Secret Thoughts of Angels :: Production Notes :: Books and Courses
These are the books I read before and during the production process that I would recommend to other people.
General Filmmaking:
On Filmmaking - Alexander Mackendrick - I've only recently read this book and wish that I'd known about it a year ago. Possibly one of the best all round guides to filmmaking there is.
The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook - Chris Jones - An excellent book that covers just about everything you'll need to know to make your film. I was lucky enough to meet Chris last year at an event organised by Screen South and he was kind enough to offer me some advice on editing later in the year.
Screenwriting/Writing:
Screenwriting - Sid Field - The best advice I've heard about this book was read it, digest it, then forget it. While it contains everything you need to know to create the 'perfect' Hollywood film, many (including myself) find his methods a little too restrictive. However, there is a lot of good advice here that you need to know.
Story - Robert McKee - Another important book that advocates a very definite system. Again read, ingest and take from it what you want (alternatively go and see him live).
Writing on Both Sides of the Brain - Henriette Anne Klauser - Contains some useful exercises for freeing up your brain and letting the creativity flow.
Dramatica for Screenwriters - Armando Saldaña Mora - Contains some very clever ideas for controlling the morass of information that Dramatica can pump out and refining into a useable structure for a screeplay. I used a customised version of one of his techniques to create the structure for Secret Thoughts...
Directing:
Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television - Judith Weston - This is a fantastic book to read if you don't have a great deal of experience with actors. I have acted in the past, but that was a long time ago and I was certainly no Guilgud or Brando. I found her methods for script analysis incredibly useful.
The Directors Intuition - Judith Weston - A continuation of Directing Actors, with more in-depth ideas. An excellent companion to the first book.
Backwards and Forwards - David Ball - Written for Theatre Directors, this book has a great deal to teach the Film Director too.
Directors Masterclass - Laurent Tirard - A good read and a useful insight into how some of todays great directors approach their craft.
Editing:
In the Blink of An Eye - Walter Murch - A short but interesting book based on a lecture he gave with some very thoughtful insights into the nature or cinematic motion and why editing actually works at all. A definite for anyone interested in editing.
Courses:
How to Make a Movie - An excellent introduction to the world of filmmaking with some very useful resources presented in an interesting and creative way.
Software:
Dramatica - Write Bros - If you've read my blog, you'll know I live and die by this bit of software. Yes it takes a long time to learn; Yes there is a whole philosophy and language to learn; Yes it can be dangerously prescriptive if you don't use your imagination. BUT! If you open up and allow yourself to be challenged by it, you won't be disappointed. If you don't want to spend mega bucks, you can always try the much cheaper Writer's Dreamkit which has all the core functionailty without the bells and whistles (which most people don't need until later anyway).
Storyview - Write Bros - A really neat program for structuring your screenplay. Very useful for plot development. Unfortunately they don't do a version for Mac, which is a shame...
Movie Magic Screenwriter - Write Bros - The Final Draft vs. Screenwriter (vs. Sophocles) battle will probably rage for eternity. I tried them all; didn't like Final Draft, liked Sophocles and loved Screenwriter. Can't really say why - probably a combination of a good suite of complimentary products, good customer service and a solidly built program.
DV Rack - Serious Magic - This bit of kit rocks! If you're worried at all about the quality control of your shots, this program should be on your laptop next to your camera at all times. A wonderful piece of software.