Making Movies Work: Thinking Like a Filmmaker

Rating:
Summary: Easy to understand and highly informative
Review: "Making Movies Work" discusses films from three types of effects the shots have on the audience. Boorstein calls the "Voyeurs Eye" the eye we have for detail, consistency and the logic of a scene, where we gather information. "Vicarious Eye" concerns the techniques filmmakers use to relate feeling and the emotions of a scene. "Visceral Eye" appeals to the part of the brain that bypasses thinking, the 'gut' reaction. This book does not go into detail on setting up shots, but rather gives the reader a useful context in which to think about shot choice. It's purpose is to help identify the purpose of a shot or scene and why a shot gives the audience the feel that it does. I thought the book was fascinating, and it puts to direct application much of film theory.

Rating:
Summary: Thinking Like a Filmmaker
Review: For those people that just stumbled on this book and are not aspiring film makers, the insight and even the abundance of photographs from major scenes are worth the purchase price.

For the rest of us, everyone knows what makes a professional in any field is that little extra effort to be one step ahead of the next person. This book may be that next step.

A paragraph from the introduction says it all:

"How does a surgeon attack a tumor, a lawyer a murder case, or an architect a concert hall? When you learn a craft, or a profession, or an art (and film is all of these), you have to master a way of thinking as well as a set of skills. A way of approaching the problem that make techniques your tool."

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, great middle, good finish.
Review: I've been doing some research into film making and I picked this book up from the bookstore because it looked okay. At first I was a bit let down, but after getting into it I found it truly great! The author gives an amazing amount of examples, and even though they're a little outdated, he gives them in such ways that you don't have to have seen the movies to learn from his examples.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, great middle, good finish.
Review: I've been doing some research into film making and I picked this book up from the bookstore because it looked okay. At first I was a bit let down, but after getting into it I found it truly great! The author gives an amazing amount of examples, and even though they're a little outdated, he gives them in such ways that you don't have to have seen the movies to learn from his examples.

Rating:
Summary: I wish I could give 4 1/2
Review: The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is, because it is not a smashing, shocking masterpiece. But it is still a VERY GOOD book. It gives one a great first taste on filmmaking, touching on almost every topic and field in the production process. It is also very well organized into a system of own logic, and contains quite a few funny and interesting anecdotes, which make it more like a personal friend instead of just "a book". The language is clear and "user-friendly" (which was quite important for me, English being only my second lang.), and Mr. Boorstin is like a smiling tour-guide that takes one around the various aspects of the craft. It is an excellent introduction to all people interested in film, and to all those who just want to have a good read about 'the film job' in general. Read it and You will like it, if it does not make You want to fall in love with film right away. If You already are: You will learn not just about the craft, but about creative processes and "Hollywood vs. World"-philosophy too, while You get to understand what actually makes a filmmaker. A definite 4 and 1/2.....