by: TJPARSONS

We are  proud to present to you THE TEN for the month of June. This month's 10 has to do with books on Filmmaking that no one should be without. That is to say resources that I feel give someone who is interested in film and making media a wide scoped eye into the process and inter- workings. Many people have a limited conception on what a complicated, interdisciplinary and collaborative process it is. This "ten" list is dedicated to those that ask themselves " I want to know more about filmmaking but don't know how to tackle the process from beginning to end." or possibly " I've started working on this film , now I've gotten this far... now what?" . This list by no means is inclusive of ALL good references and learning materials on how to make your Film. But it is, in fact a very good start. As a matter of fact I like the books on this list so much that I wish I could afford to give them as gifts for those that work with me in the studio. This list is chock full of books with ideas, that after you read them may turn into a chain reaction of Ah-ha moments resulting in a much better comprehensive understanding of the craft than lets say all the behind the scenes documentaries and Google results I've pursued  in my life. I've learned much from extras on Blue-rays and DVD's , but the things they do not tell you is the essentials that will be found in the books that follow.

	1) Sound Design - the expressive power of Music, Voice, and Sound Effects in Cinema By David Sonnenschein. This book emphasizes not just the "importance" of sound but how to apply it to your project in a way that defines the story, punctuates, emotionally involves the audience, and weaves depth and tonality.  Sound is about 1/4 of the whole process, so it stands to reason if you need a little insight to this area of this process - you need this book. There is really no other way to put it. The author gives great care in helping the reader understand the psychology and physics of sound while giving clues of how to apply that knowledge in terms of art and storytelling.
	2) Produced By... Balancing Art and Business in the Movie Industry By Paul N. Lazarus One of the hardest things to come to terms with is balancing your "art" and the business aspects of your production. This book  scopes things like understanding the studio system, the steps of development, financing (as well as types of financing for your film), Understanding the workflow from pre-production through production, the kinds of edits, touches on marketing, and advertisement. Many books cover these grounds, but what I like about this book is that it touches on points that beginning filmmakers either overlook or are too impatient to learn and give critical thought to. The chapters can be read as reference or in sequence.
	3) Setting Up Your Shots - Great camera moves every filmmaker should know By Jeremy Vineyard I can not even begin to explain to you the many years and hundreds of books that I looked through to find a unique reference like this. This book is useful for story boarding and also a good tool to have on set to leaf through when discussing on the fly changes with a camera operator. Essentially this is like a visual dictionary of story telling techniques of shots in the form of story board illustrations.  It explains what the shot is, how it is used, considering effect on audience, tone and practicality in reference to telling the story. Also one of the things I like is it illustrates popular shots from movies that a film enthusiast can recall from memory such as The Matrix, Blade Runner, Vertigo, The Graduate, Blue Velvet, and 2001: A Space Odessy. Treat yourself to this book without having to look for it as many years as I did.
	4) Film Directing Shot by Shot - Visualizing from concept to screen By Steven D. Katz This book came up just a few odd minutes ago while I was talking to one of my lead actors that wants to expand his horizons in the business of filmmaking. We were discussing the syntax of making and editing a storyflow and this book says it about right: "A complete catalougue visual techniques and their stylistic implications ". And trust me that byte says a lot. Being a visual learner myself I admire the way this book utilizes stills, storyboards and diagrams to explain conventions and concepts. Must for would be Directors and Director of Photography/Cameramen.
	5) Your State's Current Film Office Guide By Any state that wishes to have an influx of commerce Call your local Film office and have them send to you a copy of this directory, and for God's sake do so every year and keep it updated. The picture on the left is the 2004 South Carolina Production Guide, they all look different but if you are a state that does't have one and you recently passed a film related tax incentive to bring dollars and jobs to your state - please do yourself a favor and spring for amount of money it takes to print one of these things, it can't cost much more to produce than a ring bound recipe book. Your citizens will thank you. To the moderate to high budget Production Company (you already know what its for): its a directory for everyone and every resource you need to complete your film. For the low to no budget filmmaker its a way to call people in the industry and learn about rentals, and do cost analysis or make connections.
	6) Film Production Management 101 - The ultimate guide for film and television production management and coordination By  Debora S. Patz This book encapsulates the whole process from beginning to the end (no lie:even how to make sufficient credits). The other subjects touched upon in this book are setting up an office, how to avoid pitfalls, touches on some legal situations, gives multiple templates to get you started on breaking things down and organizing your production, as well as close to home anecdotes. If you think you know everything there is to know about making a movie because you watch tons of movies and extras, this book will show you that you could watch those extras for 20 years and still only skim the tip of the iceberg. 450 pages may sound like a lot, but the fact that Patz was able to make something quite so comprehensive in that margin is impressive. If I had the cash I would buy every crewmember interested in going to more complex projects with me one copy each - no questions asked.
	7) Media and Society - an introduction By Michael O'Shaughnessy and Jane Stadler Maybe a kind of "with great power comes great responsibility" read, but it touches on some things that many people do not consider when engineering their media for consumption.  Subjects touched upon in this book are:Understanding story conventions, significance of Campbell and Jung, evolving roles of gender and ethnicity in media, advertising (its roles and methods), levels of percieved realities, postmodernism, and understanding the mirror that we look into that both reflects ourselves and the society we fit into - blemishes and all. If you read this, you will no longer call something "just a movie".
	8) Your Favorite Published Screenplay - "Your favorite published screenplay", because it may be one in the same with one of your favorite movies that you've seen multiple times. I say have at least one published screen play around that you can, while you read recall specific instances in the movie that can help you to format your ideas visually into words. The screenplay at left is "From Dusk Till Dawn".  I find it is a genuinely good reference. Tarantino is a writer/director and YOU as a beginning filmmaker will be wearing many hats, its suffice to say that some of the techniques he uses in this screenplay involve more visuals, citation of action, camera shots/angles than a typical screenplay. Often screenplays tend not to be so presumptuous with camera angles and the like because when you are shopping a screenplay around you don't want to step on the toes of the possible director (they like these things to be their call). In a low budget independent production you will be doing yourself, you want to be as specific as possible so every understands your vision and what you are trying to achieve. Formatting properly helps you from running into critical snags down the road,eases pre-production and shows possible financiers and crew you are professional, serious, and organized with your ideas. I cannot stress how much easier it is to produce a correctly formatted screenplay than a list notes with dialogue. And many people do not realize how many drafts you can go through -
	9) 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks of Digital Photography by Rob Sheppard This is a somewhat simplified collection of photographic elements, concepts, and basic introductions to ideas that you can build on. One of the best things this book does for the reader is actually show them how to do things and gives visual examples and comparisons. It's my opinion that in order to be good with moving images, you must first understand expectations and limitations of still images. This book gives a lot of concepts in lamen's terms that can be used as reference later on, and it is organized in a way that when you are working with others - you can flip it open and point your finger to site examples - "it needs to look like this" or "we need an extra light over here". It lightly delves into psychology of the art and in spots helps the reader to understand how to guide the eye to focus where it needs to be, and the science and idealogy of why things look better in some ways than others and the reasons behind why that is.
	10) Teach Yourself Film Studies by Warren Buckland I realize that reviews on movies in this day and age are a dime a dozen, but in some repects I believe some reviews shine through more than others. "It was stupid" and "it sucked because" when im reading a review makes me cringe. There IS a way to critically watch movies and as a filmmaker or beginning filmmaker it can be an enriching experience to understand characters, genre's and conventions. What it touches upon is everything you need to understand the techniques and possible motives for choices in vein of good storytelling. If you are interested to know more about general film aesthetics, the structure of the story, understanding the autuer and genres - look no further. Did you know there where about 5 different types of documentaries? Are you curious what the word Mise-en-scene is that you keep hearing? It might be time to look into the pages of this book - it definately can't hurt. Above touching upon history of film, it is brave enough to help a reader understand the narrative chronology of Pulp Fiction, restricted narration in Taxi Driver and have enough momentum to tackle Lynch's Mullholand Drive.

This is by no means a complete list, but its a real good start for covering a lot of elements in the process. If you are trying to get your feet wet and teach yourself or If you are training a team of hands to help you with your movie, and your production team is willing to learn and not assuming that they know all there is no know "because they have watched movies their whole life" or fequently muttering "this is good enough for what we are trying to do  ..." there are things here that just may bring you to success.

Putting media or a Film together is hard work, not very glamourous, full of headaches if not organized and done correctly,  and the field is very competitive. There are many sleepless nights, late hours, and hand wringing situations- so its best to prepare yourself accordingly. And my thought is if you you spend of lot of your money, and utilize other people's time and energy (and perhaps other's money if you are one of the lucky ones), it's probably best to put the best foot forward in terms of professionalism and understanding of the process. Every Film is a risk but the risks decrease significantly when you have a full understanding of the process.

The technology to make movies is getting cheaper all the time, so give yourself an edge by actually focusing in on "the craft itself" and make a good product, I'll be behind you 100% and will be one of the first in line to watch it. Feel free to contact me

Hope you enjoy the books,
TJParsons

Tom Parsons

The founder of Uddershiet Films and film enthusiast, maintains a fun collection of movies that he regularly references for technical examples, discussions with colleagues, friends, students, and production staff. Although there are particular films, shorts, and videos that he prefers over others, seldom is there a movie that he doesn't like.