This incisive book provides an in-depth critical and biographical study of the artistic range of film director Gus Van Sant. Arranged chronologically, Gus Van Sant: His Own Private Cinema provides a comprehensive overview of the life and art of this talented director, covering his mainstream, commercial, and avant-garde projects. More than a biography, the book examines Van Sant's incredibly diverse body of work, exploring the influence of his open homosexuality; of fine art, literature, and music; and of the range of cinema styles to which he has been exposed. Stressing Van Sant's wide-ranging content, genre, style, and cinematic presentation, author Vincent LoBrutto details the filmmaker's autobiographical tendencies and how he uses the film craft, literature, popular music, and fine arts to create his movies. The book dissects ways in which each of his films reflects Van Sant's sexual orientation, whether the individual film has a gay theme or not. Because of its importance to Van Sant's films, the book also offers a history of gay culture, past and present, covering its influence on art, music, theater, and dance, as well as community, activism, and prejudice.

This fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at a Hollywood dynasty offers an in-depth study of the films and artistry of iconic director Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter, Sofia, exploring their work and their impact on each other, both personally and professionally. The Coppolas: A Family Business examines the lives, films, and relationship of two exemplary filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia. It looks at their commonalities and differences, as artists and people, and at the way those qualities are reflected in their work. Much of the book is devoted to Francis and his outstanding achievements-and equally notable failures-as a screenwriter, director, producer, and presenter of landmark works of cinema. The narrative goes beyond the heyday of his involvement with Hollywood to analyze his more recent projects and the choices that led him to create small, independent films. In Sofia's case, the story is one of women's growing independence in the arts, revealing how Sofia developed her craft to become a cinematic force in her own right. In addition to its insightful commentary on their contributions to cinema past and present, the volume provides intriguing hints at what fans might anticipate in the future as both Coppolas continue to expand their artistry. Helpful notes and bibliography

Interviews with 21 prominent feature film editors highlight this long-overdue look at the role of film editors, the importance of their work, and the nature of their craft. Organized to provide historical continuity and to trace professional collaborations among the subjects, "Selected TakeS" features editors whose credits include such diverse films as "Ben Hur," "The French Connection," "The Godfather," and "E.T."

Each chapter includes a brief introduction to the artist, background information, a filmography of feature-length works, and personal recollections of specific films, producers, and directors, as well as helpful comments on editing techniques. A glossary of terms commonly used in film editing and pertinent references found in the interviews complement the work. Film students, scholars, and educators, as well as film industry professionals and moviegoers, will find "Selected TakeS" both entertaining and instructive.

Though movies have remained our foremost cultural pastime for over 100 years, many of us still know very little about the tools used to create them. In this groundbreaking new book, Vincent LoBrutto provides an enjoyable and accessible education in the art of cinema: using 50 landmark films spanning the history of the medium, LoBrutto illustrates such important concepts as editing, production design, cinematography, sound, screen acting, narrative structure, and various genres, nationalities, and film eras. Each concept is illustrated by the selection of a film that epitomizes its use, so that readers will learn about film authorship in Citizen Kane, multiplot narrative in Nashville, widescreen filmmaking in Rebel without a Cause, and screen violence in The Wild Bunch. Explaining the various tricks of the moviemaking trade, Becoming Film Literate offers a crash course in cinema, one designed to give even the novice reader a solid introduction to this complex and multifaceted medium. Though movies have remained our foremost cultural pastime for over 100 years, many of us still know very little about the tools used to create them. In this groundbreaking new book, Vincent LoBrutto provides an enjoyable and accessible education in the art of cinema: using 50 landmark films spanning the history of the medium, LoBrutto illustrates such important concepts as editing, production design, cinematography, sound, screen acting, narrative structure, and various genres, nationalities, and film eras. Each concept is illustrated by the selection of a film that epitomizes its use, so that readers will learn about film authorship in Citizen Kane, multiplot narrative in Nashville, widescreen filmmaking in Rebel without a Cause, and screen violence in The Wild Bunch. Providing a unique opportunity to become acquainted with important movies and the elements of their greatness, Becoming Film Literate offers a crash course in cinema, one designed to give even the novice reader a solid introduction to this complex and multifaceted medium.

Sound-On-Film contains interviews with 27 prominent men and women who discuss their careers and the art and craft of film sound. These sound creators represent many of the crafts working in film sound, including production sound, sound editing, sound design, automatic dialogue replacement (ADR), Foley, re-recording mixing, and sound engineering. The interviews are presented in an order that attempts to give the reader a historical perspective on the development of film sound from the studio era to contemporary productions.

The interviews explore how sound creates an aural look to the film in the same way that production design and cinematography creates a visual look to a film. The discussions focus on the relationship with renowned Hollywood film directors and how sound was conceived and executed for specific films. Among the highly acclaimed and seminal films discussed are "Star WarS," "Nashville," "The Conversation," "Apocalypse NoW," "Raging Bull," and "Terminator 2." In addition to the interviews, the book contains biographical background and a selected filmography of each sound creator as well as a glossary of terms and a bibliography for further study. It is essential reading for film students, academic scholars and film educators as well as industry professionals and moviegoers who want to understand the aesthetic and technical role of those who work in film sound.

In "By Design," twenty prominent feature film production designers talk about their careers, their relationships with Hollywood directors, and how they formulated and executed the technical and aesthetic designs of their film projects. The interviews explore production design techniques and the total process of establishing the visual look of a feature film, including the design and creation of sets, finding locations, establishing the color scheme or palette of a film, and supervising the costumes, hairstyles, and makeup. The designers discuss in detail their work on many highly acclaimed and seminal works in the field, including "North by Northwest," "Chinatown," "Barry Lyndon," "RedS," "AmadeuS," "Brazil, ""Blade Runner," and "The Last Emperor." The interviewees talk about their relationships with the producer, director of photography, art director, construction crew, set decorator, property master, and costume designer, and how the team helps bring the director's vision to the screen.

The interviews are presented in an order that gives the reader a historical perspective on the development of production design, from the studio era to contemporary productions. LoBrutto includes biographical background and a complete filmography of each subject, plus a glossary of terms that concern the design process. "By Design" investigates the visual style of films in a pragmatic and detailed manner usually overlooked by conventional film analysis, and will prove especially useful to film students and scholars and all aspiring and experienced producers and directors.

Martin Scorsese's current position in the international film community is unrivaled, and his name has become synonymous with the highest standards of filmmaking excellence. He is widely considered America's best living film director, and his Taxi Driver and Raging Bull appear frequently on worldwide surveys of the best films of all time. Here, in the first biographical account of this artist's life, Vincent LoBrutto traces Scorsese's Italian-American heritage, his strict Catholic upbringing, the continuing role of religion in his life and art, his obsessive love of cinema history, and the powerful impact the streets of New York City had on his personal life and his professional career. Meanwhile, the filmmaker's humble, soft-spoken public persona tells only part of the story, and LoBrutto will delve into the other side of a complex and often tortured personality. Scorsese's intense passion, his private relationships, his stormy marriages, and his battles with drugs and depression are all chronicled here, and, in many cases, for the first time. In addition, the book includes an interview with the director, as well as filmographies cataloging his work as a director, producer, actor, and presenter. As his Best Director award at the 2007 Oscars clearly demonstrated, Scorsese has become something like Hollywood royalty in recent years, finally enjoying the insider status and favor that eluded him for most of his career. But these recent developments aside, Scorsese is also notable as a distinctly American type of artist, one whose work-created in a medium largely controlled by commercialism and marketing-has always been unmistakably his own, and who thus remains a touchstone of artisticintegrity in American cinema. In Martin Scorsese: A Biography, readers can examine not only the work of one of the form's genuine artists, but also the forces that have propelled the man behind it. BLNo real biography of Scorsese has ever been published: the existing literature comprises critical studies and compilations of interview BLLoBrutto is an experienced writer and teacher, with an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject and proven ability in the biographic genre.

A fascinating year-by-year history of American film in the seventies, a decade filled with innovations that reinvented the medium and showed that movies can be more than entertainment. In The Seventies: The Decade That Changed American Film Forever, Vincent LoBrutto tracks the changing of the guard in the 1970s from the classic Hollywood studio system to a new generation of filmmakers who made personal movies targeting a younger audience. He covers in kaleidoscopic detail the breadth of American cinema during the 1970s, with analyses of the movies, biographical sketches of the filmmakers, and an examination of the innovative production methods that together illustrate why the seventies were unique in American film history. Featuring iconic filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola and films such The Godfather, Jaws, Taxi Driver, and The Exorcist, this book reveals how the seventies challenged the old guard in groundbreaking and exciting ways, ushering in a new Hollywood era whose impact is still seen in American film today.

This volume can rightfully be called "a film school in a single book." Investigating and analyzing the elements and concepts of motion picture creation, this book looks closely at 25 films that represent a wide range of styles and subjects. Although most motion picture viewers have seen numerous movies in their lifetime, few in the general public have a firm and deep understanding of how motion pictures are created, or a grasp of the intricacies of cinematic storytelling and content. By presenting 25 films, American and international, Hollywood and independent, this book educates and enlightens readers about the details of the motion picture creation process. Some readers will have viewed certain films in the volume, but many will be introduced to major cinematic works within the canon of great and essential films for the very first time. Topics explored include animation, period films, editing, directorial style, and non-linear cinematic structure. Readers will learn about the origin of the jump cut in Breathless, time and space in Hiroshima Mon Amour, and the editing in Orson Welles's essay film F is for Fake. The Art and Craft of Motion Pictures: 25 Movies to Make You Film Literate will educate the novice and avid moviegoer alike about the inner workings of this dynamic, popular, and culturally significant art form.

By using photography as a storytelling medium, the cinematographer plays a key role in translating a screenplay into images and capturing the director's vision of a film. This volume presents in-depth interviews with 13 prominent cinematographers, who discuss their careers and the art and craft of feature film cinematography. The interviewees--who represent the spectrum of big-budget Hollywood and low-budget independent filmmaking from the sixties through the nineties--talk about their responsibilities, including lighting, camera movement, equipment, cinematic grammar, lenses, film stocks, interpreting the script, the budget and schedule, and the psychological effect of images. Each interview is preceded by a short biography and a selected filmography, which provide the background for a detailed analysis of the photographic style and technique of many highly acclaimed and seminal films.

Independent filmmaking is often regarded as a relatively recent phenomenon, yet the so-called movement has actually existed as long as movies themselves. In this indispensable single-volume reference work, LoBrutto surveys the subject from cinema's inception through the 21st century, with alphabetical entries discussing: BLFilmmakers BLSignificant films BLGenres BLCritical views BLIndustry information BLWorking methods BLAnd more Written in an accessible style and including biographical, critical, factual, and bibliographical information, this remarkable source encompasses films and filmmakers operating independently from the studio system in concept, financing, production, and distribution. Such a broad interpretation of independent filmmaking separates it from that of commercial Hollywood, a conglomerate existing to create product rather than support personal artistic vision. Many of the entries' subjects have rarely been investigated and studied--yet knowledge of independent filmmaking is vital to any understanding the cinematic medium, making this an essential book for any library's film shelves.

Even as a teenager, Stanley Kubrick was documenting his world through photography. When he sold his first photograph at the age of seventeen, Kubrick had already begun telling stories through pictures. Without any formal education in film-making, Kubrick taught himself through photography and by spending many hours in his neighborhood movie theatre. At twenty-one, he financed and created his own short film, Day of the Fight, completely on his own, thus beginning a career in cinema that included such masterworks as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove. Despite worldwide controversy and acclaim, the public knew little about a man who was reclusive and intensely private. Vincent LoBrutto's comprehensive biography of Kubrick contains interviews with those who knew him during his formative years, as well as accounts by his cinema colleagues - revealing a hitherto unknown personal side to an enigmatic man of genius.

By using photography as a storytelling medium, the cinematographer plays a key role in translating a screenplay into images and capturing the director's vision of a film. This volume presents in-depth interviews with 13 prominent cinematographers, who discuss their careers and the art and craft of feature film cinematography. The interviewees--who represent the spectrum of big-budget Hollywood and low-budget independent filmmaking from the sixties through the nineties--talk about their responsibilities, including lighting, camera movement, equipment, cinematic grammar, lenses, film stocks, interpreting the script, the budget and schedule, and the psychological effect of images. Each interview is preceded by a short biography and a selected filmography, which provide the background for a detailed analysis of the photographic style and technique of many highly acclaimed and seminal films.

Sound-On-Film contains interviews with 27 prominent men and women who discuss their careers and the art and craft of film sound. These sound creators represent many of the crafts working in film sound, including production sound, sound editing, sound design, automatic dialogue replacement (ADR), Foley, re-recording mixing, and sound engineering. The interviews are presented in an order that attempts to give the reader a historical perspective on the development of film sound from the studio era to contemporary productions.

The interviews explore how sound creates an aural look to the film in the same way that production design and cinematography creates a visual look to a film. The discussions focus on the relationship with renowned Hollywood film directors and how sound was conceived and executed for specific films. Among the highly acclaimed and seminal films discussed are "Star WarS," "Nashville," "The Conversation," "Apocalypse NoW," "Raging Bull," and "Terminator 2." In addition to the interviews, the book contains biographical background and a selected filmography of each sound creator as well as a glossary of terms and a bibliography for further study. It is essential reading for film students, academic scholars and film educators as well as industry professionals and moviegoers who want to understand the aesthetic and technical role of those who work in film sound.

In "By Design," twenty prominent feature film production designers talk about their careers, their relationships with Hollywood directors, and how they formulated and executed the technical and aesthetic designs of their film projects. The interviews explore production design techniques and the total process of establishing the visual look of a feature film, including the design and creation of sets, finding locations, establishing the color scheme or palette of a film, and supervising the costumes, hairstyles, and makeup. The designers discuss in detail their work on many highly acclaimed and seminal works in the field, including "North by Northwest," "Chinatown," "Barry Lyndon," "RedS," "AmadeuS," "Brazil, ""Blade Runner," and "The Last Emperor." The interviewees talk about their relationships with the producer, director of photography, art director, construction crew, set decorator, property master, and costume designer, and how the team helps bring the director's vision to the screen.

The interviews are presented in an order that gives the reader a historical perspective on the development of production design, from the studio era to contemporary productions. LoBrutto includes biographical background and a complete filmography of each subject, plus a glossary of terms that concern the design process. "By Design" investigates the visual style of films in a pragmatic and detailed manner usually overlooked by conventional film analysis, and will prove especially useful to film students and scholars and all aspiring and experienced producers and directors.

Stanley Kubrick, director of the acclaimed films Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket, is arguably the greatest American filmmaker alive. Yet, despite being hailed as "a giant" by Orson Welles, little is known about this reclusive director. Stanley Kubrick -- the first full-length study of his life -- is based on assiduous archival research as well as new interviews with friends, family, and colleagues.

Film scholar Vincent LoBrutto provides a comprehensive portrait of the director, from his high school days in the Bronx and his stint as a photographer for Look magazine, through the creation of his wide-ranging movies, including the long-awaited Eyes Wide Shut. The author provides behind-the-scenes details about the writing, filming, financing, and reception of the director's entire output, paying close attention to the technical innovations and to his often contentious relationships with actors. This fascinating biography exposes the enigma that is Stanley Kubrick while placing him in the context of film history.