The Art Of
Filmmaking
Light, time, and human attention.
From the first cut to the last colour pass, filmmaking is the orchestration of every art form at once. These are the most-cited works that working directors, editors, and cinematographers actually return to.
Books
05 picksIn the Blink of an Eye
By Walter Murch
The editor of Apocalypse Now on the rule of six and why we cut where we cut. The shortest masterclass in cinema you will ever read.
Story
By Robert McKee
Substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting. The bible most working screenwriters argue with and never throw away.
Sculpting in Time
By Andrei Tarkovsky
Tarkovsky's reflections on cinema as an art that captures the texture of lived time. Read it slowly.
Making Movies
By Sidney Lumet
An honest, set-by-set tour of every department by the director of Network and 12 Angry Men.
On Directing Film
By David Mamet
Brutal, useful, and very short. Tells you exactly what a shot is for.
Channels
05 picksEvery Frame a Painting
By Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos
The video essay channel that taught a generation to look at staging, sound, and silence.
Lessons from the Screenplay
Scene-by-scene breakdowns of how scripts actually work on the page and on screen.
Nerdwriter1
By Evan Puschak
Patient close-readings of single shots, performances, and edits.
Like Stories of Old
Philosophy through cinema. Long-form, meditative, beautifully scored essays.
The Cinema Cartography
Deep, sometimes contrarian video essays on form, technique and theory.
Sites
02 picksMasters
04 picksAkira Kurosawa
Composition, weather, motion. Watch Seven Samurai, Ran, and Ikiru.
Stanley Kubrick
Single-point perspective, obsession, and the long preparation. Watch 2001 and Barry Lyndon.
Agnes Varda
The mother of the French New Wave. Curiosity as form. Watch Cleo from 5 to 7 and The Gleaners and I.
Hayao Miyazaki
Animation as a way of seeing the natural world. Watch Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.