Feb 102013
101 Things I Learned in Film School
What are the essentials of screenplay structure? What’s the difference between plot, story, and theme? What’s the best camera angle to convey inner psychology? How are movie finances structured?
These questions and more are answered in this exquisitely packaged book by Neil Landau, an experienced screenwriter and script consultant to the major movie studios. Presented in the familiar format of the popular 101 THINGS I LEARNED® book series, 101 THINGS I LEARNED IN FILM SCHOOL’s two-page,
List Price: $ 15.00
Price: $ 7.24
101 Things I Learned in Film School – Buy this little black book!,
I carry around a little black book–101 Things I Learned in Film School by Neil Landau. Ever since I bought and read it, I have been carrying this excellent book around with me like a good luck charm so I can have Landau’s sage wisdom and years of talent/expert advice and experience as a screenwriter/filmmaker at my fingertips. I am sure you will feel the same about its contents–you’ll never “lose” this book – it’s chocked full of 101 powerful lessons on screenwriting and film for the beginner, intermediate, or advanced student. Even professional filmmakers/screenwriters will benefit from reviewing all of the book’s most pertinent ideas and advice to recharge their creativity or focus anew on a project or script.
As a professor of creative writing, I will now use 101 Things I Learned in Film School in all my film/screenwriting classes. Additionally, as the Director of both the Chicago Writers’ Workshop and the Los Angeles Writers’ Workshop, I am implementing this book into all of our screenwriting and film classes! Forget about spending thousands of dollars on film school when this book can give you so much at a fraction of the cost–expert advice from a master who knows Hollywood and his craft, Neil Landau. I highly recommend 101 Things I Learned in Film School!
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Excellent!,
Film making is essentially storytelling, and as a writing teacher and avid reader, it’s always fascinated me. I have been wanting to learn more about this storytelling process, and about the nuts and bolts of movie-making — including scriptwriting, camera angles, and editing — in a way that’s relatively quick and accessible. This little book was perfect for me. It’s deceptively straightforward and simple but rich with information. It helped me grasp the process of film-making, which Neil Landau described as both “painstakingly deliberate and fortuitously experimental.” I am excited about looking for some of techniques he described next time I watch an excellent movie.
Some aspects of movie making the author touches on:
* The stages of film-making — from pre-production to post-production.
* The nuts and bolts of screenplays — have you ever wondered how to format a screenplay or how long it should be? (hint: 1 screenplay page = 1 minute of screen time)
* Writing and editing the screenplay — it includes some of the standard gems cherished by us writing teachers, like “show, don’t tell,” plus tips for plotting, advice on developing a compelling protagonist, and more.
* Coming up with an effective movie title.
* Creating believable dialogue.
* How to pitch a screenplay to a film studio executive.
* How to use lighting and various camera lenses and angles to tell your story and reveal important things about a character’s psychology.
* Tips for casting.
* Things the audience should experience during a movie, like catharsis.
This is a concise, intriguing overview of the art of film making, strewn with quotes from movie makers, actors, and writers, that I’ll be keeping on a side table in my T.V. room for future reference. Many of the ideas explored in this book, including plot development, creating characters, storytelling, themes, and imagery, will also help with reading or writing fiction. I highly recommend it to writers, film buffs, teachers, homeschoolers and anyone who is fascinated with the process of telling a compelling story.
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Good films are like this book: concise,
I graduated from film school and I absolutely love little books like this one. Some of the wisdom was new for me though much of it was traditional film knowledge presented from the author’s unique perspective. Some of the lessons were technical, like day-to-day stuff while working on a film, and some were about the art and how to best present it. The best tidbits had to do with trimming your work down for better clarity, better flow, better tension, and almost better everything. This applies to the screenplay, the film, and even the production itself.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is attributed to filmmaker Sidney Lumet: ‘All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.’
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