Product Description

If you can't make it to one of Bruce Block's legendary visual storytelling seminars, then you need his book! Now in full color for the first time, this best-seller offers a clear view of the relationship between the story/script structure and the visual structure of a film, video, animated piece, or video game. You'll learn how to structure your visuals as carefully as a writer structures a story or a composer structures music. Understanding visual structure allows you to communicate moods and emotions, and most importantly, reveals the critical relationship between story structure and visual structure.

The Visual Story offers a clear view of the relationship between the story/script structure and the visual structure of a film, video, or multimedia work. An understanding of the visual components will serve as the guide to strengthening the overall story.

The Visual Story divides what is seen on screen into tangible sections: contrast and affinity, space, line and shape, tone, color, movement, and rhythm. The vocabulary as well as the insight is provided to purposefully control the given components to create the ultimate visual story. For example: know that a saturated yellow will always attract a viewer's eye first; decide to avoid abrupt editing by mastering continuum of movement; and benefit from the suggested list of films to study rhythmic control. The Visual Story shatters the wall between theory and practice, bringing these two aspects of the craft together in an essential connection for all those creating visual stories.

Bruce Block has the production credentials to write this definitive guide. His expertise is in demand, and he gives seminars at the American Film Institute, PIXAR Studios, Walt Disney Feature and Television Animation, Dreamworks Animation, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Industrial Light & Magic and a variety of film schools in Europe.

The concepts in this book will benefit writers, directors, photographers, production designers, art directors, and editors who are always confronted by the same visual problems that have faced every picture maker in the past, present, and future.

* Now in full color!
* Written by a renowned producer, visual consultant, and teacher
* The material in this books applies to any kind of visual story, including films, animated pieces, video games, and television

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13047 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

Review
"Bruce Block has a unique knowledge and understanding of the visual structure of film. The Visual Story is the only book of its kind. it will teach you to become a better storyteller through the use of visuals." - Nancy Meyers, Director of "Something's Gotta Give" and "The Holiday"

"Bruce Block masterfully deconstructs visual storytelling. Exposure to this material is essential for all students of cinema. This book will make you a better filmmaker."
--American Film Institute

"Bruce Block's work gives the visual storyteller a framework for making story-driven decisions, not just visual choices. It gives the filmmaker tools to create harmony and counterpoint between the story structure and its visual realization on the screen."
--Randy Nelson, Dean of Pixar University, Pixar Animation Studios

"No matter what kind of visual storyteller you are, whether a filmmaker, photographer, or graphic designer, Bruce Block explains how visual narrative works in a way that is clear and accessible."
--David Pagani, Creative Director-On Air, DIRECTV

"Bruce Block is legendary in the field of broadcast design. His profound insight into the art of visual storytelling will forever change the way you work."
--Dan Pappalardo, Executive Creative Director/Partner, Troika Design Group

"I spend much of my time in pre-production quoting Bruce Block to my cinematographers, production designers, costume designers, and editors. In all my years in the business I've never found a clearer more useful articulation of film grammar."
--Jay Roach, director of Austin Powers, Meet the Parents, and Meet the Fockers

"You hold in your hand a key to understanding the complex and ever changing world of modern cinema."
--Charles Shyver, director of Alfie, Father of the Bride I & II, and Baby Boom

"Bruce Block's in-depth understanding of Visual Structure is inspirational to those working in animation. This reference source is invaluable and essential for any artist."
--Walt Disney Television Animation

"I think every cinematographer-in-training should read this book. It will teach them how important collaboration with others in the crew is by having an overall concept of all that goes into the creation of the Visual Story." - Rexford Metz, ASC

"His book is a sort of Elements of Style for filmmakers, and any screenwriter, director or cinematographer with a point of view will find a great deal of creative inspiration in The Visual Storys guide to the fundamentals of the craft....The Visual Story makes the very convincing argument that all of these media require precise, motivated visual designs in order to be effective and that having a point to make or a story to tell is only half the battle." - American Cinematographer

Customer Reviews

A Unique, Must-Have Book for Filmmakers
I teach a class called "Story" at Los Angeles Film School and this book is on my Recommend Reading List for all students but I especially tout it to cinematography, production design and directing majors. There are many books that talk about the basics (shot size, 180 degree rule, etc.) but if you want to go beyond that to find out what kinds of choices the great filmmakers make and why, this is the book with the answers.

One thing young filmmakers and students often fail to understand about the auteurs and master directors is that they base their shots on what serves the story, not the fact that the shot "looks cool." I love the fact that author Bruce Block talks so much about the need for the visuals to follow and reflect the ups and downs of the underlying story structure. I also love the fact that that he takes film theory and shows the filmmaker how to apply it. Ordinarily, film theory and film practice are two separate worlds.

I never thought I'd find a film book I liked better than the first edition of "The Visual Story," but now I have: It's the 2nd edition, which has a bigger, easier-to-read format, many more color illustrations and more, updated examples. The students who've taken my advice and read this book are blown away by it. I believe it should be mandatory reading for anyone who is in the film business or who hopes to be.

Terrific Tool - for the visual and language learner!
I am a visual person. I'm currently taking a film class and had to purchase The Visual Story for class. Let me first say that I am an aspiring filmmaker. I have an incredible library of handpicked books catering to any and all aspects of the filmmaking experience and this is by FAR among the very top of my selections! It is really terrific at not only explaining concepts very concisely, but it also is full of real visual examples. Terrific book. Buy it! You'll be glad you did.

Become a Better Filmmaker
Film is all about the image, and Bruce Block gives you a visual toolkit. With this book, you can construct images that help to tell your story, set the mood, and control how the image affects the audience. He helps you build your film shot by shot. His techniques, illustrated with new art and images from films, will make any film stronger and all filmmakers more confident and creative. Many of Hollywood's leading directors have benefited from his expertise. Now the rest of us can, too. I highly recommend this book.