Book Club...sort of.

Check out this inspirational exerpt from Rebels On The Backlot, By: Sharon Waxman

It's an exchange between David Fincher (just pre Fight Club final greenlight) and Arnon Milchan ("tall, handsom, tan and smooth as they come" exec for Fox) ......from the book:



About four weeks before production was to start, both the Fox bosses and Arnon Milchan began to panic. Milchan was sent on an errand to get Fincher to scale the movie back from $67 million to $62 million. Milchan invited Fincher to dinner at Les Deux Cafes, a French resteraunt in Hollywood, near the Egyptian Theater. They ordered a couple of glasses of wine and Milchan put an arm around Fincher and said, "David,Im going to tell you something and I know its not what you want to hear, but I think we're friends, and I think I can explain something that you may not have considered."

He paused before continuing. "Rupert Murdoch owns a baseball team, and he doesnt even like baseball," he explained. "He owns the Dodgers, and he doesnt care at all about baseball. He looks at it as an asset. This is something that can make money for him. And he looks at this movie as either an asset, or a bad investment. You are walking a very, very thin line here because you have taken a risky proposition and youve moved it over into becoming this ridiculously risky proposition. Rupert Murdoch doesnt care about movies, he doesnt own a movie studio because he likes movies. I dont know what to tell you. Youre going to have to either cut $5 million out of this budget, or theyre probably not going to make the movie."

Fincher thought about this for a while before responding. "Arnon, I completely understand what youre saying. It makes all the sense in the world to me. I understand Ruperts position, too. But my position is as follows: Im not making this movie for people who dont like movies. There are kids out there who go and wait in the sun and spend whatever allowance money they can to go to a Dodgers game, or to be outside the stadium when someone hits a home run. And they go there with their gloves that are oiled and wrapped with twine and run over by their parrents station wagons. And they are there to catch a fly ball because they love baseball. And thats who Im making this movie for."
Fincher took a beat before concluding. "I cant help you when it comes to cutting this number down, because its not going to come down. The budget is what it is. This is what we're going to spend. If you guys dont want to make the movie I completely respect that."

Milchan and Fincher remained on good terms throughout the production and release of FIght Club, despite the poor box office performance of the film. Every so often, he'd whine to Fincher about how much money he lost. Fincher would repond, "Dude, I have no sympathy for you. Ten years from now youll still be picking up chicks saying "You know, I was the producer of Fight Club."
 
 
Turning Points in Film History by Andrew J Rausch

Film school students probably won't need this, but it's good for the rest of us. It spends a chapter on each of a couple dozen or so major moments or movements in film history. There are chapters on Noir, Italian Neorealism, Blaxploitation, the advent of Talkies, as well as chapters on specific films like Snow White, Citizen Kan, and Birth of a Nation. IT comes into the era of the modern blockbuster mentioning Spielberg, Lucas, etc.

It's not to detailed on any one topic, but it was great to get an overview of some of these terms that get bandied about. There are lots of examples of films to watch, it seems well-researched and is easy to read. Die hard film historians won't find much new, but for those just realizing that the history of film goes beyond Gone With the Wind, it's a great read.
 
Been a while since I posted here. I've read countless books in the past year, but I am espeecially impressed (so far) with "Thinking in Pictures" by John Sayles. He has managed to stay out of the mainstream and tells you a bit of how he does his low budget approach.
 
All of these books are fantastic recommendations, as I own almost all of them, and have read as well. If you're looking for a more scholarly education in film, which I believe is extremely important to understanding cinema - which then allows you to create better films, I have listed some of the books I have read from my studies. I'm graduating in May with a double major in Media & Communications and Film Studies. These books i've listed are amazing pieces of literature for anyone intersted in delving more deeply into the study of film and film studies. I strongly recommend them all, but If I had to only to say choose only TWO of these books. It would be, the stam book and film theory and criticism. Each of these two books hold the most important and recognized articles the film studies that the public is constantly talking about. If not, all the regular barnes n noble books are good too. enjoy!



Film Theory and Criticism, Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen
Film Theory: An Introduction, Robert Stam
Film Art, David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson
Understanding Movies, Louis Giannetti
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Peter Biskind
The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in the Hollywood Western, Michael Coyne
 
I am reading Understanding Movies as well (a book in each bathroom in this house). Although it is very much like a textbook (and therefore a bit dry and cerebral at times), it is one of the best overviews of all the elements of film (story, photography, acting, audio, etc). It also cites a lot of films I have actually seen, which is rare since I have no theoretical background and have seen few european films. I highly recommend that as well.
 
Been reading The Technique of Film and Video Editing by Ken Dancyger. I've read books by editors like Murch and O'Steen before and gotten a lot out of them, but they were mostly about their personal opinions and experiences. This one is much more academic and goes all the way back to the silent features. It dissects specific films and editing styles in detail, explaining the effectiveness of each as it goes. Aside from theory, it touches on practical applications and the current changes going on with the advent of non-linear editing.

Great read, if a little cerebral at times. Best comprehensive book on the subject I've read so far.
 
I recommend two books for anyone who serious about this business:

"The Big Picture - Money and Power in Hollywood - by Edward Jay Epstein"

This book gives you an inside look at the moguls who founded Hollywood, the ones who run it today, how the industry works. This book enlightened me on clearing houses that productions companies form to shuffle moneys, really interesting stuff. I recommend this book highly as absolute reading to understand the foundation of this industry.

"CINEMATOGRAPHY - The Theory and Practice - Image making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers - by Blain Brown"

I believe this book is used as a textbook. I bought mine on Ebay but you can find it on Amazon. This book is STELLAR when it comes to really understanding the technical side of the industry. Some stuff just rolled right over my head but I learned a tremendous amount and consider it one of my most valued books along with my writing books.

Because of the Cinematography book, I went on Ebay and bought this dvd:

"Seven Samurai - by director Akira Kurosawa"

Unbelievable how this director in his day got so many things right. It's a very long movie, about 3 hours I believe, but listen to the narration, it's intriguing and insightful.
 
I've been reading "Droidmaker" about George Lucas and the advent of digital cinema. Not really a book on filmmaking, but an amazing and in-depth history of how so many of the things we take for granted as filmmakers have come to be.

Some of these guys are amazing visionaries. They draw from experience in computers, TV, editing, medical imaging and music to lay the groundwork for nearly every piece of technology we use every day. Coppola was actually projecting an HD replacement of film as far back as 1980.

The book is dense with names I have heard, and lots I haven't. But there are parts that actually give me a better understanding of the technology (like frame buffers , pulldown and alpha channels), because it describes it as it developed, in relatively simple, laymen terms.

Not a quick read, but worth the effort and time if you are interested in the technology, the history, or the people involved.
 
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