Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Film Directing Shot by Shot offers a good introduction to the rudiments of film production. Steven D. Katz walks his readers through the various stages of moviemaking, advising them at every turn to visualize the films they wish to produce. Katz believes that one of the chief tasks of filmmaking is to negotiate between our three-dimensional reality and the two-dimensionality of the screen. He covers the number of technical options filmmakers can use to create a satisfying flow of shots, a continuity that will make sense to viewers and aptly tell the film’s story. Katz provides in-depth coverage of production design, storyboarding, spatial connections, editing, scene staging, depth of frame, camera angles, point of view, and the various types of stable compositions and moving camera shots.
Review
“Now that you’ve got a couple of shorts under your belt, why not get a little more analytic? Steven Katz’s book gives a great breakdown of the fundamentals of film directing. It’s not something you might want to start off by reading, but once you are ready to have your films take that next step this should be number one on your to do list. Katz breaks down film language for you so that you can learn how to speak it in your own way.” – www.austinfilmfestival.com
From the Publisher
A complete catalogue of motion picture techniques for filmmakers. It concentrates on the ‘storytelling’ school of filmmaking, utilizing the work of the great stylists who established the versatile vocabulary of technique that has dominated the movies since 1915. This graphic approach includes comparisons of style by interpreting a ‘model script’, created for the book, in storyboard form.
About the Author
Steven D. Katz is an award-winning writer, producer, and director. His work has appeared on Sat-urday Night Live and in many cable and theatrically released films, such as Clear and Present Dan-ger, for which he completed the first full digital previsualization of a motion picture. He has taught workshops at the American Film Institute, Sundance Film Festival, Parsons School of Design, Danish Film Institute, School for Visual Arts (in New York), and Shanghai University, among many others.
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Rafael Vargas –
What a great book full of information – GOLD in the tip of your fingers!I read it a few time since I got it!!! A must have book if you”re into filming –
CuriousNarf –
Great book and very useful especially for cinematographers and future Directors of Photography.
Victoria Rosendahl –
I’m planning to direct my first short film and, as a writer, this really helped me understand the basics of shot set up and planning.
Karl Epps –
Fabulous filmmaking nuts and bolts
Ma –
This book is a great read for those who are interested about cinemathography
Maja –
Can’t believe some people are giving bad reviews just because of the “pronouns”… You are missing the point. Are you here to learn something or looking for the potential problem to judge?
Murray I. Suid –
Most of us have in mind the image of a director staring at actors through a camera viewfinder. In the background is the “director’s chair” labeled “Hitchcock” or “Lupino.” But as Steven Katz makes clear in Film Directing Shot by Shot, much of the director’s work happens long before the cast and crew arrive on set or on location.Pre-production planning is crucial in making movies worth watching. Much of the planning has to do with figuring out how to turn the words of a script into moving pictures. That’s what Katz’s recently revised classic text is all about.The main topics are Visualization, Continuity, and Moving the Camera. A great deal of the discussion focuses on storyboarding. Bringing in examples from well-known movies, the book covers shot size, angle, pacing, mood, zooming, and every other visual element. The examples–plus behind-the-scenes lore–make this very practical book fun to read.While the title suggests that Shot by Shot is for directors, the concepts are vital to all members of the creative team. This obviously goes for production designers, cinematographers and editors. But the lessons Katz offers can be transformative for screenwriters, who may be so caught up in plot structure and dialogue that they forget that movies are about moving pictures. As one of those screenwriters, I found that the book has helped me do a better job of imagining scenes and sequences.Although Film Directing Shot by Shot is rooted in Hollywood, the book is not limited to big-budget productions. Katz’s insights apply equally well to indie moviemaking, where the director might double as the camera operator, props manager, and caterer.Recognizing that most indie directors don’t have excellent drawing skills and can’t afford to hire professional storyboardists, the author makes the argument that even stick-figure visualization can be powerfully. The examples included—some by famous directors—will encourage drawing-challenged readers to make previsualization sketches, even if they’re ugly works of art.Of course, we live in the digital age. These days we can find software that assists us in generating storyboard images or “borrowing” layouts from produced movies. Katz analyzes the pros and cons of the most popular visualization apps, including some that are very affordable.If you’re making a low- or no-budget movie, pre-visualization won’t save you millions of dollars. But the method presented in this book will almost certainly contribute to your making a better quality end product whether it’s a short thriller or a music video, or a feature-length drama.
Bookwyrm –
Film Directing: Shot by Shot is an in-depth study of film directing that is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in directing. There are hundreds of illustrations illuminating each concept. This book is divided into four main parts: Visualization: The Process, Elements of the Continuity Style, The Workshop, and The Moving Camera.Visualization: The Process covers visualization, production design, storyboards, visualization tools and techniques, and the production cycle. Elements of the Continuity Style covers composing shots (spatial connections) and editing (temporal connections). The Workshop walks you through the elements: applying the basics, staging dialogue sequences, staging dialogues with three subjects, staging dialogs with four or more players, mobile stagings, depth of frame, camera angles, open and closed framings, and point of view. The Moving Camera covers the pan, the crane shot, the tracking shot, tracking shot choreography, transitions, format, shadowing, short cuts, and parting shots.The author, Steven D. Katz is an award-winning writer, director, and producer who shares his immense expertise in taking films from concepts to the screen. This is the next best thing to taking a master-class workshop from Katz in person. The hundreds of illustrations and in-depth explanations are a gift to anyone interested in directing or in deconstructing existing films for analysis and education. The illustrations alone are worth the price of admission.Let Amazon donate to your favorite charity! Use Amazon Smile (smile.amazon.com) when you order and Amazon will donate to the charity of your choice when you make a qualifying purchase. Check out how Amazon Smile works at https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas. My shopping is donating to my favorite charity, Canines for Independence at no cost to me. Awesome!
Rafaela –
Necessário!
Como diretora de fotografia, uso para consultas em meu escritório e amo
manuel lopez t. –
A must have
A must have for any filmmaker. I have lost my copy and I needed to have it again.