The American Film Institute Desk Reference: The Complete Guide to Everything You Need to Know about the Movies [Hardcover]

Melinda Corey (Author), George Ochoa (Author), Clint Eastwood (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

The only source of movie history any fan will want to read. Presented by the American Film Institute, the nation's preeminent organization dedicated to advancing and preserving the art of the moving image, the American Film Institute Desk Reference is the most comprehensive reference book on filmmaking ever published. Providing detailed information on the world of film, its history and its personalities, this single volume is loaded with enough facts and trivia to satisfy any movie buff. Highlighting filmmakers and costume designers, financiers and actors, this complete guide is packed with more than 500 photographs and illustrations, a year by year chronology of film, and many special annotated lists, including the AFI's celebrated list of the 100 Best Films of the Past 100 Years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"It's amazing there has never been a source to turn to for all the basic information about the movies," writes Clint Eastwood in his introduction to The American Film Institute Desk Reference: The Complete Guide to Everything You Need to Know About the Movies. Responding to Eastwood's observation, editors Melinda Corey and George Ochoa have packed this colossal volume with information on "movie basics" (the fundamentals of how films are made); "movie crafts" (aspects of the business, including acting and special effects); profiles of actors, directors and others; and lists of significant films. Throughout, celebrity essays written by Angela Lansbury, Martin Scorsese and a handful of others add a unique perspective.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The American Film Institute (AFI) has created a unique reference source that captures the magic and excitement of the movies. Containing a wide range of information about cinema and the film industry, this volume is a feast for the eyes. Its striking and colorful page layouts feature more than 500 photographs and other illustrations and creatively integrate narrative text with sidebars and boxes highlighting miscellaneous facts, quotes, and trivia.

Relying on a small team of contributors (among them several Hollywood celebrities), the editors have produced a six-part compendium beginning with "Movie History," a chronology of motion pictures from 1830 through mid-2002. "Movie Basics" covers the fundamental components of the film industry, while "Movie Crafts" focuses on the skills and terminology involved in moviemaking, ranging from writing and directing to designing costumes and editing. Featuring brief biographies of principal figures, "People in Film" is subdivided by professions, such as actors, directors, and special-effects artists. "Films" includes lists of winners of major film awards, annotated versions of several of the AFI's lists of best movies, movie quotations, and brief overviews of cinema in other countries. The final section, "Sources," provides directories of studios, organizations, film schools, and other institutions associated with the film industry as well as lists of recommended publications and online resources.

Although the index is useful, it is not comprehensive, failing, for example, to provide access to such features as a sidebar about DivX and tips for finding an agent. In addition, because the numerous glossaries of film terms are not indexed, finding a specific term can be frustrating. More troubling is the apparent lack of rigorous fact checking. The biography of composer John Williams indicates that he is still conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a position he hasn't held since 1993, and the membership of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is given as 39,000 although ASCAP's Web site indicates it currently has more than 140,000 members.

In spite of these problems, this attractive and fact-filled compilation is a bargain. Particularly suited for home libraries, it will also be a useful addition to high-school, public, and academic libraries. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc.; 1st edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789489341
• ISBN-13: 978-0789489340
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Guide to Movie Mania, September 16, 2003

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The American Film Institute Desk Reference: The Complete Guide to Everything You Need to Know about the Movies (Hardcover)

"In Hollywood, anything can happen. Anything at all." ~Raymond Chandler

If you are looking for a one-volume source containing the information about movies and the people who produce them, this is an excellent reference manual. If information makes you high, this book will make you feel slightly heady. There is information on everything from film history to the biographies of major players. I enjoyed the hundreds of photos, quotes and factoids.

This desk reference is divided into five main sections:

1. Movie History - Take a journey from 1830-2002, decade by decade.

2. Movie Basics - An outline of who, what, when and where. This includes information on studios, creative people, how to break into the movies, buzzwords and coveted salaries.

3. Movie Crafts - The hands-on aspects of movie making. Producing, directing, writing, acting, cinematography, production design, costumes, makeup, hair, special effects, sound and music, editing, distribution and critiquing films.

4. People in Film - Profiles of historical and contemporary film-industry producers and players.

5. Films - Dream lists for the movie lover in you! See if you agree with the AFI's 100 Funniest movie list or read about the top 50 all-time box office hits. The movies are listed, then listed again with additional information. You can also read about the movies again in various parts of the book and page numbers are given for easy reference. Like "Some Like it Hot" is listed in AFI's Top 100 American Movies and while it is listed under AFI's 100 Funniest American Movies, they save space by referring you to pg. 383 for the detailed information.

This section also has a collection of "movie quotations" like: "I'd love to kiss you, but I just washed my hair." ~Bette Davis (Madge), Cabin in the Cotton (1932)

If you enjoy watching Foreign Films, this chapter has information about films around the globe. There are lists of films from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Senegal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Sources - Addresses, phone numbers and websites for every facet of the film world. If you want to know about film projects in development, there are places you can find this information online.

You can find out information on:

What you have to do to sell your screenplay to Hollywood.
Where you can rent cameras if you wanted to make a film.
Why films get chosen for the Cannes Film Festival.
How the Oscar got its name.
The stars names found on the Holly wood Walk of Fame.

The main features in this book include: Lists of movies, essays, articles giving information about who's who, detailed cinema history, fascinating anecdotes, gossip, trivia and quotes from film personalities in side columns. Information on "screenplay formats and terminology" is a real bonus. It is pretty amazing to find all this information in one book! If there is another book out there that can compete, I haven't seen it.

Essential reading for any film critic and movie lover. If you are looking for movies to add to your must-see list, this book will have you adding hundreds of movies to your list. The Index is very helpful for finding movie information super fast (although I think they should consider expanding the index even further in future editions) and the AFI has gone out of their way to make this book a dream to read.

The perfect gift for anyone who loves movies.

~The Rebecca Review

73 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Big handsome book, lots of errors, January 2, 2003

By 

Robert M. Fells "Mr. Arliss's Official Biogra... (Centreville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The American Film Institute Desk Reference: The Complete Guide to Everything You Need to Know about the Movies (Hardcover)

As a real old-time film buff, I welcomed the sight of the AFI Desk Reference book, but upon closer examination I was dismayed to find many errors throughout its pages and some questionable decisions about what to include and what not to.

The beginner is treated to an interesting year-by-year breakdown of film history starting at the turn of the last century. This summary includes "Notable Films" for each year and births and deaths of film notables. Lots of nice color illustrations too. So far so good. But then I noticed mistakes. For example, British actor Robert Morley, who many will remember for his British Airways TV commercials in the 1980s, is listed as having died in the 1940s. But just in case there are two Robert Morleys, the biographical index of actors does not list him at all. Playwright and screenwriter Sidney Howard (Gone With the Wind) who died in 1939 manages to live until 1946 in this book. Many people listed under "deaths" will remain just names for the neophyte who will not learn who they were within the covers of this book. Same thing for many "notable film" titles that are merely listed but not otherwise discussed.

I found one of my favorites, 1937's History Is Made At Night, listed under 1931. In a photo from Mutiny on the Bounty, an actor is incorrectly identified as Donald Crisp. I could go on but you get the idea. My guess is that the editors tried to cover too much ground and may have been too familiar with the subject matter to realize that newcomers would become more baffled than informed. It would have been wiser to decide that anybody or any film deemed important enough to list in the yearly summaries should be cross-referenced in the alphabetical subject listings. Many are listed, but many others are not.

This handsome volume mainly serves to reinforce the names of well known celebrities and films, while missing the numerous opportunities to whet the readers' appetite to rediscover neglected individuals and their films. In sum, this is a big book that misses some big opportunities to enhance the readers' knowledge of film history.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Guide for Those New to Film, August 20, 2005

By 

Sue Horn "Sue" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The American Film Institute Desk Reference: The Complete Guide to Everything You Need to Know about the Movies (Hardcover)

I guess I should have realized from the title that this wouldn't be a comprehensive and in-depth guide. It is a good overview of film history and important movies for those just coming to know classic cinema. Otherwise, it is a bit basic and leaves a lot to be desired. The photos are great, the paper glossy, it's just that the message is a bit on the thin side.