Video Production Books

Essentialy, it is a great book: very well written with every piece of important information for working sound for video. The part on post-production is better than the initial one on sound recording. It is not a book for someone looking into learning the basics on sound for video, though. Some prior knowledge is required, I think.

I highly recommend this book for the amateur and more advanced since it contains a lot of information that many of us either forgot, or never knew. It contains a chock full of tips and techniques that aids with sound editing that worked better than I had expected. The book comes with a cd that has samples of great sound editing works for reference.

I've read many books on sound post. This book is excellent. It full of tips and techniques throughout, especially on sound editing, the cd provided has good examples of sound edits. Highly recommended.

Target audience: Anyone involved in audio for video, from the rank amateur to the
experienced professional.

As a video shooter, you are most concerned with your picture. But as we move from SD to
HD, the quality of your soundtracks should follow suit. Video has never been more capable
of delivering high quality sound and picture, yet today's soundtracks are getting worse
instead of better. Why? Partly because DV equipment has made video accessible to more
people at lower cost. While there's nothing wrong with low cost gear, unless you really know
how to handle your audio with the equipment you have, you'll end up with some truly awful
sound. But even expensive top of the line Pro gear can record bad audio, and does so often,
and with great precision! So what can you do to ensure the best quality sound for your
video?

Enter "Sound for Digital Video" by Tomlinson Holman. Simply put, every question about
sound for DV, from microphones through recording, to editing and release audio formats is
covered. Yet, surprisingly, the principles are highly approachable by even the most non-
technical reader. In fact, Mr. Holman has adopted a unique "Director's Cut" section within
chapters, intended to serve those, like Directors, who have limited time but need to digest
the key points quickly and with complete lucidity. The book is, in fact, quite easy to
assimilate by someone who picks it up, but is in the middle of a production! Mr. Holman
directs those readers to what chapter to read FIRST, to glean the critical essentials, as well as
how to use the "Director's Cut" sections.

But don't think it's only for the beginner or the time-limited. There is enough detail and
scientific information contained that even a seasoned pro will find it an essential reference
work. There is enough contained in each chapter to merit several readings, even by those
with careers in audio. The beauty of the book is that it can serve such a wide audience with
useful information, without alienating the extremes.

For those with more time, or more need to create a highly polished and effective soundtrack,
the book delves into the real nuts and bolts of audio as it applies to digital video. For
example, if you had to record dialog from a shout to a whisper, what do you need to know to
accomplish it? What microphone would be best (the answer might surprise you!), should you
plug the mic into your camera directly, or use a mixer? What can you do in post production
to make your dynamic range sound larger than it is? Would using a compressor help you or
hurt you, and when should it be used or avoided?

The basics are completely explored: What type of mic should you use for a given type of
recording circumstance? How can you use both channels of your camera to best advantage?
Avoiding overload is covered more thoroughly than I've ever seen it before, and yet in a
highly understandable way.

In today's competitive market, everyone needs some kind of "edge". After reading only a
portion of this book (for example, on avoiding overload) you become equipped to produce
soundtracks that can sound better than many very high profile producers. For example, we
recently heard a track on a PBS TV show that, if the recordist had understood "avoiding
overload" in this book, the track would have contained clean and understandable dialog. As
it was, it was so overloaded as to be barely intelligible. So simply reading this book can give
you the understanding to record better audio than National Geographic! How's that for
Return on Investment?

Then there's the included CD. It's a collection of demo and illustration tracks to be used as
examples for material in the book, but is also a collection of audio tools that can be used for
calibration and testing. The demo material illustrates sonic characteristics not easily
described in words, like good and bad bump edits, and how to solve editing problems.
There a group of Sound Process Demo tracks that demonstrate filers, limiting and
compression and numerous other audio processes. The demo tracks have descriptive
narration. There's also a standard leader track (30 seconds of tone plus "2-pop") that you
can use on the head of your project. All together, there are 23 tracks.

"Sound for Digital Video" is as enlightening as it is pleasurable to read. No one involved in
DV production, pro or amateur, should be without this book. Recommended without
hesitation or reservation!

This is a pretty good "bridge" book for those who have no knowledge of sound and its importance in film/video and those who have some. I have yet to utilize the cd that came with it, but the chapters are lucid and easy to follow.

Also available in a hardcover edition (1557046298, $29.95), Van Helsing: The Making Of The Legend is a highly recommended accompaniment to the new film Universal starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale, written and directed by Stephen Sommers, and produced by Stephen Sommers and Bob Ducsay. This marvelous work showcases more than 140 film stills, concept sketches, line drawings, set designs, monster make-up, and spectacular special effects. Of this original treatment of the character first made famous in Bram Stoker's 19th century novel Dracula, has been revised and revisited as a legendary monster hunter as a renegade outlaw confronted not only by Dracula and his three brides, but Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man, and a legion of other icons drawn form the archive of classic Universal film studio monsters.

Van Helsing: The Making of the Legend is a gorgeous book full of beautiful scenes with glamorous vampires and adventurous monster hunters. It's too bad Dracula's brides were killed because I wanted to ask them where they shop. The only person without magnificent tresses is Frankenstein's monster, and he's so sympathetic I couldn't help but love him despite his monstrosity.

I had to laugh at this understatement from the writer/director on page 8 of the book, "There are no monsters in this movie, there are only people with very bad problems."

Richard Roxborough's Dracula stole the show with his seductive portrayal of evil's attempt to defy God (with predictable consequences), so I would have liked to see more of him in the book. However, Van Helsing: The Making of the Legend thoroughly documents the creation of the characters and filming of the stunning scenery. If you loved the movie I would highly recommend this book.

Despite the rather silly premise of the movie itself, I bought this book for the art alone. I am a fan of monster designs and I have to say that the creature designs on this book (the Hellbeast and Werewolf)are worth every penny of it. The costumes, sets, and creatures' transformation are magnificent. I have only one dislike about the look of the Frankenstein monster which seems to be lifted out of the Munsters. If you're into dark creatures and monsters, you'll like this book.

There are a number of things that one could single out for complaint regarding Stephen Sommers' summer tribute to the classic Universal monster films, but one of its strengths is its rich art direction. For fans of this film the art direction, and how it came about, is well pictured and documented in "Van Helsing: The Making of the Thrilling Monster Movie." It is a fun compaion to the film and a tribute to Sommers' work in creating a visually stunning summer treat. Shortly, after the realease of the film, the "Salt Lake Tribune" complained that "Van Helsing" lacked "atmosphere." This was a bizarre comment given one of the most atmospheric treatments of this genre since the best of the Hammer films. Much of this is caught in "The Making of." The phenomenal sets and backdrops are well preserved here. The book also contains a full working screenplay which may not stand up to more literal scripts, but it works here and is again fun to have in print.

My husband and the nine-year-old boy in his heart really liked the movie. I like Hugh Jackman and I was mildly amused by the movie (never really scared thank goodness).
But this book is quite wonderful for people interested in films and how they come about. "Van Helsing" is a movie you have to respect for its production values, even if you aren't blown away by its monsterness. Tampering with the old images may just have made me a little unhappy.

The editor, Linda Sunshine, can be justly proud of making this material so very entertaining to a reader and a book person. And I shouldn't be surprised if the script gets a good work out at a lot of school plays for years to come.

As the author of two screenwriting books and a former Hollywood executive, I suggest reading this book to jump-start your fantasy or sci-fi script.

What Sable Jak does exceptionally well is help the writer relax and connect with his or her fantasy world. Through the entire book, Jak's voice is reassuring and positive, urging you to let go of limitations and just do it.

Another major benefit of this book is the way that Jak guides us step by step into the process of turning out a saleable fantasy script. She supplies dozens of viable plot and story lines, character archetypes, and valuable exercises so that even if this book is your only screenwriting tool, you have all the ingredients you need to make magic.

Having read more than my share of creative writing books, with several titles focused on fantasy, I was pleasantly surprised that this one got it right.

The author breaks down what makes a story or screenplay part of the genre. She provides you with the conventions of fantasy so that, knowing them, you can break them in interesting ways.

To me, though, the exercises were alone worth the price of this book. Using one of these I broke down the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and discovered dozens of "fantasy" elements in the script. Also, in going over the first "Lord of the Rings" film I looked over and listed the "grounding elements" -- those that make the story believable by placing things and events found within our own world. I also found the character arc (though not explicitly stated as that) idea within it fascinating: "_______ (character) desperately tries to achieve _______ (their desire) or prevent _______ (someone else's desire), even as _______ (their Nemesis) and _______ (other forces) try to prevent him from acheiving that. In the end, he goes from being a _______ (who he was at the story's start) to _______ (something different)."

As a fantasy author, I especially enjoyed the chapter on Character Creation. Her ideas of the Archetypes found in the genre have been added to my creative toolbox -- I have used a couple as starting points for several characters. Add one of her Archetypes to a standard fantasy Archetype, such as mixing a Demon with a Temptation Prone Friend, and something interesting just may happen.

Overall, I found this to be a strong entry into the field of creative writing for fantasy and sci-fi. A field where most of the books are minefields, roadmaps to oblivion, mind stultifiers, or very limited in their scope. This book is none of those. It has currently joined my small list of works I regularly turn to in my writing carreer. These include "The Writer's Journey" by Chris Vogler, "Creating Unforgetable Characters" by Linda Seger, and "The Character Naming Sourcebook."

"Writing the Fantasy Film" covers everything from character development and plotting to spells and religion. The author brings the magic in the enterprise of writing to life. This book will find a place next to Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey" on my writer's bookshelf.

In addition to the overall high quality of the book, it genuinely shines in the particular information and techniques. The end-of-chapter exercises can truly enhance the abilities of a writer and therefore, the perfection of any fantasy script. The chapter on scripting battle scenes is worth the price of book alone. If you're working on a fantasy script, make sure you pick this book up.

Dan Rahmel
Author: "Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking"

'Writing the Fantasy Film' is one of those books that takes all the obsession of a D&D fanatic and combines it with the more traditional habits of the screenwriter.

Though there is no substitute for shear creative genuis, Writing The Fantasy Film, brings novice fantasy writers more than just one step closer to creating thier own 'Lord of the Rings'.

Whereas other 'how to' books talk about structure, formatting and gramatical pitfalls, this book does not. Instead, it chooses to focus on the elements that make a fantasy story a fantasy story. Though it does touch on the tranditional thoughts and theories of characters such as the anti-hero, reluctant hero, the evil friend, and comic relief, the book expands on them adding genre specific archetypes like 'the captive magic maker', and 'the witch'.

In simple detail, the book guides a new fantasy writer through all the rigors of harnessing the truly epic scope that a fantasy script can often encompasses, refining those concepts and finally weaving a tale so grand and imaginative in scale that it leaves the reader, and ultimately the audience, in absolute awe.

With chapters devoted to the purposes and proprietors of magic, possible religions, political structures, geography, creature construction (which the author refers to as 'beasties') and at least a dozen more fantasy specific segments, this is the book beat about writing in in the genre.

Being a fantasy screenwriter myself and a fan of the genre in general, one would think that I would be biased towards such a book. However, it is the opposite that is true. Knowing as much as I do about the genre and having read popular books such as the 'Dragonlance' and 'Stones of Shannara' series of books when they first came out, instantly makes me skeptical of any writer who claims to have knowledge of, let alone understand the meaning behind, fantasy writing.

Happliy, I admit that I'm no longer skeptical about 'Writing the Fantasy Film.' It has easily encompassed, and embraced, the mythical lore that is the astoundingly magical world of fantasy.

I would recommend this book to any fantasy writer regardless of thier experience level with the genre as the author as obviously shown her love and understanding of what it takes to write the fantasy film.

Tony Machin
www.tonymachin.com

Okay, I'll admit two things right off the bat: 1. I've never written a fantasy script. 2. I'm not a big fan of the genre. Yes, I love "Star Wars (Episodes III, IV and V)" but don't really think of them as "fantasy." The Lord of the Rings Trilogy really can't be beat and truly feel the human elements of the story transcended the "fantasy" elements. I guess my biggest issue of the fantasy film genre is that I really can't relate to it much. Whether I'm too distant, too grounded in my work-a-day reality, or just a bit too distracted to believe in Wizards, Dragons, Damsels in Distress, Magic Potions and Ogres.

Then I read this book.

Coming at screenwriting from more of a "logical" point of view I kept reading this book in hopes of picking apart the whole grasp of fantasy films. This is the book, I thought, that was going to help me make my arguments against the whole genre. What it did was teach me that Fantasy Films (adventure, romantic, sci-fi, modern world based ("BIG," "It's A Wonderful Life"), middle world based, outer world based, etc.) have many of the same elements you find in your standard genres (romantic comedy, western, action film, buddy picture, etc.). In fact, the more I read the book, the more I realized that if some of the archetypes found in fantasy films were plopped into the middle of a standard drama film - it would add an whole element that would enhance the film, not take away from it.

As Ms. Jak broke down all the elements of the Fantasy Film, from Wizards to Buddies, from Spells to Witchcraft, from Outer-Space to Central Europe - I found myself either itching to write a Fantasy Film or, at the very least, incorporate some of those archetypes into my current screenplays: "Maybe the main character has a Wizard he talks to, but he's not really a wizard, but a teacher could be the wizard character."

Ms. Jak says, early on, this book is not for beginning screenwriters but there are MANY MANY things a beginning screenwriter can learn about in the book that they could incorporate into their current screenplay (even if the story is a "buddy picture set on the streets of Hong Kong").

The book is clearly written with chapters in regards to what "exactly" is a Fantasy Film, doing the research and breaking apart the characters and situations.

One of the risks of doing a Fantasy Film is that so many of the archetypes border on the cliché (hero, maiden, witch, warlock, wizard, etc.) but what I found fun was in my own mind putting a twist on those clichés to make them different. She is both encouraging in those terms and she gives plenty of examples. She ENCOURAGES breaking the mould (and I would encourage it, too). And that's really where the fun comes in. Taking the normal and making it abnormal, twisting the clichés until they scream, finding the tent poles upon which the genre rests and then kicking them out from underneath. THIS is what makes writing Fantasy Films so much fun. You can't break the rules in a romantic comedy (trust me, I've tried). But with Fantasy you CAN break the rules, you're ENCOURAGED to break the rules - and Ms. Jak shows you how to do so.

If I have any complaints about the book, it is these:

1. After every chapter there is an "exercise" to do in regards to what you have just read. I don't know anyone who would actually stop reading this book to do the exercise. Though helpful, I'm sure, and a great learning tool - I just didn't see any reader not moving on to the next chapter so they could "write their script's story in epic poem form." These may have been better served in a separate chapter later in the book, once someone has read the book through.

2. I have found that the more I read books on screenwriting and film the more they mention certain films and/or certain websites. I hereby declare that books should now not only contain a bibliography (like this book does) but also a "cinemaography" and an "internetography" to list out both films and websites that are mentioned in the book.

Ms. Jak, especially in the section on research, mentions a number of websites she encourages the reader to visit. Then, in later chapters, she mentions more. It would be great to have a compendium of websites near the end of the book so someone doesn't have to hunt and peck later on.

Same with films. She mentions dozens of films as examples. Some contain many of the "standard" elements of a fantasy film while others are a great example of one type of conflict or one type of love story. This book would have been made better if there was a thorough listing in the back stating which films are mentioned in the book and why and listing other films to check out in the same genre. (Recently a Producer I know ripped me a new one for not seeing films in the genre I was writing.)

If you want to write a Fantasy Film, this book is an excellent resource. If you are a new screenwriter just starting out - I would give this a look, too. This book is both fascinating AND fun.

I bought this book to learn more about planning for larger-scale events, like concerts and festivals. I have been very impressed! A great reference guide for almost every aspect of event planning.

I was looking for a book that could help me set up parades, festivals and meetings. Adavance Coordination Manual focused a lot on stage set up-breakdown and contracts. This book was not very helpful for me. I'm sure it could offer direction for those planning very large events.

If you are planning to stage a sports or special event in any other venue than your own living-room, you might want to take a close look at this book. Mr. Moxley describes the operational aspects of putting together a professional event, in great detail. Those of us who lack the decades of experience in the event business will find this especially helpful. This book has been a big help in creating my checklists, as it covers the many things I might have failed to consider in the planning process. All information is easy to locate, which makes the AC Manual a valuable reference that I will keep going back to.

After more than a decade coordinating small, mid-size and humongous events - and having had to write my own guidelines for future events - Jan Moxley's extraordinary work was a most welcome and unexpected surprise when it arrived just in time for Pope John Paul II fourth visit to Mexico, where we put the whole package (book and CD) to the test, under extremely difficult constraints and conditions.

The results were spectacular!

Whether you are an expert in the field, or are just getting ready to face your first event, Moxley's book is more than just "a must!": It will be your guide, mentor and advisor throughout every stage of your planning and execution, as well as a most welcome companion when having to explain difficult technical considerations to "non-techies".

This hugely expansive book receives five stars for content, thoroughness of research, and plumbing of the depths of extant examples of Miss Guy Blache's memoirs and works ~ but not for reader-friendliness. The tone the author takes is most academic, which is understandable once you know that this ten-years-in-the-making, authorative benchmark biography began as a doctoral dissertation. Alison McMahan covers every square inch of Alice Guy Blache's life and her contributions to silent cinema, plus tosses in some fascinating asides regarding the origins of photography, film, and moving pictures. I found the chapter detailing the early mechanical photographic devises most absorbing, losing myself in such obscurities as the phenakitiscope, zoetrope, and praxinoscope. Miss Guy had the great good fortune to be French, living in France, the birthplace of photography, during the era of the embryonic beginnings of film. She got in on the ground floor, starting her career as secretary to Leon Gaumont, founder of the legendary Gaumont Laboratories, which co-liasoned with the also-famed Lumiere brothers, and held association with Melies. Guy, in her position with Gaumont, was allowed permission to dabble with cameras and film, which, very early on, led to the production of her own films, years before the turn of the 20th century. Guy is assumed, with some few facts to dispute this, to have produced the first fiction film and the first close up within a fiction film. Miss Guy was a prodigious director, churning out hundreds of films in all genres, first in France and then in the US at her Fort Lee Solax Studio. Her husband, Herbert Blache, devised a sound system known as the chronophone which could be rigged to synchronise a sound track with a projected film. Together they made productions to fit with this chronophone, a notoriously unreliable instrument, which more than anything else proved the eventual ruin of them. I recommend this book in conjunction with the biography of Lois Weber: The Director Who Lost Her Way in History. Read both of these books for a wonderful introduction to a sadly passed-over aspect of silent cinema, that of the era of the flourishing woman director, studio owner, and visionary. As such, both books succeed exceedingly.

This book will satisfy anyone wishing to learn two things: 1) How did the motion picture industry get started and its business develop; and 2) How was it possible for a woman to become a leader in pionering narrative film production in a FOR MEN ONLY world?

For starters, my recommendation is to purchase in addition to Ms. McMahan's book "The Memoirs of Alice Guy Blache" (a fairly brief but absolutely fascinating account of Alice Guy's life and adventures in her own words).

McMahan's book is scholarly -- but certainly not dry. This is a labor of love that had come out of the author's doctoral dissertation. During ten years of researech for her book, McMahan first followed the trail of Alice Guy in America, and then back to France (where Guy had been born), Germany and other regions of Europe where the pioneering filmmaker had worked. As a matter of fact, McMahan took a job teaching at a university in Holland for three years to complete her pursuit of Alice Guy life's story. The result is the reconstruction of the adventures of Alice Guy, a courageous young woman who dared to show a male dominated world how to write screen plays, and then use actors, sets and a motion picture camera to create an exciting story for the screen.

Most of what today we take for granted had been first done by Alice Guy Blache: narrative film (three reels long), colored film, sound synchronized film, special effects, animation. But life was never easy for Alice. She had married an Englishman, Herbert Blache (a cameraman), and then three days later the couple was ordered by their employer Lois Gaumont to travel to America for selling his motion picture equipment. At first, Alice didn't speak a word of English -- her new husband had to do all the talking. But soon she learned the language, and several years later she had raised $100,000 (the equivalent today of $25- to $50-million!!) for build the then largest film studio in America in Fort Lee, New Jersey that Alice named Solax.

In 1910, Fort Lee had been the early home of American filmmaking. Several years later, in 1914 Alice's husband, who had begun to have affairs with actresses, sold her out by secretly selling a film "The Lure" (a story about the "White Slave" trade of prostitution) that she had produced for another studio to the studio head for $10,000. But within a month the film had made $300,000. Alice never got over it. This bit of chicanery illustrates how even the most creative and hard driving woman had very little control over her own property in those days. Eventually, Alice divorced the creep. But that made her life even more difficult. Divorced men could pick themsleves up and get back to work for earning a living. What about a woman having to care for her two young children in 1922?

The reason McMahan calls her heroin a "Lost Visionary" is that Alice Guy had been all but forgotten, until relatively recently. Prior to the arrival of this book, Anthony Slide -- the prominent film historian -- had chronicled the films of Alice Guy Blache. And indeed, by 1996 Alice's daughter Simone Blache had translated, and Anthony Slide edited, her mother's memoirs. So then why do we need another book? In fact, McMahan ties it all together and fills in the missing pieces of the Alice Guy puzzle not included in Slide's monograph and Alice's memoir.

This is an excellent read for anyone interested in how a turn of the century woman managed to cope with all kinds of obstacles put in her way by men who either envied and resented her talent, or simply wished to steal what she had created: more than 1,000 story films.

Discover the lost visionary of the cinema in Alison McMahan's well written and fascinating book.

Alice Guy Blaché was the first woman who directed a film. She directed hundreds, maybe 2000 films. Of course most were very, very short, since she started about 1896 or 1897. She was also the first woman to run a studio, which she did for Solax in Ft. Lee, New Jersey from 1910-1914.

Blaché also directed many synchronized sound films in 1906 and 1907! They were actually like music videos of today. A singer or dancer would have their performance recorded on a disc (much like the Vitaphone disks twenty years later). Then Guy (pronounced "Giy") would film the performance, while the singer lip-synced their performance, or the dancers tried to keep up with the music. Of course the synchronization was not that great, but these films were screened in France, Germany, and the USA at the time.

After Guy and writer/director Herbert Blaché got married, she temporarily retired from Gaumont (France). But Herbert was not successful making films in the US for Gaumont, so she began working again writing, directing and producing films in New Jersey. By the way, Herbert was much younger than Alice!

After a couple of successful years directing films in Fort Lee, New Jersey, her studio closed. Other authors have always claimed that it was because Herbert Blaché was reckless with money, as well as unfaithful to his wife Alice, but the author can pretty much prove that theory wrong.

Like any book on early cinema, the author has to cover the filmmaker's struggle to figure out film language. It difficult to write about film theory, but luckily the focus of this book is historical. I only saw the word "diegesis" a few times, so don't let that scare you away. The book also explains how the early French filmmakers Méliès, Gaumont, and Pathé, plus the American Edison studio copied each other's films -- either by re-filming them or copying them in the lab -- in the days before copyright laws had any teeth.

Ms. McMahan has done an incredible research job on her subject. The filmography alone is worth the price of the book. It lists all of Ms. Guy's films, and which archive holds the existing films. Unfortunately, many of her films are lost forever.

The book is a little disappointing in that more of her personal life is not covered, especially since Ms. Guy's daughter assisted with the book. However, until her forced retirement, it appears that Ms. Guy's work was her life. This book is highly recommended for the serious silent film fan.

This book is an amazing labor of love. I should admit that before reading it, I knew very little about the book's subject, Alice Guy. The same can clearly not be said of the author, Alison McMahan, who shows an extreme devotion to the work of her subject - not merely in picking through it, analysing it, explaining it, and bringing it to life, but in hunting it down in the first place.

Note that I referred to the author's devotion to the WORK of her subject. This is not a biography - more a loving excavation of the career of an extraordinary woman, with many personal details and anecdotes thrown in for good measure. But in the light of the recent survey I read which showed that only 5% of Hollywood films are directed by women (forgive me if I've got that figure wrong, but it was tiny, anyway), the career of Alice Guy seems utterly remarkable. The fact that this woman achieved so much in such a short space of time, in the very earliest days of the film industry, will truly make you stop and think.

I would willingly have given this book 5 stars, except for two reasons. First, there are a handful of typographical errors - for which I cannot blame the author, but they did irritate me; secondly, (and I'm being selfish here) I wanted to read more - and yet the end of the book is taken up with an enormous list of Alice Guy's films, which I am sure will be of great use to scholars, but left me feeling a tiny bit short-changed. But I'd hate to end on a negative note, so I'll say this: Alison McMahan has written a highly original and inspiring book, and I hope that many more people get to read it.

The genius of thew Coens captured in this outstanding comedy. The characters, as ever, outdo the narrative, but the quotable lines come close to matching their masterpiece, Raising Arizona. Remember - nobody f#*k with the Jesus!

One of the Coen Bros' best works. Their twisted world is never more hilarious as it is here.

Although the words don't match exactly from the book to the movie, due to ad-libbing of the actors, this book is a must-have for any fan of The Big Lebowski. This book will make you laugh as much as the movie did.

This scriptbook is essential to the uncompromising Lebowski fanatic. Great for neighborhood plays too! An easy way to study the simply brilliant use of dialogue found and recycled throughout the film. What's more, the cover image is far out and would make a great poster.

I'm getting ready to direct my first feature and this book has been invaluable to help me think about the ins and outs of film design. Seriously huge A-list designers that worked on big movies. Fun to rethink about those films from the designers perspective.

I bought this book to explore the psychology of production designers. It delivered through poignant memoirs of many longstanding professionals. It is inspiring to know how and why they entered the business, then learn a bit about their methodology for completing a film.

However, as the publication date is 1992, it does not contain any information about how things are produced now. As a younger individual, I take digital technology for granted. Therefore I was surprised that even the latest designer can only hypothesize, "Technology will probably change
our field."

My mistake - Don't make it yours! Check the publication date! And if anybody has a great current book to reccommend - please do!

This book is exceptionally inspiring. It is wonderful to be able to hear the ideas and experiences of these incredible Production Designers. The interviews bring light to the important role these accomplished men and women played in the world of moviemaking. If you are interested in the art of film making this book is the real thing. You will learn a lot. I love this book!

For those of us designing for motion picture, this is an indispensible collection of interviews with some of the modern masters of the trade.

One can tell that Mr. Morton is not just a wonderful writer, but an
great fan of Mr. Spielberg and "Close Encounters." He delves into
the movie so completely that you almost feel you were there when the
movie was being made.
This is not just a great book for Spielberg fans, but should be a must
read for all film students out there.

This is an exhaustive supplement to existing books that cover this movie. It surprisingly goes into step by step detail over the effects.

Morton is a far better researcher than he is a writer, and this book is an exhaustive, often turgid, dump of his research on the making of the film.

If you are interested in the nuts-and-bolts of '70s big-budget filmmaking, there is a wealth of information here on the twists and turns the production took and the intricacies of the special-effects methods (now obsoleted by digital effects). The photo section, for example, includes not one but *three* pictures of a mold used to create the bodies of some of the flying saucers. If that sounds like a good thing, this book is for you!

The general-interest reader, however, is likely to be frustrated with the level of detail offered as well as the stilted, cliched writing style (the author is so fond of adjectives such as "incredible" that one wishes Inigo Montoya might pay him a visit). Although he provides filmographies and short biographies for all the principals, Morton fails to provide any historical, social, or technological context and misses most opportunities to wring dramatic interest out of the interpersonal conflicts and artistic crises inherent in moviemaking.

Writing skills aside, the level of scholarship and completeness here is impressive, and there is undeniable value in the effort to capture and preserve the detailed history of this important film.

I literally grew up on Spielberg's early films and was lucky enough to enjoy in my youth such classics as JAWS (an all-time fave), E.T. and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS. I can't put into words how amazing it was to see these films in a theatre with a fresh audience. Most prominent in my mind is CLOSE ENCOUNTERS for the simple fact that I got to see it at one of the best movie houses in L.A. -- The Cinerama Dome in Hollywood which featured a massive, arched screen (this was decades before IMAX) and incredible sound system.

Ray Morton has been able to bring back such fond moviegoing memories with his well detailed book on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND that explores virtually every aspect of this movie's genesis. I felt like a kid again as I found myself reliving an incredible movie that has stood the test of time. And now there is a book to stand proudly at its side.

I should also mention that Mister Morton has another book called KING KONG: THE HISTORY OF AN ICON that I also found very entertaining and taught me pretty much every thing there is to know about the furry icon.

This book and Nochimson's are informative but predictable. Too much of this material dates fast because a lot of it is written from the point of view that Lynch can do no wrong... for my money, the reassessment of Johnson's Pervert in the Pulpit is where the new view of Lynch is going, not as a springboard for high-falutin philosophical ideas but to expose Lynch's weird bias toward conservative values dressed up in kinky drag...

Hughes' book is an indispensable addition to the bookshelf of the recent Lynch initiate, casual fan, or long-time follower of Lynch's career and work. Even trivia magnets will find numerous new and fascinating facts and anecdotes.

This is the rare book that can be used either as a career overview, reference work, or just a worthwhile, enjoyable read. The book is divided into sections, one for each work up to and including Mulholland Drive [not only film and TV works] and each is subdivided into categories such as trivia, cut scenes, availability, Lynch Mob (reappearances of members of Lynch's stable of frequent collaborators), or Lynch's own comments on each work. The index is very thorough as well, so the book can be enjoyed non-chronologically in bite-size pieces if desired.

Hughes has gone to the horse's mouth for many of the relevant facts and observances, having interviewed Lynch himself and many who work with him. The book is well-stocked with information, opinion and analysis without coming across as dry or pedantic. I'm very glad I picked it up.

Not nebulous and overly general like some works about Lynch, or a collection of the opinions of one writer like some others, Hughes' book should be purchased and read by anyone with an interest in the work of David Lynch,or in the wide-ranging, well-rounded and fascinating man himself.

3 thumbs up. Buy and keep near TV.

if you're looking for a more in-depth analysis, you might want to look elsewhere, but for straightforward facts about Lynch films, this is a great guide. it systematically goes through a series of catagories (cast/crew, production history, cut scenes, etc. ; also some weirder catagories like "deja vu," "apocrypha,"- all of these lend to a greater understanding of the material in lynch's films) this ultimately ended up being the most helpful book on lynch I read, if only because it made finding actual facts about each subject really easy

Let me start off by saying that this review may be a little prejudiced. I helped David Hughes collect some of the movies and info for the book, and became buddies with him in the process. However, all that aside this is a great book. Rather than being culled from "found" interviews and information, slopped together with a little psychoanalysis and fanfare, David has based his book on three things 1) an obsessive love of all things Lynchian, 2) an obsessive **knowledge** of all things Lynchian, and 3) a personal meeting with Mr. Lynch himself, which allowed this book to have interviews, quotes, opinions, etc. from the man himself that no other source in the world has.
In addition to being the ultimate book for the ultimate Lynch fan, this book has everything you could want in a comprehensive "guide" to Lynch for those wanting to immerse themselves in the Lynch universe for the first time. Full color photos, a VERY detailed episode by episode guide to Twin Peaks, information on his newest projects (Mulholland Drive, his internet ventures), as well as those that never made it (One Saliva Bubble, Rocket Ronnie, etc.).
To sum it up, I believe anybody interested in Lynch should buy this book. It is intelligently written, thoroughly researched, and a joy to read. Lastly, I believe this book can pass the one test no other book about Lynch has been able to (to my knowledge): I defy you to find a factual mistake in this book. While I won't discuss it here, believe me that others are rife with them and this is a topic often discussed on my email discussion group. As a matter of fact, if any one is interested in learning more about David Lynch, discussing him and his works, and, as an extra bonus, getting to meet the author of this book, David Hughes (he is a frequent poster to the list) go to the yahoo groups website, sign in, and go to Lynchians! Enjoy the book!

Where reading an article about a certain effects studio is nice, it's great to finally meet the real people and unsung heroes inside the studios/big names that actually are doing the work. Great book! Cheers to Richard Rickitt!

Real good source of info on who is in the fx industry.

Is a very irregular book because the pictures are important but in this case many photographs looks bad, with bad resolution like taken directly from the internet. I'm very dissapointing also because the introduction with the famous monsters in the 50's cinema is too many brief. I thought that the book was about classic monsters: harryhausen, the 80's...but no, the book is about predator vs. aliens, blade 2...etc. A pity (at least to me).

As a special effects sculptor, I found this book fascinating. There are a very small number of books that cover the subject of actual FX artists and how they work, and this is a welcome addition. Anyone considering a career as an FX designer, sculptor, or FX makeup artist of any sort really needs to see this book.