From Script to Screen: The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking

Interviews screenwriters, producers, directors, actors, production designers, editors, and composers to give an overall impression of how a film is made

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.

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.