Product Description

What goes into the making of Hollywood’s greatest motion pictures? Join Linda Seger and Edward Whetmore as they examine recent screenplays as well as classics including Thelma & Louise, Dead Poets Society and Witness,on their perilous journey from script to screen. In addition to a complete update and revision of the first edition, the authors have added a substantial new section that is an extensive case study of the Academy Award winning film, A Beautiful Mind, including participation by Ron Howard and the complete craft professionals that made this film an Academy Award winner.

In interviews with over 70 of the top professionals in the film industry, Seger and Whetmore examine each artist’s role in making a great script into a great film. Along the way, you will meet the industry’s leading writers, directors, producers, actors, editors, composers, and others behind the scenes. From their unique vantage points, personalities as diverse as Oliver Stone, Russell Crowe and Robin Williams reveal the alchemy they use to bring great stories to life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1022464 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-25
• Released on: 2004-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 236 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Script consultant Seger and communications professor Whetmore provide an up-to-date look at the gradual process of moviemaking, using recent screenplays to illustrate their lessons. Brimming with the observations of top-drawer movie mavens like Peter Weir (Witness), David Puttnam (Midnight Express) and the late production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti (The Last Emperor), the book devotes chapters to each element of making films, from the idea to make the movie (which ideally, says Tootsie writer Larry Gelbart, is "something you absolutely have to do" once the idea enters your mind) to composing the music, which is done when the film is completed and must reflect its themes. Along the way, there are nice surprises, like the breakdowns on what an actor's research entails (e.g., Jack Nicholson expounds on taking on the "huge mountain" of Jimmy Hoffa in 1992's Hoffa) and the particulars of special effects, such as the pigeons that don't fly away when they're let out of a cage in A Beautiful Mind. Moreover, the book features a case study of the elements of that Oscar-winning Ron Howard film. Even critics will be interested to learn of the efforts involved in trying to present the complex subject of schizophrenia with intelligence and respect. While the book is aimed at nonveteran film practitioners, it's engrossing enough for any film buff who wants to know more than what Premiere can tell them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
YA-Using recent motion-picture releases as examples, this book provides a blow-by-blow description of the filmmaking process, including how much control a producer exerts over a project, under what conditions the first scriptwriter should be fired, and how actors' improvisation often enhances a work. What emerges is a portrait of the fluidity of the filmmaking process, and a discussion of its shortcomings as well as its benefits from the viewpoints of the principals involved. This title shows that movies are truly a collaborative art form.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Though film scholars tend to lionize directors as the geniuses solely responsible for the creation of films, moviemaking is a collaborative process, demanding the skill and creativity of actors, writers, costume designers, makeup artists, sound technicians, and others. Based on interviews with 60 talented people, some well known (e.g., Oliver Stone, Robin Williams), this book traces the evolution of a film from idea to finished product, with special attention paid to the making of Dead Poets Society (1989). Though this may sound like a picky, dull approach, it isn't. Movie buffs will enjoy the behind-the-scenes stories of the making of films such as Dances with Wolves (1990) and JFK (1991), while film scholars will gain a new understanding of the process of moviemaking and learn to regard the "auteur" theory with rightful suspicion. A quick, fun read that's also full of valuable information. Recommended.
- David C. Tucker, DeKalb Cty. P.L., Decatur, Ga.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.