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Take a trip through the history of filmmaking in this illustrated widescreen exploration of the people, technologies, and techniques that have shaped the course of cinema. Going back as far as prehistoric times, when cavemen played with light and shadow, to present day when we can stream Netflix into our living rooms, An Illustrated History of Filmmaking gets down to the nitty-gritty on everything film! This illustrated guide shows filmmaking in action, chock full of factual information about actors and directors to the equipment and technology used throughout the ages. Featuring appearances from Hollywood heavyweights through time like George Lucas, Jean Luc Godard, Agnes Varda, Akira Kurosawa, and Stanley Kubrick, this book uses wonderfully detailed illustrations to illuminate film's past and to speculate on its exciting future!

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Visual Effects offers a practical, detailed guide to visual effects for non-VFX specialists working in film and television. In contemporary filmmaking and television production, visual effects are used extensively in a wide variety of genres and formats to contribute to visual storytelling, help deal with production limitations, and reduce budget costs. Yet for many directors, producers, editors, and cinematographers, visual effects remain an often misunderstood aspect of media production. In this book, award-winning VFX supervisor and instructor Eran Dinur introduces readers to visual effects from the filmmaker’s perspective, providing a comprehensive guide to conceiving, designing, budgeting, planning, shooting, and reviewing VFX, from pre-production through post-production. The book will help readers: Learn what it takes for editors, cinematographers, directors, producers, gaffers, and other filmmakers to work more effectively with the visual effects team during pre-production, on the set and in post, use visual effects as a narrative aid, reduce production costs, and solve problems on location; Achieve a deeper understanding of 3D, 2D, and 2.5D workflows; the various VFX crafts from matchmove to compositing; essential concepts like photorealism, parallax, roto, and extraction; become familiar with the most common types of VFX, their role in filmmaking, and learn how to plan effectively for the cost and complexity of VFX shots; See visual effects concepts brought to life in practical, highly illustrated examples drawn from the real-world experiences of industry professionals, and discover how to better integrate visual effects into your own projects.

In this easy to read and lavishly illustrated volume, filmmaker Bill Brown explains why movies move; how film and video cameras work; how to light and expose your shots to get the best results; how to create eye-pleasing compositions and how to record crystal clear sounds. It is a DIY guidebook for anyone interested in making films and videos. This is a simple guide to understanding the vocabulary of film makers and presents the jargon of lighting and sound in an easy to understand format, packed with drawings, charts and descriptions that is perfect for all.

Casting is an essential component of any film or video project, but the core skill-set needed to cast effectively is little understood. Casting Revealed: A Guide for Film Directors is a straightforward manual on the art and craft of casting. Here, director Hester Schell offers her insider perspective on casting workflows, industry standards, finding actors, running auditions, what to look for in a performance, contracts, and making offers. This new edition has been updated with fresh interviews with casting directors, full color head shots, new information about online video submissions, and a companion website featuring forms, contracts, and sample scenes for auditions. Gain a fuller understanding of the misunderstood art and craft of casting actors for film and video production. Learn to find the right actors for any production, run auditions, interview actors, effectively judge performances and video submissions, evaluate suitability for a role, discover what it is you need from an actor, view headshots, draft contracts, make offers, and navigate current industry standards, unions, and procedures. This new edition has been updated to include full color sample head shots, new content on online video submissions, listings of casting wesbites, film resources, and film commissions and a companion website featuring interviews with celebrated casting directors from New York, Portland, Boston and Austin, necessary forms, sign-in sheets, contracts, and sample scenes for auditions.

An illustrated guide to DIY movie-making. Have you ever wanted to make your own movies, documentaries, music videos, or vlogs? In this easy-to-read and magnificently illustrated volume, you will learn why movies move; how film and video cameras work; how to light and expose your shots to get the best results; how to create eye-pleasing compositions; and how to record crystal clear sounds. It's a do-it-yourself guidebook for film and video makers of all ages and experience levels. Whether you've got a phone and a YouTube account, an old Super-8 handheld camera, or a fancy, state of the art motion picture studio, you still need a good idea and a good knowledge of the basics. Bill Brown, aka "Professor Know-It-All," with his cast of helpful animal assistants, give you all the technical knowledge you need so that you can stop worrying about your gear and your settings and let your ideas come to life.