Product Description

A complete catalogue of motion picture techniques for filmmakers. It concentrates on the 'storytelling' school of filmmaking, utilizing the work of the great stylists who established the versatile vocabulary of technique that has dominated the movies since 1915. This graphic approach includes comparisons of style by interpreting a 'model script', created for the book, in storyboard form.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5890 in Books
• Published on: 1991-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 366 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Film Directing Shot by Shot offers a good introduction to the rudiments of film production. Steven D. Katz walks his readers through the various stages of moviemaking, advising them at every turn to visualise the films they wish to produce. Katz believes that one of the chief tasks of filmmaking is to negotiate between our three-dimensional reality and the two-dimensionality of the screen. He covers the number of technical options filmmakers can use to create a satisfying flow of shots, a continuity that will make sense to viewers and aptly tell the film's story. Katz provides in-depth coverage of production design, storyboarding, spatial connections, editing, scene staging, depth of frame, camera angles, point of view and the various types of stable compositions and moving camera shots. --Jake Bond

From the Publisher
Steve Katz's Delivers First Digital Feature Film
On May 14th, Steve Katz' ground breaking short film, "Protest" will kick off the first all-digital feature film in history to be released to theaters without cellulouid, and by satellite.

Protest is a CFI short subject presented as a dream-like mediation on the plight of the elephant population.

Steve Katz' books, Film Directing: Shot by Shot and Film Directing: Cinematic Motion continue to be international best sellers.

These books are used by over 200 film schools worldwide.

Customer Reviews

For someone trying to break in, this is the book for them.
When I entered college to recieve a bachelor's degree, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. I ended up choosing a degree in acting, but have since wondered if that was the wrong choice. In the last year of college, I became interested in film direction, but felt it was to late to pursue that career. Mr. Katz's book has changed my mind. In less than one week, I learned more about the technique of film direction than I ever learned in numerous film, and television classes. This book was easy to read, yet not easy in subject matter. It challenges the reader to visualize the subject matter, and to work out common problems in his/her head. It uses an extensive study of soryboarding from both classic and fictional films to easily illustrate his technique. Although Mr Katz uses a pretty set theory of film mechanics, he does challenge the reader to experiment and to create new and exciting art. This book is a must for beginners in the film industry, and I have a hunch that advanced artists could learn a lot from it too.

NFTS
Shot-by-Shot is a compilation of essential mise-en-scene basics for film directors and cinematographers. At first glance, much of the information is obvious to anyone with basic directing experience, but the apparent simplicity is deceiving. As a tutor at the National Film and Television School, I have found it useful for advanced apprentice filmmakers--if you have imagination, it will help you prepare for making decisions about staging, camera position and crossing the line.

Steven D. Katz positions the Filmmaker as Graphic Designer.
Film Directing Shot by Shot is a step back from the filmmaker's lens. This book is a praise of preplanning shots and putting them together in the filmmaker's head. Steven D. Katz has presented a great resource not laden with hard technical terminology limited to the professional. Katz explores the graphic design of a shot, presenting alternate examples of shot layout side by side. The author encourages seeing shots on the storyboard and how they play together, seeing the movie as static pictures before any film is spent. As he explains: "look at each sequence as a complete statement. Developing an intuitive sense of the overall perceptual effect of a sequence is one of the skills necessary for visualization." (pp 160) He offers traditional process but encourages experimental methods where appropriate. I was pointed toward the book as an art professional interested in filmmaking. Having read other film preproduction books this has been the best so far.