Alex Cox's Introduction to Film

Author: Alex Cox
Publisher: Kamera Books
ISBN: 9781843447467
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 0

10,000 Ways to Die

Author: Alex Cox
Publisher: Oldacastle Books
ISBN: 1842434020
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 457

Book Description
"40 years ago as a graduate student I wrote a book about Spaghetti Westerns, called 10,000 Ways to Die. It’s an embarrassing tome when I look at it now: full of half-assed semiotics and other attenuated academic nonsense. In the intervening period I have had the interesting experience of being a film director. So now, when I watch these films, I’m looking at them from a different perspective. A professional perspective, maybe . . . I’m thinking about what the filmmakers intended, how they did that shot, how the director felt when his film was recut by the studio, and he was creatively and financially screwed. 10,000 Ways to Die is an entirely new book about an under-studied subject, the Spaghetti Western, from a director’s POV. Not only have these films stood the test of time; some of them are very high art." —Alex Cox

I Am (Not) a Number

Author: Alex Cox
Publisher: Oldacastle Books
ISBN: 0857301772
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 105

Book Description
The enormously puzzling TV series The Prisoner has developed a rapt cult following, and has often been described as "surreal" or "Kafkaesque." In I Am (Not) a Number, Cox takes an opposing view. While the series has surreal elements, he believes it provides the answers to all the questions which have confounded viewers: who is Number 6? Who runs The Village? Who—or what—is Number 1? According to Cox, the key is to view the series in the order in which the episodes were made, not in the order of the UK or US television screenings. In this book he does exactly that, and provides an entirely original and controversial "explanation" for what is perhaps the best, and certainly the most perplexing, TV series of all time.

X Films

Author: Alex Cox
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857730398
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Book Description
Philip French has called Alex Cox, 'British Cinema's oldest enfant terrible'; it's a description that its recipient fully approves of. He is the genuine article, a radical, international, independent filmmaker, who is also a good writer, insightful commentator on cinema now, and expert critic of the power of Hollywood. He grew up with a passion for the pictures, and this book has as its centre the filmmaking autobiography of a fine director, the journey through all the major films he has made and how he has made them, including his new film, now in production. He takes us to varied locations, including the US, Mexico, and Nicaragua, where he made "Walker" with the cooperation of the Sandinista government. His book is full of fresh ideas, rare insights into many films of all kinds and into the people he's worked with including greats like Dennis Potter and Harry Dean Stanton. As well as being the confessions of a radical filmmaker, "X Films" is also the most readable working manual yet for the independent filmmaker. Enfant terrible he may be, but Alex Cox is also ahead of the game and is a pioneer and promoter of new forms of filmmaking for the cultural revolutionaries of the 21st century - visual, visceral but interactive, with multiple narrative possibilities.

Alex Cox's Introduction to Film

Author: Alex Cox
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
ISBN: 1843447479
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
Emerging filmmakers need to know the basics of their art form: the language of the camera, and lenses, the different crew roles, the formats, the aspect ratios. They also need to know some bare-bones theory: what an auteur is, what montage is, what genres are. Most important, all filmmakers require serious grounding in film. You cannot be a great artist if you aren't versed in great art. An Introduction to Film covers all these aspects, from a director and filmmaker's perspective. According to Cox, 'Academics have a very specific take on things, and a language of their own. That take and that language aren't mine. I'm a film director, writer, actor and producer. So my 'intro to film' may be somewhat different from the standard introductory text. I am less focused on film theory, and more on a film's meaning, the intentions of the filmmaker, and how they got their film made.'

Cult Filmmakers

Author: Ian Haydn Smith
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN: 0711240272
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 147

Book Description
Discover the iconic personalities behind cult classic films, from David Lynch and Roger Corman to Sofia Coppola, Gordon Parks, John Waters, and more. Whether pioneering in their craft, fiercely unique, or critically divisive, cult filmmakers come in all shapes and guises. Some gain instant fame or notoriety while many others remain anonymous until a cultural shift propels their work into the limelight. In Cult Filmmakers, Ian Haydn-Smith picks a selection of brilliant directors you should know—from industry heavyweights like Tim Burton and David Lynch, to brilliant but lesser-known auteurs such as Alejandro Jodorowsky and Ana Lily Amirpour. With biographical background and critical insight, you’ll discover the minds behind such beloved features as Melancholia, Easy Rider, Lost in Translation and more. Featuring: Ana Lily Amirpour Darren Aronofsky John Carpenter Park Chan-Wook David Cronenberg Terry Gilliam Dennis Hopper Jim Jarmusch Harmony Korine Russ Meyer Gaspar Noe Quentin Tarantino Melvin van Peebles Lars von Trier, John Waters And many others

David Fincher: Mind Games

Author: Adam Nayman
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1647002443
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 659

Book Description
David Fincher: Mind Games is the definitive critical and visual survey of the Academy Award– and Golden Globe–nominated works of director David Fincher. From feature films Alien 3, Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, and Mank through his MTV clips for Madonna and the Rolling Stones and the Netflix series House of Cards and Mindhunter, each chapter weaves production history with original critical analysis, as well as with behind the scenes photography, still-frames, and original illustrations from Little White Lies' international team of artists and graphic designers. Mind Games also features interviews with Fincher's frequent collaborators, including Jeff Cronenweth, Angus Wall, Laray Mayfield, Holt McCallany, Howard Shore and Erik Messerschmidt. Grouping Fincher's work around themes of procedure, imprisonment, paranoia, prestige and relationship dynamics, Mind Games is styled as an investigation into a filmmaker obsessed with investigation, and the design will shift to echo case files within a larger psychological profile.

The Conversations

Author: Michael Ondaatje
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408840839
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 552

Book Description
During the filming of his celebrated novel THE ENGLISH PATIENT, Michael Ondaatje became increasingly fascinated as he watched the veteran editor Walter Murch at work. THE CONVERSATIONS, which grew out of discussions between the two men, is about the craft of filmmaking and deals with every aspect of film, from the first stage of script writing to the final stage of the sound mix. Walter Murch emerged during the 1960s at the centre of a renaissance of American filmmakers which included the directors Francis Coppola, George Lucas and Fred Zinneman. He worked on a whole raft of great films including the three GODFATHER films, JULIA, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING and many others. Articulate, intellectual, humorous and passionate about his craft and its devices, Murch brings his vast experience and penetrating insights to bear as he explains how films are made, how they work, how they go wrong and how they can be saved. His experience on APOCALYPSE NOW - both originally and more recently when the film was completely re-cut - and his work with Anthony Minghella on THE ENGLISH PATIENT provide illuminating highlights.

The Cinema of Tom DiCillo

Author: Wayne Byrne
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231851200
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 413

Book Description
This volume considers for the first time in a single collection this acclaimed, award-winning director's entire oeuvre, addressing and analyzing themes such as identity, family, and masculinity, supported by in-depth coverage of the generic and aesthetic aspects of DiCillo's distinctive and influential film style. Through detailed chapters on each of DiCillo's feature films, presented here is a candid look behind-the-scenes of both the American independent film industry - from the No Wave movement of the 1980s, through the Indie boom of the 1990s, to the contemporary milieu - and the Hollywood studio system. This study documents the writing, production, and release of every DiCillo picture, each followed by an extensive Q&A with the director. Also featured are exclusive interviews and commentary with many cast members and collaborators, and members of legendary rock group, The Doors. Films covered include Johnny Suede, Living In Oblivion, Box of Moonlight, The Real Blonde, Double Whammy, Delirious, When You're Strange, and Down in Shadowland.

Destroy All Movies!!!

Author: Bryan Connolly
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
ISBN: 9781606993637
Category : Motion pictures
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
An informative, hilarious and impossibly complete guide to every goddamn appearance of a punk (or new waver!) to hit the screen in the 20th century.This wildly comprehensive eyeball-slammer features A-Z coverage of over 1100 feature films from around the world, as well as dozens of exclusive interviews with the creators and cast of essential titles such as Repo Man, Return of the Living Dead, The Decline of Western Civilization and Valley Girl. Everyone from Richard Hell to Penelope Spheeris and Ian McKaye contributes his or her uncensored reminiscences.