Film and Television
Articles
Film and TV Directing,
Essays,
Speeches and Technical Reports
This
section contains links to Reports,
Articles, Essay's and Speeches
designed to help
Filmmakers become more informed about the creative and technical
aspects of Film and TV Production.
Motion Picture Directing - Cecil B. DeMille
This paper was originally presented before the Graduate School of
Business Administration of Harvard University, April 26, 1927 (www.cinemaweb.com)
The Movie Industry - An
Overview - James
R. Jaeger II
The
Movie Industry is one of most exciting and
informative businesses in the world, a business where the revenue of a
single feature film (such as Titanic), can approach or exceed $1
billion. In 1998, worldwide gross revenues generated by motion pictures
in all territories and media (including music and ancillaries) amounted
to over $40 billion. Over 70% of the population rents or goes to movies
regularly, thus accounting for over 1.5 billion movie attendances each
year in the U.S. (www.mecfilms.com)
A Brief, Early History of
Computer Graphics in Film
The
first feature film to use digital image processing was Westworld, in
1973--the same year as the first SIGGRAPH conference. John Whitney Jr.
and Gary Demos at Information International Inc. (III; aka "Triple I")
provided digitally processed, pixellated versions of motion photography
to portray an android point of view. The same group used digital
compositing to materialize characters over a background in the 1976
sequel, Futureworld. These efforts were recognized with a Scientific
& Engineering Academy Award in 1994.(http://www.beanblossom.in.us)
Adapting Shakespeare to Film - Gail M. Feldman
For
the last 400 years there's been a whole lot
o' Shakespeare goin' on, and despite a few minor wars, an industrial
revolution, the doubling of the average human lifespan, the
explosion/expansion of the English language and, most recently, a
century full of "crimes of the century" (which you'd think would render
old melodramas passé and old comedies full of clunkers),
there seems to be no end in sight. (www.insidefilm.com)
Analyzing the Reality Effect
in Dogma Films - Peter
Wuss
A
certain challenge for contemporary film theory is presented by the fact
that recent Scandinavian film production, especially the works of those
Danish filmmakers associated with the well-known Dogma '95 manifesto,
has attracted considerable attention among cineastes. The fascination
with these films cannot be explained simply by their contents, for
instance that they show contradictory and often emotional forms of
spontaneous behavior. Instead, it seems to rest in the particular
appeal, as difficult as it is to define, that emanates from the
discovery or renewal of specific cinematic forms that are being used in
these films to portray fine nuances in human emotions and actions.
Certain distinctive forms of cinematic representation that had long
been neglected are now suddenly in the center of attention and demand a
more exact explanation. What at first glance seems to be just an
unconventional form of filmmaking, characterized by the forced use of
handheld cameras, proves on closer inspection to have important
consequences for the movies as a whole: the camera does not just tell a
story, but rather the actions it captures visually gain a value of
their own, without which it is difficult to understand the story. (http://www.uca.edu)
Edward Dmytryk's Rules of Film
Editing
- Edward Dmytryk
Edward
Dmytryk, film industry legend in the directorial and editorial fields,
enumerates seven rules to follow in his text On Film Editing.
They have since been upheld as the standard for film editing technique.
These rules are broad guidelines and are very much comprised of common
sense; however, cinematic editing is so counter-intuitive and
convoluted on so many levels that oftentimes common sense is not
convenient or doesn't even seem logical at the time. The following
rules are backed by over five decades of experience in an industry that
is little older than ten decades: (http://www.everything2.com)
Film Editing - A Hidden Art?
- Vinca Wiedemann
When
we watch a film, most of us have great difficulty in consciously
perceiving the editing. Of course we know that every time there is a
shift from one image to another, it is an edit, and we know that
editing in general has to do with the establishing of rhythm in film.
But we are often not sure of the concrete function of editing, and
likewise of the contribution the editing process makes to the final
film. (http://imv.au.dk)
Movies & the Media -
Distributors continue to throw money at marketing but hold conservative
on where to toss the cash.
- Stephen Galloway
Imagine
this: You're about to launch a major summer movie, and you have to
decide where to spend your money. Do you buy a 30-second commercial on
Fox's "American Idol" for some $500,000-plus? Do you purchase several
spreads in the Sunday New York Times for $100,000-plus apiece? Or do
you spread the wealth over a host of prominent billboards, each costing
$10,000 and up per month? Such are the daily decisions facing studio
marketing presidents. The problem: They can't limit themselves to just
one choice -- they have to buy whole swaths of different media in order
to spread the word about their product amid an increasingly competitive
environment.
(http://www.hollywoodreporter.com)
Shot Lists: From
Pre-Production Through Post Production
- Peter John Ross
Like
so many of us with a desire to eventually make movies for a living, I
like to view my little DV shorts (aka Microcinema) as a training
ground. Even when making a 5 minute camcorder short, the kind where you
are the writer/director/producer/cameraman/editor, you can still prep
for bigger shoots, and develop good habits. One of these habits is
creating and maintaining a shot list.
(http://www.indietalk.com)
Silent Films - Are They Worth
the Watching? -
Peter Reiher
The
silent movie is, for the vast majority of audiences, even those that
have serious interests in films, the pariah of the movie world. They
are commonly viewed as quaint, old-fashioned, melodramatic, and
technically immature. Worst of all, there's no sound, unless you happen
to have an organ and a capable organist handy. (And how many of us do?)
Those with serious interests in film are often willing to grant that
certain silent movies are seminal works, films of importance that
everyone should know, but they treat them about the same way that
readers treat Moby Dick and Silas Marner.
(http://ficus-www.cs.ucla.edu)
So You Wanna Make a Low-Budget
Movie?
You've
got a movie to make. You're busy! So before we waste any of your time,
let us tell you whether or not we can help you produce the next
Brothers McMullen or Blair Witch Project. First, we're assuming that
you've written or obtained a screenplay. Secondly, we're assuming that
you will be able to procure (from parents, friends, credit cards,
theft, etc.) at least $15,000. If you don't have $15,000 or more . . .
sorry, but miracle workers we're not. (http://www.soyouwanna.com)
Suiting Up to Storyboard Your
Film
Before
you create your storyboards, you have to perform certain tasks and make
certain decisions. First, begin by evaluating your screenplay and
picturing it in terms of separate shots that can be visually translated
into individual storyboard panels. Then you determine what makes up
each shot and also which images need to be storyboarded and which ones
don't. After you start storyboarding, you'll need to determine whether
you're shooting for a TV movie or a theatrical release, which will
ultimately affect the frame dimensions of your panels. (http://www.dummies.com)
The Distribution of Black Films
- Lynne D. Johnson
Since
the popularity and commercial success of films by both Spike Lee (She's
Gotta Have It, 1986) and John Singleton (Boyz N the
Hood, 1991), Hollywood has viewed the black film as a viable commodity.
Nonetheless, finances allocated to black film projects are
significantly lower than those allocated to other feature-length films.
And although, as this article will highlight, independent black
filmmakers tend to operate outside of Hollywood, a host of festivals,
markets, and exhibition vehicles - specifically for black filmmakers -
have cropped up in recent years to foster the necessary business
relationships to obtain a studio deal. An overview of some of the
outlets is presented, along with key organizations that assist black
filmmakers with understanding the business of cinema.
(http://www.brightlightsfilm.com)
