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Grammar of the Film Language |
Author: Daniel Arijon
Published: 1991-09 |
List price: $29.95
Our price: $19.77
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As of: November 19th, 2008 09:17:43 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Good book!!
This book is good for the director/DP and editor. It covers mainly blocking actors but also covers how seens should be cut. Overall a good read.
feel free to visit http://myspace.com/chapmanphotography
 New edition?
This book is certainly useful to get a handle on blocking actors and editing patterns that go behond two actors and the 180' rule.
The diagrams however, as well as being sexist as mentioned in other reviews, have a variety of problems.
They are also 'busy', and visually 'noisy', often expressed in a criss-cross of lines.
The camera angles in the diagrams do not always relate clearly to what is shown in corresponding image of the 'shot'.
The diagrams are also marred by the male characters often looking very similar to each other: blonde hair, sunglasses, and a black jacket or t-shirt.
As a result, that when you are looking at a diagram of three characters, eight camera angles, and eight accompanying images, a good deal of time is wasted simply comprehending the graphic message.
The book has been invaluable to me. The illustrations however are a source of constant frustration. It could do with a revision and a new edition with a new set of diagrams.
just above the median
Unfortunately, author Arijon uses illustrations that reinforce the sexual objectification of the female gender in film; thus, his approach to teaching in this regard is limited to the reproduction of one of mainstream cinema's worst deficiencies.
The best book on film making
After 17 years in the entertainment business, I have, or have read just about every book on film making there is and this is by far the most comprehensive when it comes to explaining what a composed image means. It also explains how to shoot and compile sequences to create specific rhythms, moods and elicit desired emotions from your audience. This is hands-down the best book for Directors, Editors, and Cinematographers available.
Sexist? Probably. Invaluable? Oh yeah.
I have to say that the illustrations are odd. A significant number have scantily-clad women and naked women but there are also illustrations of naked men. It's kinda bizarre but if you look on the illustrations as artist sketchings of the nude form and focus on the information being presented, it's an invaluable guide to camera motivation and how to tell a story in a way that engages the audience.
It's difficult to get this information from any source. Schools typically don't teach this stuff and I've never seen it presented to the depth available in this book. It's literally a linguistic guide to cinema, treating motion pictures as a language that the audience has learned from past movies, a language that's apparently innate within our brains. Aspiring filmmakers would be wise to absorb the principles in this book before spending a lot of time and money making movies.
The principles in this book explain how camera shots and editing help tell your story. How to compose your shot to show a character's reaction to another character's action. How to reveal story points to the audience at the right time. How to convey time, space and relationships between characters and objects. Great stuff!
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