Resources
[Books] [Films] [Screenplays] [Websites]
Books
Billups, Scott. 2003. Digital Moviemaking. Michael Weise Productions. (DV Filmmaking Techniques)
"The name of the game is content. C.O.N.T.E.N.T. Anyone who has the urge to dive into the pixilated pool of digital production should have it tattooed to the inside of their eyelids. Anything you create, regardless of whether you call it a digital movie or online entertainment, is content" (p. 12).
Brigman, Galan. "Capturing Video in Windows Movie Maker from Analog Sources ."
Buckland, Warren. 2003. Teach Yourself Film Studies. London: Hodder & Stoughton. (Film Criticism)
Bunzel, Tom, Dave Johnson, Walter Glenn, et. al. 2003. Make the Most of Your Digital Photos, Video, and Music. Indianapolis: Que Press. (Computer Use, How-to)
The Computer Videomaker Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Making Video. (2001). 2nd Ed. Chuck Peters, Sandi Kilcollins, Wendy Nichols, eds. Boston: Focal Press. (Treatments, Scripting, Storyboarding, Shooting, Editing--lots more--How-to)
Dean, Michael. 2003. $30 Film School. Muska & Lipman. (All the basics from a real DIY filmaker)
Harmon, Renee. 1993. The Beginning Filmmaker's Guide to Directing. New York: Walker and Company. (Directing How-to)
Lewis, Roland. 1995. 101 Essential Tips: Video. New York. Dorling Kindersley. (Video camera How-to)
Malkiewicz, Kris. 1989. Cinematography. 2nd. Ed. New York, Simon and Schuster. (Filming, Lighting, Techniques--traditional equipment)
Manovich, Lev. 2001. The Language of New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press. (Media History, theory)
"...the computer media revolution affects all stages of communication, including acquisition, manipulation, storage, and distribution; it also affects all types of media--texts, still images, moving images, sound, and spatial constructions" (p. 19)
Murch, Walter. 2001. In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing. 2nd. Ed. Beverly Hills: Silman-James Press. (Film Editing, History, Theory, Process.)
"...the 'cut' (film editing)...represents a total and instantaneous displacement of one field of vision with another, a displacement that sometimes also entails a jump forward or backward in time as well as space" (p. 5).
Zettl, Herbert. 1999. Sight, Sound, Motion. Wadsworth.
ISBN: 0-534-52677-2
[Books] [Films] [Screenplays] [Websites] [Top]
Films
Annie Hall. Woody Allen. Look for breaking of the fourth wall.
Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppolla. Look for ways that reality is challenged; atmospheric effects.
Birds, The. Alfred Hitchcock. Contains close to 1100 separate shots--a lot for Hitchcock. Watch for "birds' eye perspective" shots.
Blair Witch Project, The. Shot for $60,000, or so goes the lore. Watch for predominance of hand-held techniques; camera as character.
Blue Velvet, David Lynch. Light and dark.
Bob Roberts. Mocumentary. Look for handheld work.
Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore. Documentary. Hand-held work, interviews.
Casablanca. Incredible lighting.
Conversation, The. Francis Ford Coppolla. Editing as a concern of the main character in the film. Check out the film editing (Murch).
Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Woody Allen. Watch for conversations, lots of over the shoulder work.
Dog Show. Mocumentary. Look for lots of hand-held work, (mock) interviews.
Double Indemnity. Film noir, atmospheric.
English Patient, The. Edited partly mechanically, partly digitally. Oscar for editing.
Fargo, Joel and Ethan Cohen. Editing, crane shots.
Fight Club, The. Interesting sequencing, editing.
Look for changes in ambient color.
Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean. Get the letter
box version. It's been said that each frame is a visual masterpiece.
Maltese Falcon, The. Film noir. Atmospheric.
M*A*S*H, Robert Altman. Different kind of war movie. Look for "last supper" scene.
Memento. Extremely different story sequencing--moves from the end to the beginning. Consider editing challenges.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 40 specially trained Ecuadorian mountain Llamas et al. Fun on the cheap (ok, pretty cheap).
Mulholland Drive, David Lynch. Intertwining stories, bizarre sequencing, interesting editing. Look for lights/darks.
North By Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock. Importance of landscape. Watch for wide angle shots of landscape during airplane attack sequence.
Plan 9 from Outer Space. Ed Wood. You gotta love the guy. Very bad sci-fi made by a man who loved the business. Watch for pie pan flying saucers.
Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock. Big Hollywood director's effort at a "cheap" scary movie. Character driven. Kills off heroine (and big star) in first half hour. By the way, black and white for this film was a choice, not a necessity. Check out scene in the office when Marion and Norman talk.
Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarrantino. Intertwined stories mess with linear story telling. Consider the editing challenges.
Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock. A film about watching films. Check out how the windows of the buildings serve as multiple viewing screens each with its own compelling story.
Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarrantino. Gritty. Consider the dialog.
Roger and Me, Michael Moore. Documentary about the loss of factory jobs in Flint MI and the effect on the local economy. Look for the "bunny" scene.
Rope, The. Alfred Hitchcock. Contains only 12 separate shots. Look for continuity.
Sex, Lies, and Videotape; Steven Sodderberg. Video as a character, as a personal medium.
Third Man, The. Orson Wells. Atmospheric. Check out the odd sound track.
Waiting for Guffman. Mocumentary of the making of
a local play.
[Books] [Films] [Screenplays] [Websites] [Top]
Screenplays (that I have copies of)
Cheese, Chapman, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin. 1977. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. London: Methuen. (Screenplay)
"1. EXT: CASTLE WALLS. DAY.
Mist. Several second of it swirling about. Silence. Possibly, atmospheric music. Superimpose 'England AD 787'. After a few more seconds, we hear hoofbeats in the distance. They come slowly closer. Then, out of the mist comes KING ARTHUR followed by a SERVANT who is banging two halves of coconuts together. ARTHUR raises his hand." (p. 1)
Cohen, Joel, Cohen Ethan. (2000) Fargo. (Screenplay)
[Books] [Films] [Screenplays] [Websites] [Top]
Websites
Applied uses of digital video
Digital video understanding research
http://www.informedia.cs.cmu.edu/
Internet 2 digital video initiative
http://dv.internet2.edu/
Aspect ratio: examples and explanations
Aspect
ratio explanation and examples from Digitalbits
PBS discussion of aspect ratio
Good detailed explanation and history from How Stuff Works
More examples of different aspect ratios
Aspect ratio: this site also has explanations of various film sizes
World Television Standards and Aspect Ratio (from CyberCollege)
Tutorials and other stuff
Arstechnica: Guide to capturing, cleaning, and compressing video
Adobe expert center
http://studio.adobe.com/expertcenter/main.html
Television Production: A Comprehensive On-line Cybertext in Studio and Field
Production by Ron Whittaker, Ph.D.
http://www.cybercollege.com/tvp_ind.htm
List of Tutorials
http://www.tutorialfind.com/tutorials/multimedia/
Webmonkey Flash Tutorial for Beginners (includes links to stuff you need)
http://www.webmonkey.com/tutorial/Flash_Tutorial_for_Beginners_-_Lesson_1
All Webmonkey Tutorials
http://www.webmonkey.com/tutorial