From 1916 to the present day, a professional filmmaker looks at the 50 Visionary Films & Filmmakers of the last 100 years. From Intolerance, Potemkin, Napoleon & Citizen Kane, through The Italian Neo Realists, The French New Wave, The American Independents, to Kubrick, Russell, Bergman, Spielberg, Mann, Boyle, & the New Paradigm of The Blair Witch, Once & Gravity... Agree. Disagree. Enjoy.

This book identifies, presents and critically evaluates a corpus of films dealing with Arabs and Arabic themes produced in the United States during the silent era (1894-1930). Underlying and guiding this work is the premise that American (and Western) films dealing with Arabs took shape, functioned, and are ultimately better understood by reference to the encompassing and pervasive cultural system of Orientalism. Responding to the conditions and demands of Orientalism and reflecting a historically entrenched and confrontational attitude towards Arabs and their environment, these films share sufficient common themes, types, plotlines, motifs and a recognizable iconography to be considered as forming a distinct film genre, labeled here the Oriental genre. Although the author provides ample evidence for the lackluster verdict that a great number of these films were racist in treatment, colonialist in drive, and fantastical in their disregard for Arab realities, he takes the additional step to go back and explore the mindsets and the general conditions of production and consumption of these films, in order to situate cinematically and sociologically the real moments of fascination and pleasure experienced by the millions of consumers of this type of film fare. For, although it is a hard thing to conceive by the atrophied post 9/11 collective imagination about Arabs and Muslims, the Arab lover stereotype roamed through thousands of picture palaces in the 1920s, charming millions of women; as evidenced by multiple film plotlines involving London or Chicago girls flocking to the North-African Desert to be serenaded by Arab lovers on silver moonlit dunes. The book then firmly establishes the contours of the new film genre, tying it to its diverse historical and discursive moorings; then sets out to provide the first expansive view of films on Arabs during the silent period. The Sheik films of Valentino and the score of spoofs they generated are here presented in depth, as they offer the best demonstration of the craze for things and themes Arabian in the twenties; a craze fueled and celebrated by female audiences and the flapper element of it in particular. Furthermore, films like The Thief of Baghdad and Kismet have been rightfully tied to their present moment of consumption as well as to their super script, The Arabian Nights. The reader will also find in the book perhaps the most detailed account of the life and films of Irish-born American filmmaker, Rex Ingram. His films on Arabs have taken him to North Africa where he lived, went native and, to the displeasure of Hollywood, reportedly converted to Islam; earning him in this book the title of Hollywood's Lawrence of Arabia. Finally, what is also exclusive in this book is the filmography of films on Arabs covering the period 1894-1930; erected piece by piece during the years 1900-1993. It has since been used and acknowledged by several film critics and historians. About the Author: Abdelmajid Hajji obtained a PhD in Film from the University of Kansas in 1993. He served as Dean of the School of Humanities and as Vice President of Moulay Ismail University in Meknes, Morocco. He is now professor of Media, film, and International Communication at Moulay Ismail University in Meknes, and Al Alakhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. He has spent two terms at the University of Texas at Austin, as a Fulbright post-doctoral researcher and as Research Fellow; allowing him to continue work on this book. Mr. Hajji is also the President of the Moroccan Fulbright Alumni Association, MFAA.

DE-A-I (Japanese for encounter) is very important in Japanese culture. It reflects a deeply personal experience with the world around you. As an artist, Kazu was challenged to capture his DE-A-I by using his talent with a camera. He now wants to share his personal encounter with you, as you experience his art.

A work of research on the newly emerged and much talked about method of filmmaking known as no-budget or micro budget or zero budget filmmaking worldwide. In chapter 1, the author tries to define or to locate some of the specific features common with the films widely known as no-budget productions and thus approaches towards a more coherent understanding of the term. The popular information resources are consulted as there are no academic definitions still available. In chapter 2, the historical process of the emergence of no-budget filmmaking practice is discussed analytically and the similar approaches and precursors of the practice are looked for in the larger film history. In the final chapter, the democratization that took place with the no-budget method being applied on the film medium is focused. The creative freedom of the artist is the major concern here. The primary hurdle of writing this paper is the scarcity of trusty enough source materials. Quite astonishingly this much popular a terrain has been left largely unexplored academically till date. Mainly artists who have produced no-budget film(s) in their filmmaking career are consulted, that is to say, interviewed for putting this paper into shape. Through their understanding of the method the author tries to come to an understanding of his own. In this process many of the popular but vague conceptions regarding the practice are completely discarded. The old and the armchair theories and conceptions are replaced with the new ones coming directly from the field by exploring it. The key argument is to focus on the unique democratic nature of the no-budget filmmaking process situating it as the successor of avant-garde and independent filmmaking tradition in the larger film history.

"The greatest tragedy of all is friendship." The legends of the great Jewish gangsters come to life in this unproduced screenplay that tells the epic tale of Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky, two friends who rose from the streets to rule American organized crime and found the city of Las Vegas. Intense, violent, moving, and tragic, "Bugsy and the Little Man" recounts one of modern America's darkest and most enduring legends.

"Create Your Own World " is a motto of visionary artists. We all enjoy escaping into, and journeying within, fictional realms. Some aspire to create their own unique artistic worlds. "Fictional Worlds," intended for all readers who love literature and film, and especially for writers, filmmakers, and videogame designers, points at new ways of navigating, exploring, and creating entrancing fictional universes. This book's promise is to make its readers more confident fictional world travelers and compelling storytellers. A holistic and evolutionary study of narrative from ancient rituals, myths and fairytales to the current day, this book blends a creative and intellectual approach to writing. The themes of journey, the wonderworld, quest for knowledge, symbolic death-rebirth, conflict resolution, family, and community are at the core of this inquiry into the nature of narrative, its politics and poetics. Teaching nuts and bolts of writing fiction, this book connects the "cultural" dots in the trajectory of the dramatic arc, elucidating the power of storytelling. With Odysseus as a guide, "Fictional Worlds" is a journey through the landscape of narrative traditions, emerging practices and artistic debates. The four books of this volume explore key genres such as action-adventure, drama, mystery, and comedy.

"This brilliant book is far more than a screenwriting manual. Ranging across the globe and throughout history we have here a dazzling survey of the intellectual foundations and possibilities of the cinema. This is must-reading for anyone who is interested in how and, more importantly, why we tell stories on screen." -- David Desser, author of "Eros plus Massacre: An Introduction to the Japanese New Wave Cinema"; co-author of "American Jewish Filmmakers"

"A new theory of narrative, which I find both convincing and uplifting. Illuminating and useful anthropological theory of genres. Terrific choice of examples, as well as the analysis. 'Dos and Don'ts: Creative Solutions for the Formulaic Plot' will be immensely helpful to practitioners.... Among interesting ideas: the murder mystery-as tragedy in reverse And the role of film noir... And 'Ulysses as a Peter Pan for grownups' - I love it " -- Linda Hutcheon, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto, author of "A Poetics of Postmodernism," "The Politics of Postmodernism," and "A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms"

"An innovative approach to teaching screenwriting, based in original scholarship of real importance. The book's ideas are of impressive originality and practicality, and expounded with exemplary clarity. Dr. Alexander does a splendid job making a case for the new and more productive understanding of genre. The book features an elegant commentary on the distinction between film as ritual and ceremony. There is much to recommend this fine volume, the writing is generally elegant. The chapter on mystery is so brilliant that it alone would make this book worthy of a semester's study." -- R. Bruce Elder, filmmaker; author of "Harmony and Dissent: Film and Avant-Garde Art Movements," and "DADA, Surrealism and the Cinematic Effect"

"There's much I admire about "Fictional Worlds," starting with the core project of bridging between narrative theory, anthropological perspectives on myth and ritual, and work in screen studies. I have never seen the books addressing Joseph Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' with relation to screenwriting in the exhaustive detail and with the nuance that Alexander deploys here, and with such a rich array of examples. What I admire is Alexander's insistence on historical and cultural specificity, even while tracing connections in the kinds of stories that have emerged across times and cultures." -- Henry Jenkins, Professor, University of Southern California; author of "Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Co

This book is a compilation of various non traditional works involving photo manipulations via the use of texture overlays or of multiple exposures or montages. Also included are several images constructed from scratch in photo editing software.