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Wednesday, 9 March 2022 09:18 pm
Book Review: This Is How You Make a Movie
Tim Grierson opens by noting that his title is slightly misleading: He means to convey multiple ways, and they're not comprehensive. Indeed, this is merely a crash course, an appetizer, inviting readers to explore further.
The back of the book almost serves as a table of contents, apart from not listing page numbers. Suffice it to say that there are five main sections -- acting, directing, light and camera, editing, and writing -- with a total of 42 chapters. Each chapter consists of one page explaining the general technique followed by three pages detailing its use in three movies. Apart from titles and relevant credits in sidebars, the text on each page runs only two to four paragraphs of typical length, with one or more stills to fill the space on movie-specific pages.
I'm not surprised to have seen most of the discussed movies already, despite Grierson's effort to vary them. Fortunately, he goes into some I never heard of, and while they tend to have gotten middling receptions, a few seem worth adding to my watch list. And for many that I have seen, I needed his reminders of details, or else he points out something I hadn't noticed in the first place. That's one way to enrich the experience.
While I don't expect to remember much of the trivia (e.g., cinematographer names, director comments), I hope to retain the gist of the industry jargon. Would you know what "golden hour" means? How about the rule of thirds? I may not hope to make a movie someday, but the more I know, the better my assessments should be. Whether it'll improve my reviews is another question.
TIHYMaM is no substitute for a college cinema course. It's not even worthy of a textbook. But it does make for speedier and less dull reading. Check it out if you want a jump start.
I have now picked up City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. It looks rather different from the last few fantasies I read.
The back of the book almost serves as a table of contents, apart from not listing page numbers. Suffice it to say that there are five main sections -- acting, directing, light and camera, editing, and writing -- with a total of 42 chapters. Each chapter consists of one page explaining the general technique followed by three pages detailing its use in three movies. Apart from titles and relevant credits in sidebars, the text on each page runs only two to four paragraphs of typical length, with one or more stills to fill the space on movie-specific pages.
I'm not surprised to have seen most of the discussed movies already, despite Grierson's effort to vary them. Fortunately, he goes into some I never heard of, and while they tend to have gotten middling receptions, a few seem worth adding to my watch list. And for many that I have seen, I needed his reminders of details, or else he points out something I hadn't noticed in the first place. That's one way to enrich the experience.
While I don't expect to remember much of the trivia (e.g., cinematographer names, director comments), I hope to retain the gist of the industry jargon. Would you know what "golden hour" means? How about the rule of thirds? I may not hope to make a movie someday, but the more I know, the better my assessments should be. Whether it'll improve my reviews is another question.
TIHYMaM is no substitute for a college cinema course. It's not even worthy of a textbook. But it does make for speedier and less dull reading. Check it out if you want a jump start.
I have now picked up City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. It looks rather different from the last few fantasies I read.