The Hollywood Eye: What Makes Movies Work - Hardcover

Boorstin, Jon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060391138 ISBN 13: 9780060391133

Publisher: Cornelia & Michael Bessie Books, 1990

Synopsis

What happens in the dark between the screen and the audience that makes movies so exciting to so many? Jon Boorstin believes that every movie is really three movies running at once: the "voyeuristic" movie (the logic of the film), the "vicarious" movie (the emotional hold of the film), and the "visceral" movie (the primal thrill the film elicits). Here he examines these elements using his own experiences as well as those of well-known film makers - from Hitchcock to Spielberg - to demonstrate how the moviemaking process works. He shows how film makers use light, space and sound to create a world; tells what makes an actor a star; explains why he thinks "Citizen Kane" is a great film and what he feels is wrong with the ending of "Fatal Attraction". The book is illustrated with stills from films and line-drawings of film techniques.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Combining practical Hollywood know-how, film theory, and straightforward writing, this highly readable work examines the making of such successful American films as Citizen Kane, Apocalypse Now, and All the President's Men . Longtime producer and screenwriter Boorstin explores Hollywood production techniques, practices, and values in an attempt to define what makes a film "work" for viewers. Standard literary elements--characterizaiton, sense of place, and plot--are examined from a cinematic perspective, and a great deal of information is imparted about the arcane arts of film editing, lighting, and sound effects. This is a surprisingly refreshing book about a much-maligned, much-studied phenomenon: the traditional Hollywood film. Highly recommended.
- James B. Hemesath, Adams State Coll. Lib., Alamosa, Col.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornelia & Michael Bessie Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0060391138
• ISBN 13: 9780060391133
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224