When I was in film school, there probably weren’t 10 books in existence about filmmaking. My focus was screenwriting, and if I recall correctly, there were only two books that had anything to do with the topic: Syd Field’s “Screenplay” and William Goldman’s “Adventures in the Screen Trade,” both of which were relatively recent. Every other text was not actually a book specifically about screenwriting (see: Aristotle’s “Poetics”—about plays—and Lajos Egri’s “The Art of Dramatic Writing”—also about plays).
Today, there are so many books about every aspect of film that there’s even a successful publisher, Michael Wiese Productions, producing exclusively high-quality filmmaking books.
Each read on this list changed my perspective on the art of cinema or the business of film and television in some way, and every one of them left me feeling inspired. In the way a great foodie movie like “Chef,” “Big Night,” or “Babette’s Feast” can make you physically hungry, these books made me hungry to create. Also on this list are books that are considered classics—because just as it’s important for filmmakers to study and understand the importance of movies made before, say, 2010, it’s important to read the books that previous generations have deemed foundational. It’s critical to cinema that its artists have a shared lexicon of references.
“Adventures in the Screen Trade,” William Goldman (1983)
Goldman, the writer of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “Marathon Man,” “All the President’s Men,” and “The Princess Bride,” provides an often hilarious account of his singular career as a screenwriter. He brings readers into the world of a professional screenwriter, and at the time, created public awareness of what the job actually entails. It’s also part survival guide on the vagaries of Hollywood and creativity. Its opening sentence, “Nobody knows anything,” is as oft-quoted by film buffs as the rest of his work.
“Spike Lee’s Gotta Have It,” Spike Lee (1987)
This chronicle of the making of Lee’s 1986 film “She’s Gotta Have It” is an inspiring deep dive into the boots-on-the-ground, nuts-and-bolts process of indie filmmaking, based on journals that Lee kept during production. “She’s Gotta Have It” is one of the films that kicked off the modern era of independent film, and is still a touchstone today. My most vivid memory of this book is Lee writing about trying to wedge a rented editing console into his tiny New York apartment.
“Making Movies,” Sidney Lumet (1996)
Another great New York filmmaker, Lumet directed such classics as “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network,” and “The Verdict.” He lays out the process of getting a movie made; and while it can be a little dismaying at times to realize that, on some levels, it’s just as hard to make a movie that has a fantastic script and huge stars attached to it as it is to make a low-budget indie, this is ultimately a page-turner and a master class from one of the greats.
“Rebel Without a Crew,” Robert Rodriguez (1996)
It’s still hard to believe that such a stylish, inventive, visually witty film as “El Mariachi” (1992) was made by a first-time director on a $7,000 shoestring budget. Rodriguez shares how he did it in a way that reads almost like a bonus feature to the film. Thanks to Rodriguez’s passion and zeal for his work, this behind-the-scenes account crackles with energy. You will finish this book knowing that you, too, can make a movie worth watching for next to nothing.
“Every Frame a Rembrandt,” Andrew Laszlo (2000)
The veteran director of photography walks his readers through shooting five motion pictures, teaching the fundamentals of cinematography along the way. “War stories” from the sets of “Southern Comfort,” “The Warriors,” “First Blood,” “Streets of Fire,” and “Innerspace” illuminate the unique pictorial challenges of each production. “Every Frame a Rembrandt” brims with absorbing accounts of how the look of a film is crafted by professionals with decades of experience.
“In the Blink of an Eye,” Walter Murch (2001)
A superb introduction to the art of film editing by one of its masters. Murch, who edited the “Godfather” trilogy and classics such as “Ghost” and “The English Patient,” is not only an Oscar-winning editor but also the first person to ever receive an onscreen credit as “sound designer” (for “Apocalypse Now”). His “rule of six” (criteria to consider in making a cut) has become a touchstone, and his theories about the psychological aspects of editing are fascinating. An embracer of new technologies, Murch updates this volume (originally published in 1991) from time to time as editing systems advance; he was the first editor to cut an entire feature film in Final Cut Pro (“Cold Mountain”). This is essential reading for editors of any type of cinema.
“If It’s Purple, Someone’s Gonna Die,” Patti Bellantoni (2005)
A fascinating exploration of the use and symbolism of color in filmmaking, the author posits that certain colors, utilized either with instinct or intent, can not only influence emotions, but create them. The book’s intended audience is visual designers, but it’s valuable for any film lover given its accounts from cinematic heavy hitters such as production designer Henry Bumstead (“Vertigo,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and most of Clint Eastwood’s films), Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “Fargo,” “1917”), and others. However, as a screenwriting teacher, I found this book essential in getting my students out of the “action…dialogue…dialogue…action” box, and into being more visual on the page.
“The War of Art,” Steven Pressfield (2002)
This famed historical novelist (Pressfield’s “Gates of Fire” is an even better version of the Battle of Thermopylae than “300”) has some movie-world street cred: His book “The Legend of Bagger Vance” was turned into a major motion picture starring Will Smith and Matt Damon. But Pressfield also has a side gig as a writer of inspirational works aimed mostly at other writers; and let me tell you, this guy feels your pain. You’re getting the goods from someone who has faced the blank page. I never use the words “writer’s block,” but when I have in the past gotten…let’s call it “stuck,” this book helped me get my fingers tapping at the keyboard again. I’ve bought many paperback copies of this treasure and given them to writer friends. Practical but spiritual, it’s a quick-read breaker of creative logjams and a map that guides, to quote Mary Heaton Vorse, “the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.”
“So You Want to Be a Producer,” Lawrence Turman (2005)
There are a number of fantastic books that focus on producing (Christine Vachon’s “Shooting to Kill” and Julia Phillips’ “You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again” both spring to mind). But this how-to from the producer of “The Graduate” and more than 40 other films is uniquely encouraging and enthusiastic about the job. Describing it as a frustrating roller coaster ride, he also insists, “Even the complainers love it.” Turman covers the entire process of making and releasing a film—from raising money to hiring the creative talent and marketing the finished product. A brass-tacks look at the mechanics of making motion pictures from an authoritative source whose work was always smart and often influential.
“Letters to Young Filmmakers,” Howard Suber (2012)
Deceptively breezy and easy to consume in one thoroughly enjoyable sitting, UCLA professor Suber distills a lifetime of teaching emerging filmmakers into a single repository of advice and encouragement. Inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet,” Suber’s cinematic pearls of wisdom will echo in your brain when you’re on set or at the keyboard. His chapter taking a skeptical view on the age-old advice, “Write what you know,” will be very familiar to my screenwriting students. His chapter simply titled “Decisions” is meant for filmmakers—but honestly? It’s just a solid overall life lesson. If you don’t have a mentor in the business, at least you can read a mentor’s book.
Karl Williams is a screenwriting instructor at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. He has won the Comedy and Sci-Fi Awards at the Austin Film Festival and the Jack Nicholson Prize for Excellence in Screenwriting at UCLA, where he earned his MFA.
This article originally appeared on ScreenCraft. It has been condensed.
