Hello there!
Film is an amazing medium isn't it? It is even more interesting when
you understand exactly what is going on and how everything works.
There are a number of sources both internet and written that can give
you a good peak behind the curtain.
Books
*Screenplay by Syd Field
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440576474/qid=1114279948/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
The bible of screenwriting. Syd Field made the three act structure
famous. Best place to start learning about it.
*Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations by Georges Polti
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0766133206/qid=1114277200/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
In 1945 Georges Polti said that there were 36 dramatic situations in
story telling, no more, no less. Over time this has shown to be
fairly true. Knowing what these 36 dramatic situations are will give
you a great leg up when trying to identify a genre, theme, etc.
*The Visual Story: Seeing the Structure of Film, TV and New Media by Bruce Block
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0240804678/qid=1114280276/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books
*Creature Features: The Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Movie
Guide by John Stanley
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425175170/qid=1114278032/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books
*Film/Genre by Rick Altman
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0851707173/qid=1114278201/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books
Provides a deep look into film genres and genre theory in general.
*Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series by Richard and Mary Armstrong
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786408936/qid=1114278559/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books
Looks at various themes in film with examples of movies which fall into that theme.
*Cinema 1: Movement-Image by Gilles Deleuze
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0816614008/ref=cm_bg_d_3/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance
A look and anaylisis of the visual nature of film. Examines how film
has evolved as a visual medium over the years and how things like
depth of field, blocking and other things were developed. To
understand where we are we must first look at where we came from.
*Deleuze on Cinema by Ronal Bogue
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0415966043/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books&st=*
One of the classic books on film analysis.
*Film Studies (Teach Yourself) by Warren Buckland
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0844202304/ref=cm_bg_d_9/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance
A good starter guide for learning to break down a film into its parts.
*Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of
Screenwriting by Robert McKee
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060391685/ref=pd_sim_b_2/103-2758552-2898203?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance
Takes a hard look at story and story development.
*Film Structure and the Emotional System by Greg Smith
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521817587/qid=1114280276/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books
Looks at the theories of emotion and how they relate to a films
structure. Basically how a film produces emotions.
*Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film by Seymour Chatman
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/080149186X/qid=1114280276/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/103-2758552-2898203?v=glance&s=books
Websites
*Wordplay
http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/welcome.html
Wordplay is a wonderful resource for screenwriters which has over 40
columns written by experts in the industry on everything from how to
best write heros and villains to how to write a good ending. The site
is aimed at aspiring screenwriters but has a lot of great information
on it. A screenwriter first has to learn the structure before they
can write it.
*The Elements of Good Storytelling
http://www.skotos.net/articles/ELEMENTS.shtml
Discusses character development, dynamic settings, plot strategies, Backstory, etc.
*Movie Genres Chart
http://www.createyourscreenplay.com/genrechart.htm
Lists most of the classic genres with a brief description and a number
of movie examples which fall into those genres.
*List of movie genres -- Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_movie_genres
A more comprehensive list of movie genres and subgenres. Links go to
descriptions of each genre.
*Cyber Film School
http://www.cyberfilmschool.com/
Learn about lighting, camera movement, etc. Since film is a visual
medium how things look on the screen is just as or more important then
the story itself.
*What is Three Act Structure
http://www.writerswrite.com/screenwriting/lecture4.htm
Provides a good look at the three act structure
*The Need for Structure
http://www.hollywoodlitsales.com/ownwords/joshbecker.shtml
More three act structure.
*Sharks and Structure - Creating Dramatic Structure for Screenplays
http://www.exposure.co.uk/eejit/3act/
A great look at the three act structure with a step by step
walkthrough of an example movie to illustrate it.
*Mass Media Course: Film Structure
http://www.internetcampus.com/frtv/frtv012.htm
A well written and informative look at film structure.
*Movie Genres
http://www.ewritersplace.com/a253.php
Looks at movie genres from a writers point of view.
Hope this answers your question!
Best,
Djbaker
Research Methods
Three Act Structure
://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=three+act+structure&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Film Structure
://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=film+structure&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Story Structure
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=story+structure&btnG=Search
Movie Genres
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=movie+genres&btnG=Search
Identify Genres
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=identify+movie+genres&btnG=Search |
