Welcome to Strange-A-Zon
A List of Filmmaking Books from Stranger Than Pictures and Amazon.com
(A small percentage of any purchases will go back to StrangePictures.com-- thank you!)
13 of Mlee's Fave Film Books:
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REBEL WITHOUT A CREW First off, the very inspiration for my webpage, was Robert Rodriguez's book of journal entries REBEL WITHOUT A CREW. It was by far, the most inspirational book on filmmaking that I have ever read. So good in fact that I decided to make my own movie (THE PIG FARM) after reading it and decided to start www.strangepictures.com just so other people can learn as much from my experience as I learned from this book. If you don't have this book, click on the above icon of the book cover or click here and order it through amazon.com. It will be the best investment you've ever made in your own career and through amazon.com, you'll not only get it for a much lower price than when I originally bought the book (which was still worth it), but you'll also be supporting my own film and instantly become a part of THE PIG FARM experience. |
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Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices : How to Write, Produce, Direct, Film, Edit, and Promote a Feature-Length Film for Less Than $10,000 Another book that I read before making my film was Rick Schmidt's "Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices : How to Write, Produce, Direct, Film, Edit, and Promote a Feature-Length Film for Less Than $10,000." Not a SUPER book, but it was inspirational, and helped get my mind in the right place to keep costs down during production. I spent $40,000 on my first film THE PIG FARM but I would've spent more without this book. Click Here to order this book at a discounted rate or click on the book cover. |
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Screenplay : The Foundations of Screenwriting Many people write me and always ask me what are the best books to buy in order to learn how to write a screenplay and the answer for traditional Hollywood film structure is still SYD FIELD'S Screenplay : The Foundations of Screenwriting - it's the bible for the way Hollywood has been since the dawn of its creation. (Syd Field, as you'll learn as you grow in the field, is regarded in Hollywood as THE authority on this type of scriptwriting). This is the book my teachers in college made me use and it's how I learned proper scriptwriting structure. Today, the format may be changing as those of us who grew up on MTV and video games take control of the reins and start making fresh feeling original and never-before-seen films (ala THE MATRIX, FIGHT CLUB, RUN LOLA RUN, etc) - but this is the book to read to learn the OLD rules (in case you want to know which rules you'd like to break in greater detail). Click Here to order this book at a discounted rate or click on the book cover. |
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The Hero With a Thousand Faces STAR WARS FANS! READ/BUY THIS! A major book that every writer/reader would do well to check out is Joseph Campbell's THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES. Ever wanted to get a compilation of every great myth ever written, put together in one neat little book that not only did that tremendous feat, but also shows you the similarities everyone of them has and puts them into an ordered system so you can do the same? Well this is the book. Joseph Campbell, in his day, was the world's leading authority on myths, and in HERO, he takes all the common factors that all myths have in common (proven, working story structure from thousands of the world's greatest and smallest myths) and compiles them into an unbelievably fascinating and easy to understand list of needed ingredients for any aspiring writer or reader looking to be enthralled. Joseph Campbell was the man George Lucas studied under before writing STAR WARS and it has been said that because STAR WARS followed those classic elements that are listed in this book that it was such hit. For example, the first element all great myths have in common is THE RELUCTANT HERO (Luke Skywalker) and THE CALL TO ADVENTURE (Ben saying "you must learn the ways of the force" and Luke saying "I can't" because of his uncle's farm). Then comes THE PUSH INTO ADVENTURE (his aunt and uncle getting killed by the Empire) and THE HELPER (Ben Kenobi) who teaches and helps the Hero on the journey. Ya gotta love myth! And you gotta read this book to learn how to do it best (either that or spend a lifetime reading all the stories Joseph Campbell did in his day). Just Click Here to order this book at a discounted rate or click on the book cover. (YOU SEE THAT PICTURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOOK? THAT'S LUKE SKYWALKER BABY!) |
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THE WRITER'S JOURNEY - MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS by Christopher Vogler Similar to The Hero With a Thousand Faces (because Vogler helped 'discover' Campbell for us screenwriters), this book is actually for 'writers' but THERE IS A VERSION FOR 'SCREENWRITERS AND STORYTELLERS.' Either way, the basics in mythic structure are the same - the technical aspects of the storytelling is what changes. If you're a writer or screenwriter or wannabe either, you should consider giving this one a read like I am. Mythic structure is a powerful tool for writers to be aware of - both for breaking the rules or for obeying them properly. Check it out. |
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STORY: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee This acclaimed book by script guru Robert McKee, is a MUST for any filmmaker of any skill level. Very, very enlightening. I couldn't recommend it more to any writers or would-be writers out there... |
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ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT by Stephen King A no bullshit, useful and entertaining book on how to train yourself to become a writer and what to do to get better. Awesome, quick reading book (from my favorite living author - The King Man!). |
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ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE by William Goldman I finally read this wonderful book that had been recommended to me since 1992. It's a fantastic book that gives the inside scoop on Hollywood and being a screenwriter - how you get treated and what you have to do and sacrifice in order to have a script produced. Goldman is the two-time Acadamy Award-winning screenwriter of such movies as BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN & THE PRINCESS BRIDE. The novel of THE PRINCESS BRIDE (which I read before the MOVIE was ever made) which Goldman wrote, is one of the most original and creative books I'd ever read (it was written as a novel within a novel). Read more about the book at Amazon.com |
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THE BIG PICTURE A collection of essays that take an insightful look at the history of movies through the 1990's - who were the big actors, what did the big studio execs think about the movies being released - all written by William Goldman, the oscar winning writer-legend of a gazillion screenplays and books such as the phenomenol ADVENTURES IN THE SCREENTRADE. |
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WHICH LIE DID I TELL by William Goldman A sequel to the infamous inside-Hollywood screenwriting book- ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE |
| THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING by Lajos Egri This was the first book on screenwriting that was ever suggested to me. I purchased it right away and dabbled at reading it, and what I read was good stuff, but I never read it as a whole because when I bought it I was in college and had other books being forced on me that I had to read. But the book has been recommended to me repeatedly since college by other people whose opinions I respect and who say the book is an amazing book about writing creative screenplays - Lajos being some sort of master at it. But I can't say it's a good book because of having read it first hand - I am proud to have it on my shelf though being that it's a highly regarded book. For more, visit Amazon.com |
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THE ART OF ADAPTATION: TURNING FACT INTO FICTION by Linda Seger A great book if you happen to be working on an adaptation. Adaptations win more awards than pure made up fiction (if you look at the lists of oscar winners and emmy-shows, most I believe were adaptations from a book, magazine article, play, true-life story or some other source). And it's defininitely not an easy task converting something into a screenplay (trust me on this - see journal below). Linda Seger's book helps. She gives a lot of pointers of what to look for before you begin to see if your source material will make a good book or not, then she gives pointers on how to actually write the adaptation. Good book, I've read it and have been referencing it a lot in my recent work (see below). |
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MAKING A GOOD SCRIPT GREAT by Linda Seger A great book on scriptwriting, especially if you've already written one, although it's very helpful even if you haven't. It gives advice on making every scene of a screenplay important to the story, every character vital or necessary, and every twist and nuance of the story structure compelling or at least working. I enjoyed the book a lot and it got me thinking about little things I could do to spice up seemingly unimportant parts of my script to make them important. Check it out now at Amazon.com. |