What are the best resources to study to learn all about film making!?

J

johnathandoe

Member
I am looking into making films. What are the best resources to study and learn all about/ comprehensively film making? I mean cameras, editing software, lighting, effects and animation, and every other thing that matters. Are there books, websites, videos, text books, or any other number of things? I am looking for the best so as to be efficient and thoroughly versed with insight from experience and informed in detail. I have studied other subjects and now know some of the best books that would help someone out if that subject and would had saved me a lot of time and so forth it I had known prior, and I am hoping there are some self taught or school taught people on here who can share the same with me or maybe just even something good you have read. Any input and advice is very helpful and appreciated. I love details, specifics, and insightful wisdom from experience.
 
Dare I say it... DVXUser is I think one of the best resources out there, with pointers and recommendations on pretty much any aspect of filmmaking you can imagine. So... you've started in the right place; get some practice on effectively searching the forum!

Having said that - The Hollywood Camerawork DVDs are great; Barry Green's DVD on audio is great and VEWRY fun; Hullfish's "Digital Color Correction" book did wonders for me...
 
This forum. John August's blog. Other blogs and the like. FilmmakerIQ articles and the sites outside articles originate from. Wikibooks, can't remember the title. Real books. The DVD's listed above. Any active forum you can find. Google. Practice. If you want to learn more with a certain program, search for the program name + tutorials. There is no shortage of information.
 
Ditto on all the above, especially *this site*. Plus:

The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier
Shot By Shot by Steven Katz
 
I agree about DVXuser being a great resource. There's so many people here who are working professionals. And most of them are friendly and helpful. I think I learned more about filmmaking from reading these boards and asking questions than I did in undergraduate film school, no joke. You've just got to love reading - because I guarantee there's hundreds of threads here that can help you learn what you're looking to learn.
 
Here is a big list of most of the books I've read. They have taken my filmmaking to the next level.

This is by far my fav. very extensive book about lighting, cinematography, ect. Detailed with many diagrams of lighting setups from classic movies (what you wish you could find online). Its expensive but if you only buy one book on the subject buy this one, its worth it.

"Lighting for Film and Digital Cinematography" by Dave Viera and Maria Viera.

Also, for screen plays you MUST read:

Story by Robert Mckee, and Screenplay by Syd Field. (reading and understanding these will take your scripts to the next level).

The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

Others:

Cinematography: Third Edition by Kris Malkiewicz and M. David Mullen

Cinematography: Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers by Blain Brown (good one)

Motion Picture and Video Lighting, Second Edition by Blain Brown (very detailed about the technical aspects of various lighting equipment and their uses, the theory parts overlap his other book a bit).

I second "The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction" by Steve Hullfish. One of a kind book on the subject. Gives you the why and how, not just a "what does this button do?" book.

Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player by Robert Rodriguez (great read)

Gotta get this one: The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap (Peachpit) by Stu Maschwitz (overview of all the little post production tricks and workflow recomendations).

American Cinematographer Manual - industry bible, many diff. editions, VERY technical. If your looking for math equations to figure out XYZ problem, this is the book. Detailed diagrams of common 16/35mm film cameras.

Sound:

Sound for Film and Television, Second Edition by Tomlinson Holman

Sound for Picture 2ND ED. (Mix Pro Audio Series) by Tom Kenny

Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, Second Edition by David Lewis Yewdall ( really good book)

Others I found useful:

$30 Film School by Michael W. Dean

Film Sound: Theory and Practice by Professor Elisabeth Weis and Professor John Belton

Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies by Robert Sklar (history of the industry)


Web resources:

DVXuser.com

DVinfo.net

Creative Cow

http://fxguide.com/

lynda.com ($25 a month and you can get extensive walkthroughs of any program you can think of.....very worth it. FCP, Adobe, ect.)

http://prolost.com/

http://www.coloruser.net/grades (color correction tips)

http://www.2-popforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/f-203.html

http://slfcpug.ning.com/

http://www.homebuiltstabilizers.com/ (steadicams)

http://www.liquidsculpture.com/dof.htm

http://www.digitalcinemasociety.org/

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Pho...r-correction-and-color-theory/Most-popular/1/

http://www.mccannas.com/pshop/photosh0.htm

http://writingonthewallblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/plotting-with-mythic-structure.html

http://nigel101.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=LowBudget

http://graphicssoft.about.com/gi/dy...Glossary/Optical/Chromatic_Aberrations_01.htm

http://videoediting.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=32922&afterinter=true


I can post some links for shopping but I cant remember if their are restriction as to what you can post on this site. Most of the good ones actually advertise here anyway.

Remember, most important thing is to just shoot lots. Thats the best teacher. But these books will answer all those hard questions. GOOD LUCK!!!!
 
No problem. I've kinda been working on material for my own site because their is no one site that just has links to all the other good info. Just find the right info on the web is a full time job.... we need a central database of it all.
 
johnathandoe said:
I am looking into making films. What are the best resources to study and learn all about/ comprehensively film making? I mean cameras, editing software, lighting, effects and animation, and every other thing that matters. Are there books, websites, videos, text books, or any other number of things? I am looking for the best so as to be efficient and thoroughly versed with insight from experience and informed in detail. I have studied other subjects and now know some of the best books that would help someone out if that subject and would had saved me a lot of time and so forth it I had known prior, and I am hoping there are some self taught or school taught people on here who can share the same with me or maybe just even something good you have read. Any input and advice is very helpful and appreciated. I love details, specifics, and insightful wisdom from experience.
Click to expand...
Check out my tutorial video on youtube... Ive acutaly been getting a lot of question from people with regards to the music videos and films I've shot in the past. "How did you do it?"" or "What camera did you use?" ... Many people wonder how I can always achieve the same results regardless the size of the budget. So i started doing tutorials to explain what it takes to create good looking images in films. Or as I like to call it SHOT DESIGN... here's a tutorial I did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZA9r0iWbdw

Let me know what you think? Any questions, or suggestions for my future tutorials? Feed back greatly appreciated.

Tom Antos
www.tlapro.com
 
Jimmy -- I had Blain Brown for a teacher (briefly) at the L.A. Film School. He was fantastic, he's really knowledgeable and just in general knows his stuff. His books are solid work.
 
Cool. His set of books that I own are some of my favorite, hence why I had them on the list. I've read a lot of cinematography books and his really answer the questions that everyone asks and go into detail about the why AND the how.
 
I picked up an extremely broad shallow understanding of the whole process starting at the end of 2005. I read books, watched vids, surfed forums. Here are a few places to look:

1) I am surprised no one mentioned the digital juice videos. These were perfect for me since I am such a visual learner. I would have to say they were the most valuable as well.

2) If you really need a lot of help their is a podcast called izzy video that starts from the very basics (white balance, exposure, etc.). Their is also a similar podcast put out by videomaker magazine. The videomaker podcasts seemed to run pretty long, but occasionally they had a segment that was extremely helpful to me (like intro to various tripods, etc).

3) Just shooting and doing it! Sometimes by yourself sometimes with other pros.

Hope that helps someone out their in the internet void.
 
There is only ONE way to learn this craft, and I speak from having done this for 33 years. It is the same system that we have been using since the successful mastodon hunter took his proteges into the field looking for new meat for the winter stash while getting the fewest hunters killed.

You could teach yourself, learn by trial and error but you waste the most amount of time and ingrain bad habits. The real way is to research and target someone who is successfully doing what you would like to be doing in ten years, whether it's music videos, narrative, spots etc. and become his apprentice. That's how my generation did it: after film school (which is unneccessary) we swapped slave labor for lessons. We got to ask a zillion questions and sooner or later were trusted with second unit shots and all the crap work. All our footage was viewed by pros older than us and critiqued. That is the best way to learn I feel having observed all the newbies for a couple of decades. There are too many factors to try to teach yourself.

Lastly, anybody who is technically proficient and creative will sooner or later be able to shoot, the problem is to learn how to make a sustainable living with in for the long run. Very few people can and that is the one thing only an older pro can teach you, film professors can't. Otherwise it's merely a hobby. So I would counsel: find an older pro and be his cheap or free assistant so you can ask questions and observe how to run a business.

Also, here's some resources: http://www.nedmiller.com/video_links.html

Regards,

Ned
 
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