "The Invisible Art" is a treasure trove of behind the scenes information, explanations, and dissections of the complicated process by which these fantasy environments and set extensions were realized. It's an expensive book (the softcover is slightly less pricey) but there has never been a film book like this, on this subject. Other special effects guides reference matte painting, but no one has ever analyzed the technique in this way. Films profiled include "King Kong" "Wizard of Oz" "Citizen Kane" "Thief of Bagdad" "Black Narcissus" and "Ten Commandments", among dozens of others. A wonderful job by someone who clearly cares for his subject.

It's refreshing (and rare) when a film critic understands that movies are more than an extension of literature and theater. Most critics merely review the screenplay and the acting, but Ryan Gilbey obviously appreciates all of the elements that go into filmmaking, from the visual compositions to the lighting, editing and art direction to the psychological sense of space to the aural textures and everything in between. I love that he writes so deeply and intelligently about "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," a Scorcese masterpiece that is usually ignored. As a teenager in the seventies, I watched that movie a dozen times, fascinated by the tiny details that Gilbey brilliantly explores. With the recent revival in seventies cinema worship, I was afraid there was nothing left to say on the subject. But Gilbey brings a sharp probing eye and intriguing new insight to the films he discusses. He dares to tackle DePalma without going on and on about the obvious Hitchcock nods. He gives "American Grafitti" the full credit it deserves as a truly groundbreaking work of cinematic layering that predates Robert Altman's "Nashville." He ingeniously points out that "The Godfather" might not have earned its classic status without the superimpositions of "Godfather 2". He presents compelling theories as to why Peter Bogdanovich and William Friedkin never lived up to their early successes. He reminds us how innovative "Annie Hall" was at the time, how interesting Jonathan Demme can be, and how complex Terrence Malick films are. My only complaint: Sometimes it's obvious that Gilbey was just a baby when these films were released (he seems to assume that DePalma was well-respected/received during that era, etc.) but it's nice to know the films can still work their magic after all these years. I wish he had written more about the directors' later films but I guess that's another book. At least he mentions them briefly, and also tips his hat to the new wave of auteurs like Wes Anderson, David Lynch, etc. Personally, I believe we are living in a new Golden Age of Cinema that rivals the seventies. Since the late nineties, the "indies" have given us so many new interesting directors and eccentric visions that it's hard for the average filmgoer to keep up with them all. Maybe the talented Ryan Gilbey will turn his critical lens on the last ten years of moviemaking for his next book -- and blow away all those boring critics who can't stop reviewing movies as if they're writing book reports for English class.

Granted, I am already a fervent fan of the "Raging Bulls-Easy Riders" Seventies filmmakers, the era when American Cinema flourished- and yet Gilbey's work brought me fresh, witty insight into the works. The author is a master of the succinct summation that captures a detail in the films you might overlook, even with repeated viewings, plus the book is great fun to read. It's a perfect balance of scholarship and entertainment, with just enough potentially divisive opinion making to keep you plunging ahead to finish a chapter. There is an obvious debt to Pauline Kael but Gilbey's fresh perspective on the era (due to his youth) lends the analysis more insight and depth than Kael. It's a shame this book isn't getting more distribution. The author needs a better publicist in the US! Keep writing, Mr. Gilbey! A new generation needs your writing to remind them of what they're missing at the soulless multiplexes of today!

It is hard to believe that a book that is so evocative in the none facile sense remains a dead pan loquation of justifiable anti-infantilism. Much of what masquarades as art is puerile rot:the Wilsons are magic; they are geet lush; they are great. I love their work. Killer lines within are awash with qualitative prose of a none epic sense, yet it remains provocatively angst ridden and betlittles the concept of alienation and estrangement. Contempt is a dilute form of hate.

It is this transparency of surveillance imposed under the auspices of protection and care which interests the Wilsons. From the implied complicity of Hypnotic Suggestion 505 (1993) to the beguiling kitsch of Las Vegas Graveyard Time (1999), their work reveals the mechanism of coercion under the absent yet omnipresent 'eye of power'. The obvious distinction between their earlier work and more recent investigations is a shift away from the human figure (usually one or both of the artists) as sole metaphor for the complicit subject to depopulated sites, which resonate with implied social control.

A long time Melville fan, I was thrilled to find a study on his work printed in my native English. In the United States many of Melville's films are simply unavailable with English subtitles in either VHS or DVD. I really appreciated being able to access details of these unseen master works through this book. The organization of his work into genres was well thought out. Enjoyable are the tidbits of backstory before, during and after production of each film. Like any passionate artist much of who the man was can be found expressed in his work. This book lovingly invites the reader to seek out and experience these wonderful films. I also found helpful references to other French films I hadn't discovered. I hope and pray Criterion releases more of Melville's work on DVD

Ginette Vincendeau's study of Jean-Pierre Melville, subtitled An American in Paris, is a superb addition to anyone's library of works on film directors and is a perfect complement to the now sadly unavailable set of interviews by Rui Nogueira, Melville on Melville.

The subtitle is a nice touch. Melville was, for his time, a radical filmmaker who embraced American film noir and, for that matter, American film in general. His influence can easily be perceived in the work of many other directors, both contemporary with his time, and later, including, among others, Truffaut, Tarantino, and John Woo. Indeed, Tarantino and Woo are mentioned here, as is Truffaut and Godard. Melville's famous falling out with the latter is highlighted--this followed a period in which Godard professed admiration for Melville. The turnabout is of some real interest.

As this is a current book, Vincendeau naturally did not have the opportunity to speak to Melville directly, as did Nogueira. But she does much with what is known of Melville and offers insights into his character that Nogueira did not. Her dissection of his films is truly first-rate; she analyzes both the films, objectively, and Melville's personal involvement in each of them. Her discussion of the director's perspective on society--what makes it tough, what makes it bearable, what gives it meaning--dovetails nicely with her observations on his work as a filmmaker.

One of the great things about buying the Criterion DVD release of Le Cercle Rouge is that it includes an excerpt from the Nogueira book in which Melville himself talks about that film. The Vincendeau book is indispensable for those who want a penetrating examination of one of the greatest of all French filmmakers.

Highly recommended.

I found two volumes of this "Conversations With Filmmakers Series" at a university library in Japan, and as soon as I could, I bought both for my personal library: Jim Jarmusch and Peter Greenaway. The reason: I think that, if you do a map of contemporary filmmaking, the North Pole and the South Pole would be these two gentlemen. Everything else is somewhere in between. I don't know if any of these two directors is actually so clear, so witty and so self aware, or if it is just good editing work, but very few times you'll find books of film criticism to be so insightful, so revealing and yet, so simple. I know this sounds vulgar, but I'd give up stuff like Film Semiotics if only the University Press of Mississippi had published more books of these series. I just ordered a third book: Akira Kurosawa.

"I consider myself a minor poet who write fairly small poems. I'd rather make a movie about a guy walking his dog than about the emperor of China."- Jim Jarmusch

Over the last few years, University Press of Mississippi has released several book under their "Conversations with Filmakers Series." Past directors in the series have included Martin Scorsese, Bernardo Bertolucci, Jean-Luc Godard, and Quentin Tarantino. I've read just about all of them, and I have to say this one, about American independent film director Jim Jarmusch, is one of my favorites.

The book consists of seventeen interviews of Jarmusch ranging from 1981 to 2000. During that time, Jarmusch has released independent classics starting with Stranger In Paradise(1984), Down By Law(staring a young Robert Benigni-1986), Mystery Train(1989), Dead Man(1995), and Ghost Dog:Way of the Samurai(1999).
These series of interviews reveal some of the meaning and influences that helped shape those films.

For those who might not know, Jarmusch is not only a brillaint director but he is also a facinating conversationalist. In the interviews, he describes his backgroung starting in Akron, Ohio and his early college years studying abroad in Paris, France. As an "outsider" studying in a foreign country, Jarmusch was never able to forget that feeling, and you can tell that when you watch his movies.

What's fascinating about Jarmusch is his mixing of "high' and "low" cultures which permeates his films. In the interviews, he admits being obsessed with the Japanese director Ozu and, at the same time, being influenced by the TV show "The Honeymooners."

I've been waiting for years on a biography about Jarmusch. Although this not a biography(or autobiography or that matter),
it is an excellent introduction this director's life and work. I recommend it to not only Jarmusch nuts, but to anybody who interested in American Independent movies.

This book is a must for all libraries, a comprehensive record of everything John Huston directed, wrote and thought about cinema. Indespensible for all Huston fans.

This book is a must for all libraries, a comprehensive record of everything John Huston directed, wrote and thought about cinema. Indespensible for all Huston fans.

This book is pricey, but it is a must-read if you are interested in early films and nickelodeon films. Lubin is best-known for duping all his competitors' films in the early 1900's, and staging "reproductions" of famous boxing matches that Edison had the exclusive rights to film. If that is all that you know about Lubin, then you really don't know him at all.

Lubin taunted Edison's patent trust early on in trade ads nearly as much as Carl Laemmle did in the early 1910's. He gleefully filed patents on (mostly) useless inventions just to keep Edison's patent lawyers at bay. Lubin was the only Jewish mogul allowed to join the patent trust when General Film was formed. After that, he was staunchly loyal to Edison.

And if not for failing health and some bad decisions, Lubin might have been the last patent trust firm still standing. Lubin was smart enough to see the handwriting on the wall, and started early producing feature films. They were not just longer short films, but planned as features. Some were planned as disaster-genre films, long before these became a staple in the 1970s. For one feature, a huge city-block set was rigged to fall apart as an earthquake scene. For another feature, two trains were actually crashed head-on.

Beside's Lubin's Philadelphia studio, he had studios in other parts of the country. The most modern one was in Betzwood, Pennsylvania. After Lubin's company went belly-up, films were still produced there for several years. The book has an extra chapter documenting these films.

Lubin's Jacksonville, Florida studio made a lot of cheap comedies. Their main claim to fame is the discovery of comedian Oliver Hardy, from Georgia. Romaine Feilding's western studio churned out lots of high quality Western films. Lubin's main studio boasted a cafeteria, and everybody on the lot got a cheap meal.

I don't want to give the whole book away, but Lubin made a few mistakes that cost him dearly. While he went into features in a big way in the early teens, he never stopped churning out one-reel potboilers for nickelodeons. While they made great money for a few years, by the mid-teens he had too many companies making one-reelers for dwindling audiences. He also ended up with too many studios, with all of their extra overhead. Like Laemmle at Universal, he gave jobs to many of his sons-in-laws and relatives, and this began to hurt when his finances were short.

The book is very well researched, will many, many footnotes. There's lots of photos, that will make you actually want to see some Lubin films. I can highly recommend it. Joe Eckhardt runs a Betzwood Film Festival every year in Pennsylvania, that spotlights films made by Lubin and others there.

Joseph P. Eckhardt should be congratulated for this wonderful biography of pioneering film-maker Siegmund Lubin. I had assumed the book to be interesting, if probably a bit technical, and was not prepared for how entertaining the text would be. Using humor, understanding and affection for his subject, Eckhardt describes Lubin's rise from poor immigrant to King of the Movies; his battles with Thomas Edison; the creating of Lubinville, the producer's plant in Philadelphia, and, later, the move to suburban Betzwood. The benevolent mogul had enough chutzpah for two Goldwyns, it appears, and although he might not have paid his actors the salaries they could claim elsewhere, many nevertheless chose to stay in the congenial atmosphere of Lubinville. Like all the other pioneers, Lubin's era was over by the late 1910s, but until then, the German immigrant had entertained millions with his little "fillums." "The King of the Movies" is of course not only a biography of Siegmund Lubin himself, but an invaluable insight into the Lubin Mfg. Co., arguably the until now least understood of the early film companies.

I love the book.It told me everything I did not know about All My Children.It has pictures,fun facts,and triva.It is the best book for anyone that likes All My Children.I mean the best.It is worth the money.It even tells you the All My Chilren stars that watched All My Children before they were on and even tells you when people dies and how they were killed.The sad stories and love stories and how the show got started.It is the best for any Soap fan

Fabulous photographs, detailed storyline recaps, stunning layouts, all make this book a MUST HAVE for all true daytime fans. It was heartwarming to reflect on some of daytimes greatest love stories. It was also a good reminder of why I started watching abc daytime.