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Charmian Carr played eldest von Trapp daughter Liesl in the mega-successful film version of The Sound of Music, and judging from her earnest memoir, the story's sentimental wholesomeness rubbed off on her permanently. It's a "great movie," she avers, acknowledging that the critics thought otherwise; she was "honored" to be part of it, and her onscreen siblings became her lifelong friends. Carr's reasonably interesting chronicle of shooting the film is interspersed with personal narratives by people who love it: a nine-year-old boy who found comforting parallels between the distant but ultimately loving Captain von Trapp and his own recently deceased father; a girl who got the video for Christmas just after her brother had surgery; and so on. The author tempers all that sweetness and light with frank accounts of her parents' divorce, her mother's alcoholism, and later conflicts with the studio over financial remuneration for promoting the movie. Adult costars Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews come across as consummate professionals less enthralled by the experience than their youthful supporting cast. But in general the book is determinedly upbeat and definitely not for the cynical. Those who share Carr's rapturous regard for The Sound of Music and even those who don't but are willing to be touched by sincere emotion will enjoy her stroll down memory lane. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
The magic of The Sound of Music lives on in the minds and hearts of everyone it has touched. Now, Charmian Carr, who in 1965 captivated moviegoers as Liesl Sixteen Going on Seventeen von Trapp, tells what it was like to be a part of the film that has become a cultural phenomenon. It's all here: from how she got the role (and why she almost didn't) to romances on the set and wild nights in Salzburg; from the near-disaster during the gazebo dance to her relationships-then and now-with her six celluloid siblings. Charmian offers stories from fans and friends and a treasury of photographs. And she reveals why she left acting, what she learned when she met the real von Trapp children; and how The Sound of Music has helped her get through stormy times in her own life.
Forever Liesl celebrates the spirit of the movie and what it stands for: family love, romance, inspiration, nostalgia, and the joy and power of music.
Customer Reviews:
Forever Liesl: Forever wonderful!.......2007-09-23
I received this book a few weeks ago and devoured it in the space of a few hours. For anyone who is as big a loser about The Sound Of Music as I am, there is no better way to nerd out than this :) I loved reading about Chris Plummer's acerbic wit and sarcasm, Julie Andrews' incredible professionalism, and anecdotes about all the "Von Trapp" children. Charmian's life story is quite sad at times, and about as far from the sweet and saccharine world of TSOM as it gets, but her stories about meeting the real Von Trapps and her experiences filming the movie are fantastic. I also found it interesting that she worked for Michael Jackson - she's had an interesting life! The letter from Nick Hammond is very sweet and touching, and it's clear she's very close to her celluloid siblings and greatly valued the experience of filming The Sound Of Music. Interesting fact - at the time of writing, she'd seen the movie a total of only nine times!
Captivating Reminiscence - Personal and Professional.......2007-04-22
A personal book like this really depends on the appeal of the author herself - and here one hits the jackpot. Charmian Carr is so charming, sensitive, and modest that you can't help loving her through the book.
I had no idea the book would be this enjoyable.
This is a wonderful tale with five interwoven threads:
i) what it was like for a 21 year old working for a doctor in the San Fernando Valley - and who'd never done any professional acting, dancing or singing - to work on a movie that would gain the highest box office of all time and become a phenomenon around the world - wonderful details and anecdotes of the making of the movie, the comparison of the story with the history,
ii) the experiences of others working on the movie, as Ms. Carr truly put a lot of work into this book, reaching out to everyone to ask about their experiences, their anecdotes;
iii) AMAZING stories told by people around the world who've been affected by the movie over the years;
iv) the experiences of the cast since the making of the movie - those playing the von Trapp children stayed very much in each other's lives over the years; and
what I found most affecting:
v) the highly dramatic and in many ways quite tragic story of Charmian Carr's own growing up - particularly the story of her show business mother and father, as well as that of her sisters (you probably know beautiful younger sister Darleen from so many television series and mini-series) and their children.
What a great book - it's impossible to put down - and so acutely sensitive, so warm, so candid, so funny.
Forever Liesl Sound of Music book.......2007-01-09
I liked this book. Like many others I love the Sound of Music. This book is written with a positive spin on everything, so it seems a little contrived. She emphasizes the ongoing relationship between the actors that played the kids in the movie. I would have loved to have known more detail about the experiences in Austria and more of the background of the movie production. If you like the movie, you will like this book.
Even if you haven't seen the movie...........2006-09-02
OK, I confess! I'm probably one of the few people in the US who hasn't seen The Sound of Music (at least never beyond the first commercial when it's shown on TV). Being a perennial grouch, I've convinced myself that it's probably going to be tedious and corny. Nevertheless, I found this book delightful reading. My partner bought it for me when we were in Stowe, VT, on a hiking trip (they've got an entire Gift Shoppe there devoted to von Trapp stuff!), and I finished it pretty much in one sitting. Ms. Carr gives us a lot of insight into how movies are made; she sounds like an intelligent and perceptive person, and one who didn't get corrupted by her contact with Hollywood. Her account explains many of the reasons why people enjoy this movie.... maybe I'll give it another try next time it's on!
Sound of Music from Charmian Carr's (Liesel's) Perspective.......2006-06-30
A good, quick read. Interesting insight into the making of the movie from a young lady who had never acted before the making of the Sound of Music.
A good portion of the book is captured in the new 40th Edition of the Sound of Music (DVD) released in 2005.
Very enjoyable reading.
Average customer rating:
- For the Kubrick fan
- Well, why not?
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The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick (Library of Great Filmmakers)
Rodney Hill , and
Gene D. Phillips
Manufacturer: Facts on File
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Kubrick
ASIN: 0816043884 |
Customer Reviews:
For the Kubrick fan.......2003-08-22
This is a book of Kubrick facts and trivia, arranged in easy-reference format. The authors are opinionated about their subject, which is good --- they clearly love writing about these movies and everything that went into them. For the non-fan, this book could be tedious. Entries on actors veer off into complete discussions of the Kubrick movie in which they starred, minor details are repeated, and a few entries seem to be too technical or industry-based to be worth mentioning.
(For example, Kubrick says that at the end of Lolita, Humbert realizes that he loves her --- he's not just feeling lust for her. Kubrick calls this the most poignant moment in the story. This particular quote is repeated in the book at least five times.)
If you've read every other book about Kubrick, get this one. If not, read the books by Ciment, Walker, Herr, LoBrutto, and Baxter first.
Well, why not?.......2003-06-20
Bronx-born Stanley Kubrick spent much of his professional life in England where he made some of the most controversial and original films ever to grace the silver screen. This uneven but fascinating book is in a sense a tribute to the man and his work. This is not the first encyclopedic treatment of a top movie director published by Facts on File--they have also done Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. Perhaps this format--an "encyclopedia"--will catch on. At any rate, it is fun to leaf through randomly or perhaps one could actually proceed alphabetically.
The entries of course all have some connection with Kubrick. Included are actors who played in his movies, and people related to him and his friends and other people he worked with. There are also entries on movie business phenomena like "antiwar themes" and "censorship." There is an interesting entry on Steven Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence (2001) in which I learned that the original conception came from Kubrick. There are a number of black and white photos spread throughout the text and some line drawings, mostly of Kubrick and the actors who played in his films. Often the photos are stills from the movies. It is interesting to see Kubrick at various stages of his career and how time changed his appearance. My favorite photo is of George C. Scott and Stanley Kubrick playing chess on the set of Dr. Strangelove underneath the "War Room" mock up. By the way, Scott is reported to have gained respect for the younger Kubrick when Kubrick beat him at chess.
There is rather a lot of repetition in the entries, some of it unavoidable of course because entries overlap in content. However the entry for Sue Lyon, for example, who was Kubrick's Lolita, contains a summary of the plot of Lolita to the exclusion of the rather sparse information about Lyon. Also the editing and proofreading of the entries is not first rate. The text was begun by Rodney Hill and then taken up by Gene D. Phillips, which may account for some of the avoidable repetition. Some of the entries were written by John C. Tibbetts and others tagged with initials and identified as "Contributors" near the back of the book.
Clearly the strength of the book is in the light it sheds on Stanley Kubrick and his life in film. The detail is fascinating and the writing, in spite of the repetitions, is engaging. There are nice pieces on George C. Scott, James Mason, Peter Sellers, Malcolm McDowell, Nicole Kidman, Shelley Winters, Arthur C. Clarke, etc. as well as essays on all of Kubrick movies. Included are behind the scenes information about what went on during the shooting of the films, how the films were conceived and how they progressed. I was intrigued to learn that Kubrick was able to get a fine performance from the otherwise undistinguished Sue Lyon partly because he sometimes allowed her to use her own vernacular instead of words from the script. Also interesting was the difficulties that Shelley Winters experienced (from her viewpoint!) in working with James Mason and Peter Sellers in Lolita (1962). The relationship between Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey and worked with Kubrick on the screenplay for the film, is interesting to follow. One realizes again that at the base of Kubrick's film creations is an abiding interest in science and human psychology.
Bottom line: an irresistible companion to the films of Stanley Kubrick, one of cinema's greatest directors and one of my personal favorites.
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Federico Fellini
Manufacturer: Rizzoli International Publications
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ASIN: 0847818780
Release Date: 1995-07-15 |
Book Description
This is the first detailed appraisal of Federico Fellini's universe. Collected here, in addition to a biography and filmography, is a wealth of previously unpublished material allowing a detailed and often personal view of the master of cinema.
Published for the first time in these pages are the texts for four films Fellini never made, complete with sketches and notes; and the director's correspondence with other filmmakers, artists, and famous writers. Fellini's descriptions of his dreams, accompanied by splendid drawings, allow a glimpse of the subconscious world that contributed so much to the creation of his films. His comic strips of unmade films provide an intriguing account of his activity in the last years of his life. The filmography is illustrated with posters, sketches, and stills from all of Fellini's masterpieces - including his best-loved La Strada, 8 1/2, The Clowns, La Dolce Vita, Roma, Amarcord, and La Voce Della Luna.
Book Description
Previously titled Audio Post-production in Video and Film, this third edition has been completely revised and restructured to provide a step-by-step guide to the professional techniques used to shape a soundtrack through the production process. Covering sound for both film and television, this edition includes many of the practical techniques and shortcuts used by experienced editors and mixers.
Part one explains the basics of audio post production how audio is recorded, how sound and picture stay in sync, how audio can be exported from system to system, and how film and video technology works. Part two follows the path of production sound from its original recording right through to the final mix, and includes sections on editing sound with picture, dialogue, sound effects and music editing, how to run ADR and Foley record sessions, and mixing, using many practical examples.
Audio Post Production for Television and Film is aimed at professionals already working in the industry, newcomers, students and those considering sound for film and television as a career in fact anyone who wants an insight into current professional practices and a comprehensive overview of the sound post production process.
* Reflects current working practice and covers the latest topical issues
* Extensively reorganized for maximum ease of use
* Illustrated throughout and features helpful workflow diagrams
Customer Reviews:
Very Professional.......2007-09-17
The data found inside this book is absolutely useful, many questions found answer inside, la diseccion del time code por ejemplo esta hecha de una manera clara y me ha permitido emplearme de manera mas eficaz en mi trabajo, ademas me ha permitido contrastar en varias oportunidades opniones que tengo sobre temas tecnicos y ver que piesan personas que se dedican a lo mismo que yo en otras partes del mundo, esta muy bien escrito y es facil de leer, incluso se puede decir que es un libro ameno para ser un libro de contenidos tecnicos una A+.
Great for Reference and Fundamental Overview. .......2006-02-25
I've been mixing and Recording music for 15 years and have done a number of major motion pictures now, but always felt slightly in the dark regarding some of the technical jargon and workflow for Film and TV post production. This book is clear, to the point, easy to read, and a constant source of reference for me as more and more work i do is for Film and TV. As someone who has had a lot of experience in audio, I really appreciate that the delivery of detail is not dummied down, but that it's nor over explained either. This is a great launchpad for people needing to grasp a fundamental overview of the whole process. It should be required reading for anyone who considers themselves a TV or Film or Commecial producer.
Definate key text for students of sound and film.......2005-11-11
This is the book I wanted to write! There are many books out there around this subject, but this text is comprhensive AND comprehensible! It covers every area of the post production process ( and a good deal of giudance for the recording of production sound too) in exactly the amount of detail that is needed, with each technical topic supported by useful and informative technique and advice.
The chapters on editing sound give many valuable pointers that will help anyone who is learniung this craft to develop a strong skills base, with really useful practical tips. There is no important technical information missing; all the standards and formats are addressed and explained in easy to read language, so that you're not left with an incomplete picture, and it's up to date with contemporary systems such as Windows XP and Mac OSX, hard disk recording and digital TV, DVD, diffusion systems for broadcast (surround) and more.
So to sum up, this is a really good read, and worth having as a reference book for anyone studying or working in this field who wants to get a a good understanding of the entire process of audio post, and I would also recommend it to film makers as well, as it is a good read and will inform and enlighten.
I have included it my essential reading list for students on our film and sound design courses.
A Must Have Book.......2005-04-11
A modern, up to date and informative guide to audio post production techniques used in todays complex industry.
Hilary describes each step of the audio post production process, from a locked picture edit, through to final mixing and deliverables.
Chapters on editing give the reader a unique insight into how a sountrack is created and prepared for the mix, using techniques that Hilary has acquired from working on many feature films and television programmes.
A must have book for anyone wanting to gain knowledge and understand sound in the modern film and television industry.
Average customer rating:
- Enjoy several hundred pages of swimming around in Werner Herzog's supple mind...
- splendid
- The Enigma of Werner Herzog
- Good look into Herzog's noggin
- HEART WARMING AND TOTALLY ESSENTIAL
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Herzog on Herzog
Werner Herzog
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
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The Wild Blue Yonder
ASIN: 0571207081 |
Book Description
An invaluable set of career-length interviews with the German genius hailed by François Truffaut as “the most important film director alive”
Most of what we’ve heard about Werner Herzog is untrue. The sheer number of false rumors and downright lies disseminated about the man and his films is truly astonishing. Yet Herzog’s body of work is one of the most important in postwar European cinema.
His international breakthrough came in 1973 with Aguirre, The Wrath of God, in which Klaus Kinski played a crazed Conquistador. For The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Herzog cast in the lead a man who had spent most of his life institutionalized, and two years later he hypnotized his entire cast to make Heart of Glass. He rushed to an explosive volcanic Caribbean island to film La Soufrière, paid homage to F. W. Murnau in a terrifying remake of Nosferatu, and in 1982 dragged a boat over a mountain in the Amazon jungle for Fitzcarraldo. More recently, Herzog has made extraordinary “documentary” films such as Little Dieter Needs to Fly. His place in cinema history is assured, and Paul Cronin’s volume of dialogues provides a forum for Herzog’s fascinating views on the things, ideas, and people that have preoccupied him for so many years.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoy several hundred pages of swimming around in Werner Herzog's supple mind..........2006-12-20
Author Paul Cronin was only too hasty to warn us well in advance that we were going to find Herzog's occasional mental departures and extemporizing to be a slight annoyance (I'm paraphrasing, so please don't be upset, Mr. Cronin). But I hardly agreed. I found WH's jumps and false starts, etc., to be some of the most gratifying and precious content of this book. It was like having a fireside chat with Herzog--a private one-on-one session over several cups of coffee or whiskey--learning about what makes one of the better-known idea-men on the planet tick. What fires his Teutonic cauldron. I can only be too thankful that Werner was happy to finally engage in a project as noble as this one, as you'll read in the opening pages of this work that it almost *didn't* happen.
Myths.
I'm beginning to learn that most of what we consider to be true in this life is comprised mostly of myths and heapful conjecture, and that people prefer to accept third-hand information from others in respect of a particular person, instead of merely talking to them themselves. Take the storied rivalry between famed brat-actor Klaus Kinski and Mr. Herzog. So much has been written and said about these two. So much excavating around in the rubbish pit has been done in respect of these two famous/infamous personalities, that's it's truly hard to know just *what* to believe anymore. Inside these pages, Herzog sets the record straight.
That's one of the reasons why I grooved along with this book so much.
Then there were the didactic filmmaking elements. The nitty-gritties. The real deal. There were the aspects of the process of making a film, and those oh-so-distillable quotables...you know, the ones filmmakers like to post all around their production offices in big bold black and red lettering that masquerade as Western-versions of Communist-era sloganeering, yes? Herzog had many of them, and like most things with an ideological bent I was truly inspired (and will continue to remain so). Don't you just love ideology? You begin to understand the wild-eyed genius of the man, the strength of his convictions, and what someone will do--a director in this particular instance--to fulfill his noble dream. He'll literally "eat his boots." Herzog in fact did so as a promise to one of his documentary-making colleagues, I kid you not! Herzog really lived up to his word, and ate his shoes after boiling them until nice and tender. He even cut it up into little pieces, and washed it down with a good beer. (Maybe it was a Pilsner?).
Is this a common trait nowadays?
I'm not too sure how to answer that, friends, for any answer I may give would surely smack of cliche and triteness.
But the economics of the matter...and with the insane standards of living in certain Western cities, I'm not surprised that the formerly lofty bastions of principle-land are even for sale. I mean, we can't all be monks and hermits, and sustain ourselves merely on rations of peanut butter sandwiches, or beans, or mac 'n cheese, or soon-to-be-fulfilled promises. Humans need more, or at least they think they do. Herzog is a shining example that what I've just written is a bunch of bunk. And thank goodness for that.
Blow through the read, and you'll suddenly find yourself being uplifted by this man and his ostensible message. You'll quickly realize that this isn't a puff piece, and I believe that if Herzog had to revert to his salad-day lifestyle, where he'd pull such insane stints as walking clear along the easternmost frontier of the former West Germany to prove his point about German national unity during the Cold War, you somehow start to fall for the man. There's an earnestness to his lines that doesn't reek of that similar puff action you get from those who've achieved much less and with much more lucrative resouces.
This is now the fifth "Directors on Themselves" book I've read, and I'm so grateful for having stumbled across this series one fine day on a walkabout in a bookshop. Not a day goes by now without me reverting back to a thought or two about something I'd read in these books. I suppose that's the best we can hope for when it comes to books, anyways...to remember just one fine thing about them. To be inspired by something your eyes might have come across and to bring it out and use it to your advantage when you least expected it to be there. Though thanks to the complex inner-workings of your mind, that's just how certain things work. They clobber you when you need them. Perhaps one day we will truly appreciate the mind muscle, and how it fires off.
Herzog emphasizes in his work the triple notions of iron commitment, ironclad word, and rock-solid honour.
He stands by all of these, and has witnessed more than his fair share of calamity on his various film sets in standing behind them. Being "iron" in all three of the above-mentioned disciplines doesn't always result in a rosy outlook and a happy ending. Sometimes keeping your word means the spilling of blood for the various members of both cast and crew, and there were more than a few injuries and the occasional casulalty or two on a Herzog set, I'm not kidding here either. I'm not going to deny that perhaps this also has something to do with Herzog's Bavarian heritage. Indeed, it's in the blood and something must be mentioned about the robustness of the gene code. I mention this statement without any preconceived ideas, and dear readers, please take it for what it is. It's a fact. Germans are disciplinarians.
But Herzog is clear on one thing: if you aren't willing to go to war to make your films, you're not willing to be a filmmaker. Making films is all about blood, guts, and gore. Heaps of sweat and lots of heartache, and perhaps in the process you manage to keep control of some of the work you've assembled, and manage to maintain the rights to it as well. Herzog's been clever about his choices since starting out on this journey, however. He's established himself such that he never relinquished control to the baddies, and never said "namaste" to the more corporatized film elements. For that I'm grateful. He serves as a stellar and shining example, and I recommend this book as required--or at least on the supplemental list--of reading material for a given film school. Think about it...think about the masses of super-enthused filmmakers who would emerge as a result. Think about the quality of the films they'd shoot as well...
Talking points all.
Doubtless, folks, this is a five-star read. You're going to learn a lot from it, as I did and do.
Hand on the heart,
ADM from Prague
splendid.......2006-08-24
herzog manages to spend his entire life getting into adventures. and the stories he relates make you wonder how much is exaggeration, or even made up. either way, it is a fascinating read. this book will appeal to those not necessarily attracted to his films in particular, and for those who are keen on his work i would say this was essential. as a prolific filmmaker and adventure-getter-into, his life is inspiring in that it makes me want to get off my arse and do something challenging and life affirming. or maybe i'll just lie in bed and read the book one more time!
The Enigma of Werner Herzog.......2006-06-23
One of the unfortunate things for fans of Werner Herzog's cinema is the rather feeble and pathetic array of literature there is out there. Timothy Corrigan's essential Herzog book "The Films of Werner Herzog: Beyond Mirage and History" has been out of print for some years and besides, only covers Herzog's career up to 1985. If you don't have access to academic journals and university libraries the alternative is to pay through the nose. A definitive study of the great man's films is required. Cronin's book kind of fills that gap as it does at least deal with most of Herzog's important works. The interest of this book comes from the fact that it a book of interviews and Herzog's views are both illuminating and interesting. I could almost here his hypnotic German accent as I read it. However, a lot of old ground is trodden over and if any reader is looking for new and exciting tales of the raving Klaus Kinski, they will be disappointed. Many of the anecdotes and comments Herzog comes out with are repeated in My Best Fiend (1999) and on a number of commentary tracks for his DVD's. Far more interesting are his comments on less known films such as "Ballad of the Little Soldier" (1984), "Echoes From a Sombre Empire" (1990) and "The Dark Glow of the Mountains" (1984). So many myths have sprung up around Herzog and his work, that perhaps now, mostly due to documentation and the media they feel somewhat stilted and stale. Herzog is at his best when expounding his own theories on the effects of cinema, and in his rants against academia. But its clear the man has a philosophy and goal which he is trying to achieve through the medium of cinema, not simply a director making money and then moving on to the next thing. Cronin's questions are in the main insightful, but at times he comes across in the same way as Herzog himself did in one of his best films "The Ecstasy of the Woodcarver Steiner" (1974) as an excitable and breathless fan. Overall, an interesting and thought provoking read and probably one of the best in this ongoing range by Faber and Faber, the other I recommend is the David Lynch one. But this book does sit rather strangely with Herzog and it wasn't something I ever expected him to do.
Good look into Herzog's noggin.......2005-09-14
A bit like pulling teeth, this book starts with Herzog writing he is a somewhat unwilling participant in the process. A few parts her I have read recounted other places, but there is more than enough on the making of individual fiilms. A good, concise book.
HEART WARMING AND TOTALLY ESSENTIAL.......2005-09-11
This amazing book is a must read for anyone who enjoy's The great man's films, as well as anyone who...you know what, I'm moved to say that this book is essential reading for all humans. Herzog inspires on each page, whether it be by his own personal experience or by the bombastic words that he barks onto the page.
I actually read this book for the first time (I've been through it 5 or 6 times now) right after my father abandoned my family to live with his new wife in cancun. I guess I was going through a rough time, maybe I needed a more stable father figure or something. Well, my therapist, the great Dr. Tucker, advised that I try Herzog to fill that void, and the mans films completely changed my life. This book is a treasure trove of information and inspiration for fans of Herzog himself or the film medium in general. True story: I work with autistic children on the middle school level, and this one boy Justin started looking through this book when I set it down from reading it on a break. He found the book so engaging that I let him take it home to finish (loaning things out to these kids is always a bad idea, but I figured I'd give it a shot)...long story short, little Justin came back to class the next day, and overnight his speech improved so dramatically that my aide called it a miracle. Anyway, if you're thinking about buying this book you will not be sorry of you do, because if you don't read this as soon as possible you are going to be really sorry. I hope this helped, and HAPPY READING!!!!
Amazon.com
If film has a language, The Filmmaker's Handbook is your translation guide, dictionary, and phrase book. In over 600 pages, 18 chapters, and nine appendices, the authors detail virtually everything you need to know about filmmaking.
There is probably more information here than anyone needs to know, from which lens to choose all the way through final editing and sound mixing. But too much information is not a bad thing. This is the kind of book that a blossoming filmmaker will surely grow into.
Much of the book focuses on gear and hardware, and rightly so since making a film or video is both dependent on and influenced by the gear that is used. This handbook describes the differences between the tools--film stock, lenses, lighting setups--and the impact of each on the look of the finished product.
This new edition has been updated to include information on digital cameras, the digital video format, nonlinear editing systems, and other contemporary tools. It's odd to see a picture of the Canon XL-1--a very popular and state-of-the-art digital video camera--in a book whose first edition came out in 1983.
The Filmmaker's Handbook is an indispensable guide for any filmmaker, or for anyone who wants a better understanding of the language of film. --Mike Caputo
Book Description
For the first time since its publication in 1984, The Filmmaker's Handbook--the classic volume highlighting the techniques and technologies needed for the creation and production of movies--has been completely revised and updated. Written by filmmakers for filmmakers, this essential text now includes the latest information on digital age filmmaking, where the shifting boundaries between film, video, and computer systems have introduced a wide range of methods and equipment every filmmaker must master to be competitive. This comprehensive reference guide addresses the techniques necessary to make feature, documentary, industrial, and experimental films while detailing the possibilities and limitations of various formats. New chapters spotlight video camera and video editing, essential information for modern film students and makers who focus on video production exclusively. The Filmmaker's Handbook is the perfect primer to guide novices and professionals alike into the twenty-first century of motion picture production.
Average customer rating:
- Author knows what he is speaking about
- 1 of 3 great books on film/video sound
- The Best Intro you will ever have
- Yawn
- Probably One of The Best Books about Sound
|
Sound for Film and Television, Second Edition (Book & CD-ROM)
Tomlinson Holman
Manufacturer: Focal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Pro Tools - For Video, Film and Multimedia
ASIN: 0240804538 |
Book Description
Sound for Film and Television, Second Edition provides a thorough introduction to the fascinating field of recording, editing, mixing, and exhibiting film and television sound. It strikes a fine balance between aesthetic and technical content, combining theory and practice to approach sound as both an art and a science, as no other text has before. This edition includes new information on digital techniques as they have arisen in the industry, and expanded coverage of sound editing and design.
Written by one of Hollywood's leading sound experts, Sound for Film and Television, Second Edition provides a solid grounding in all aspects of the sound process. Basic principles are presented with illustrations demonstrating how they affect the day-to-day activities on a film or television set, in the editing room, and in the mix room.
*The only text to present sound design as both an art and a science
*Accompanying audio CD contains examples demonstrating key concepts
*Bridges the gap between production books and design engineering books
Customer Reviews:
Author knows what he is speaking about.......2007-07-22
The book covers comprehensive topics about its subject: from psychoacoustics to (for example) sound editing techniques to (for example) film sound synchronization methods to (in the last chapter) dynamic range for various media for master prints. First that comes to mind when I remember the accompanying CD is the demonstrations of various microphone directivity patterns (but there is something more in it).
The topics aren't discussed in very deep levels (but are good enough), but are reinforced with author's wide experience I would like to admit (examples how the sound was worked out are taken from such films as "Jurassic Park", "Star Wars"). I found this book very interesting as I didn't know very much about film sound techniques, for specialists this book is of lower interest I think (although it contains some handy material, e.g. comparisons of various sound recording formats, etc.)
Contains some errata, but I cannot find it right now.
1 of 3 great books on film/video sound.......2005-12-28
This is an excellent book though it contains many errors in the mathematics of decibels. The other 2 greats books are: Audio in Media by Stanley R. Alten and Sound for Picture by Tom Kenny.
The Best Intro you will ever have.......2002-04-13
An easy to read, logical guide to practical production sound. If you only ever read one book on audio this should be it.
Yawn.......2001-12-16
Should bore the socks off you if you have a pulse.
Probably One of The Best Books about Sound.......2000-12-28
This is an amazing book. It contains every aspects of Film TV Sound in depth (including newest techonologies like Surround stuff) and it is easy to understand. The CD is not what you expect from this book but anyway it is useful.
Average customer rating:
- The movies were different
- John Ford: From Maine to the Movies to Cinematic Glory!
- Biography that's a page turner!`
- Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford
- Comprehensive almost to a fault...
|
Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford
Scott Eyman
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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ASIN: 0801865603 |
Amazon.com
Borrowing his title from dialogue in John Ford's classic Western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ("When the legend becomes fact, print the legend"), Scott Eyman heeds this advice in his splendid study of Ford, finding a convincing balance between the gruff image Ford cultivated and the sensitive artist that Ford truly was. The result is a to-date definitive biography, occasionally prone to indelicate critical assessment while benefiting greatly from Eyman's full access to the Ford family archives. Arguably the greatest American filmmaker of the 20th century, Ford protected himself with a façade of belligerence yet engendered more loyalty among his crew and stock players (notably John Wayne and Ward Bond) than any other director. Eyman illuminates the Ford legend while focusing on fact--on a complex genius who would berate even the most vulnerable actor and then "apologize without apologizing," a binge drinker who never let alcohol interfere with his closely-guarded artistry, and a stalwart Navy captain whose service in World War II became his primary source of pride.
Print the Legend essentially confirms Ford's brief affair with Katharine Hepburn, but Eyman emphasizes Ford's deep, abiding affection for his wife, Mary, who valiantly tolerated his absolute devotion to filmmaking. While hundreds of interviews yield a comprehensive account of Ford's working methods (which the director was loathe to discuss), Eyman expertly navigates around Ford's own penchant for autobiographical embellishment. What emerges is likely to remain the most thorough portrait of a cinematic master who recognized his own greatness without parading it, and whose human flaws were ultimately forgivable by those--and they were many--who loved him. Readers should look elsewhere for more astute studies of Ford's films, but Eyman has captured Ford the man with lasting authority. -- Jeff Shannon
Book Description
Brilliant, stubborn, witty, rebellious, irascible, and contradictory, John Ford remains an enduring symbol of Hollywood's Golden Age and one of its most respected directors. Through a career that spanned decades and 140 films -- among them such American masterpieces as The Searchers, The Grapes of Wrath, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -- John Ford left a cinematic legacy that few filmmakers will ever equal. Yet Ford himself was famously reticent about his personal life, often fabricating details and events. In this definitive look at the life and career of one of America's greatest directors, Scott Eyman offers a remarkable portrait of the man behind the legend that reveals how a saloon keeper's son from Maine helped to shape Hollywood's idea of America.
Customer Reviews:
The movies were different.......2006-05-14
Many books were written about Jonh Ford.
All of them tell the story and the profile of the man.
But John Ford was more than that.
His life is the beginning, but the book doesn?t take it as a experience or example for his films.
The exploration is a long trip in this book.
The readers are going to find the artist who control
everything around and his mind to think faster than others.
He made no more than one take, sometimes to have completely control about the film, not suffering the torture of the film process and the editing.
It?s a strange story about the man who won four Academy Awards?
for Best Directing but he never won an Oscar for one of his western films.
The book explores how he created the images and how he felt involved in those stories so different from cowboys, horses and
shots: 'The grapes of Wrath', 'How green was my valley', 'The informer' and 'The quiet man'.
His camera was different in all these ones.
But finally you can see the horizon, the actor,
the music and the ending.
It is a film directed by John Ford.
Thanks to him, the movies were different in style.
He had the conception of an artist.
John Ford: From Maine to the Movies to Cinematic Glory!.......2005-05-16
Scott Eyman has written an outstanding book on John Ford! Ford
was the second generation son of an Irish bartender from Portland Maine who followed his brother Frank to Hollywood.
In over 130 films from such silent classics as Iron Horse to
his four Oscars for best director: The Informer; How Green Was My
Valley; the Grapes of Wrath and The Quiet Man Ford chronicles
the life of ordinary people living in extraordinary circumstances.
Ford made Westerns better than anyone as witness his classic
cavalry trilogy: Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon; Rio Grande and the peerless The Searchers.
John Ford was a bristling porcupine guy who could dish out insults, reduce strong actors to tears and cover his sensitive,
melancholic, brooding intellectual Irish soul with a veneer of
toughness and macho maleness.
Ford was a complex man isolated and in conflict with famly who made great films for over 50 years in the Hollywood jungle.
He was an admiral who loved the military serving with distinction in World War II.
You may not like Ford after reading this fine book but you will be in awe of one of Hollywood's giants.
Eyman gives a sketch of each of Ford's top films and charts the choppy waters of his long marriage to wife Mary and the difficult relationship he had with his daugher and son.
John Ford will always ride tall in the saddle of Film History
as we travel with him to Monument Valley, meet such Ford stars
as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara and the other excellent actors in the Ford acting troupe.
Anyone claiming to be knowledgable about film who does not know about John Ford (1894-1973 should read this fine biograhy.
Readers may also wish to peruse Joseph McBride's lengthy biograpy of Ford "In Search of John Ford." Both books are well
done.
Biography that's a page turner!`.......2004-11-16
Having read a fair number of biographies in my time, in subjects from Science to American and military history, this book is as fine a work as I've seen. It is quite probably the best work of its kind on John Ford and pulls few punches when presenting the dark side of this complex man's character.
Genius often goes hand-in-hand with madness, and the odd juxtapositions of cruelty and sensitivity, visciousness and generosity within in the same man leaves it difficult for the reader to like him, much less understand the deep love so many of his peers and actors had for him.
The vast limits of his brilliance as a film maker are far clearer to me now and the more so since reading other works on the man's work and times ("Tis Herself" by Maureen O'Hara and "John Ford, the Man and his Films" by Tag Gallagher, to name two).
I am a recent "student" of film after years in other pursuits, and I have always considered Ford's pictures to be the best of the best, among which are "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Quiet Man" and "The Searchers".
It is apparently popular for current budding directors to attempt to attempt to emulate the work of the current crops of popular directors (generally those of the preceding five years or so) without paying sufficient attention to the classics; perhaps even trying to ride their stylistic coattails to success.
I believe that in order to be successful in any discipline, it is imperative to study closely the great works of past generations, just as most successful musicians should have a background in classical music.
I can recommend this work unreservedly both to the casual film fan (it's a damned good read!) and to the serious film student.
Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford.......2003-06-27
I've read other books on this great Hollywood director, and while I can't comment on their relative accuracy, I can say that Eyman's book is the most readable I've found. He writes with a wonderfully fluid style, finds exactly the right balance between enough detail and too much, and mixes in some penetrating observations about the films and their style. He really captures that curious paradox of how artistic genius and personality disturbance can coexist within the same mind.
Comprehensive almost to a fault..........2002-08-22
Unless you are old like me and remember many John Ford movies from their original 50's release dates, or you have a semi-professional interest in film directing, this book offers more than one needs to know about a complex, often unlikeable, sometimes generous, routinely selfish genius. It isn't just a bio of John Ford, respected director with a 40-year career...it also functions as a partial history of movie-making itself, since Ford began before 1920, when films were silent, and ended up in the mid-60's, when wide screens, technicolor, blatant sex and violence and changes in how movies were financed stranded him in a very different professional atmosphere. To a person with a more casual interest in Ford and his films, like me, the book had many surprises. Ford was cruel on the set to many actors whom he befriended away from the cameras, John Wayne and Hank Fonda included. Ford was a binge drinker, and kept his sprees separate from his duties until the mid-1950's, rather late in his progressive alcoholism. Ford was capable of great kindness, generosity and loyalty, but also held grudges for decades. He was not only personally brave in World War II while filming the real battle of Midway, he was tuned in enough to have joined the Navy and prepared for documenting the war on film a full year before Pearl Harbor. He also showed courage in standing up to the Communist witch-hunts in the early 50's. He was sometimes a liberal Democrat, sometimes a conservative Republican. His final decade was full of illness and idleness and loneliness and undoubtedly some bitterness. If you are a lover of "American" movies, John Ford's story will be essential for you. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll ever need to read it a second time, or keep the book in my personal collection.
Book Description
For half a century Alfred Hitchcock created films full of gripping and memorable music. Over his long career he presided over more musical styles than any director in history and ultimately changed how we think about film music. This book is the first to fully explore the essential role music played in the movies of Alfred Hitchcock.
Based on extensive interviews with composers, writers, and actors, and research in rare archives, Jack Sullivan discusses how Hitchcock used music to influence the atmosphere, characterization, and even storylines of his films. Sullivan examines the director’s important relationships with various composers, especially Bernard Herrmann, and tells the stories behind the musical decisions. Covering the whole of the director’s career, from the early British works up to Family Plot, this engaging look at the work of Alfred Hitchcock offers new insight into his achievement and genius and changes the way we watch—and listen—to his movies.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing book on the music of Hitchcock's films.......2007-05-08
Author Jack Sullivan is a modern-day prophet. His writings about horror, music, & films are all top-notch. This book on Hitchcock is just amazing! After reading Sullivan's chapter on each film, I'm watching (or re-watching) those films that I can find, and seeing them with new insight. This is one of the best books on film & music that I have ever read. Highly recommended.
Listening to the Master.......2007-01-10
Probably the most memorable musical sound in cinema is the slashing strings of the shower scene in _Psycho_, a supreme example of how music can heighten image. It isn't too surprising that the example should come from a Hitchcock film; over the past two decades, critics and academics have paid increasing attention to how Hitchcock used music because he was so good at doing so. In _Hitchcock's Music_ (Yale University Press), Jack Sullivan, a professor of English and of American studies, has given a guide to the music (or frequently, silence) in all of Hitchcock's sound films, with stories about Hitchcock's work with composers and how soundtracks became formed as particular pictures progressed. Sullivan knows the films better than almost all of his readers will, and while much of Hitchcock's music is memorable, Sullivan writes of it in such detail that even Hitchcock fans will find themselves wishing that they had instant recall of each particular phrase or tune. I myself went back to listen to the early talkie _The 39 Steps_ after reading Sullivan's chapter about it, because although I have seen the movie many times, I could not remember the music or how important it was to the plot of the film. This then is a wonderful reference book, and it will drive Hitchcock fans back into their DVDs to attend to the master with new ears.
Sullivan begins, of course, with Hitchcock's first picture after his silent days, _Blackmail_. Hitchcock used the music in this initial film the same way he would use it throughout his career, like using a harp for a demonic sequence (when harps are usually angelic) and using cheerful music as an irony to what is being shown on the screen. Using a musical tune as an important part of the plot is one of Hitchcock's many tricks. In _The Lady Vanishes_, the tune itself is Hitchcock's "MacGuffin", the otherwise unimportant device upon which the whole plot turns, because the tune is an encryption of a state secret. In _Shadow of a Doubt_, "The Merry Widow" waltz is intricately important to the plot, leading to the identification of Uncle Charlie as a murderer. Hitchcock was brilliant at using "source music", the kind of music that might be heard by the characters in a scene as a theater orchestra or a radio plays nearby. In _Rear Window_, there is traditional movie music from an invisible source only at the very end of the movie; all the rest of the music has been from radios and phonographs owned by the people being viewed through the windows.
There are fine stories here about the famous Hitchcock / Bernard Herrmann collaboration and its eventual break-up, as well as about David O. Selznick's meddlesome but often valuable recommendations on music and other aspects of _Rebecca_, Hitchcock's first Hollywood effort and his first use of a lush Hollywood score. Among the wonderful anecdotes are those about _Psycho_ itself, and how Herrmann's stubborn insistence on getting his music into the film kept the movie as a feature rather than a television show. Hitchcock had not wanted any music in the shower scene, for instance, but Herrmann asked him to view the scene without music, followed by a version with music. Hitchcock quickly settled on the version with music, whereupon Herrmann made the mock-petulant remark, "But you requested that we not add any music," getting the reply, "Improper suggestion, my boy, improper suggestion." Best of all, _Hitchcock's Music_ concentrates attention on a vital aspect of Hitchcock's success, one that is not always appreciated. Sullivan certainly appreciates the innovative and complicated ways Hitchcock worked musically, and any fan of the movies will fine new reasons here to admire them.
Fascinating book on the film composer's role and Hitchcock's role in the scores for his films.......2007-01-01
If you're a Hitchcock fan, you already know how well Hitchcock used music in his films. Hitchcock was the ultimately leader/collaborator--he knew what he wanted for his films and had a strong instinct which collaborators would do the best job of bringing their talent to his films. His work with Herrmann is celebrated but he worked well with other film composers as well. When Hitchcock's instincts betrayed him (as the author of this book points out) it's usually because his commercial instincts took the lead over his artistic ones; "Torn Curtain" a flawed Hitchcock film with a number of marvelous set pieces would have been much improved with the original music that Bernard Herrmann composed. Hitchcock fired Herrmann when he didn't deliver a commercial score with a hit song or melody that could pull in a lucrative profit. Sullivan also accurately points out that while Hitchcock was great at collaboration he ultimately was THE boss and would get rid of things he felt didn't fit in with his decisions (right or wrong) for a film.
Hitchcock at his best (as Sullivan accurately points out) knew the impact of music to enhance a film not distract from it. Once Hitchcock had control of his films, he pushed the various composers he worked with (from Steiner, Rozsa to Herrmann)to follow their muse just making sure that it fit in with his ultimate vision for the film. He may have been a micromanager but he gave the composers that worked on his films tremendous freedom on some projects. For example Herrmann envisioned the "score" for "The Birds" to primarily be the sounds (electronically created) of the creatures themselves. Herrmann's instincts were in perfect synch with Hitchcock's and the result was a great film "score" that perfectly complimented the film.
After Herrmann and Hitchcock parted ways there really wasn't a composer that produced work that truly enhanced Hitchcock's films (although the single collaboration with composer John Williams came close I personally feel that Jerry Goldsmith would probably have been a better choice for "Family Plot")which is too bad--when the quality of his films fell and as audience taste changed, Hitchcock was increasingly vunerable. A solid score by a composer that understood his films well would have done a lot to improve some of Hitchcock's lesser, later films.
The book may be a bit too academic for casual film fans so just be aware of that. I'd suggest taking a look at the book to see if it will appeal to you prior to buying it.
Average customer rating:
- Mediocre Bio on Fascinating Subject
- This book on Mel Brooks' life falls short of being authoritative, still, author Parish has made a noble effort
- The King is Crowned
- I always knew he was a genius.
- Seriously Good Reading
|
It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks
James Robert Parish
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description
This book traces the extraordinary life and career of Mel Brooks, who has ridden a wave of show business success perhaps unsurpassed by anyone of his generation. Offering many insights into the wacky world of Brooks and his many collaborators, as well as an intimate look into his successful marriage to the brilliant and beautiful actress Anne Bancroft, It's Good to Be the King might just be the most delightful, engaging, and entertaining biography you'll ever read.
Customer Reviews:
Mediocre Bio on Fascinating Subject.......2007-07-10
While Parish appears to have done some research (a lengthy bibliography is included), he apparently did little more than read books/articles/reviews and listen to DVD commentaries. The result is an OK clip job that could have been much more---for example, why no interviews with Brooks' living colleagues? And hardly any mention is made of Brooks' three children from his first marriage, although several pages are devoted to his son from his marriage to Anne Bancroft.
The writing is workmanlike at best and at times much less than that (e.g., Sid Caesar is referred to as "powerfully built" on multiple occasions in the space of several pages). And some of the facts are wrong---for instance, Parish writes that the stage version of "The Producers" tried out in Detroit prior to Broadway---the tryout was in Chicago.
Brooks, a major creative force in American humor, deserves better.
This book on Mel Brooks' life falls short of being authoritative, still, author Parish has made a noble effort.......2007-06-25
He is properly appreciative of Brooks' most wonderful work, but not indifferent to his creative slumps (also known as the eighties). I agree with most of his assertions, but wish he'd credited them more specifically.
Especially since, having no original interviews with his subject, he relies on previously published works. To such an extent I couldn't help but feel a collection of interviews with the hardly press-shy humorist might have served just as well or better for his fans.
The King is Crowned.......2007-06-04
Admittedly, Mel Brooks is an acquired taste, because so much of his humor is of the "hit or miss" variety. (Confessed: I'm a Brooks fan - but he can occasionally "miss" even me.) Parish has turned out another one of his excellent books with this biography of funmeister Brooks. Mel's path to fame is an interesting one, and Parish tracks it well. He's one of the rare Hollywood writers - and more experienced ones, too - who doesn't delve into sensationalism in his books. Parish writes "biography" and relates stories, all in an informative, easy to read manner. This is an enoyable read from beginning to end. I was particularly intrigued with the "love story" aspect to Mel's life: namely, the romance and marriage of Brooks and Bancroft. Over the years, aside from their marriage being mentioned in the press, very little has been written about it. Parish does an encellent job of detailing it. Brooks didn't participate in the writing the book, but he should be very pleased with how it turned out. Parish does a superb job with this book on Mel's life. A most enjoyable book about one of the funniest men in the latter half of the twentieth-century.
I always knew he was a genius........2007-05-13
This book proves that nutty people are simply covering up their underlying genius. Mel can succeed in any endeavor he tries because beneath it all, he has a brilliant mind. A very enjoyable, fast-paced read.
Seriously Good Reading.......2007-03-27
The life of Mel Brooks reads like a history of comedy of the last 60 years - from his humble beginnings in Brooklyn, through summers at the Jewish resorts in the Catskills Borscht Belt, through recordings, T.V. theater and movies Mel Brooks did it all and worked with many of the comedy greats of the past half century (sometimes for better or worse). Brooks worked with Sid Ceaser, Jerry Lewis, Carl Reiner and countless others and married one of the great Hollywood actresses. This is a colorful look at his many triumphs and low points in between. And just when many would have written him off - he has roared back with the huge success of the musical Producers on Broadway. As with all his books, Mr. Parish has done extensive research and wonderfully describes the life of Mel Brooks.
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