From Script to Screen: The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking (Owl Book) [Paperback]

Linda Seger (Author), Edward Jay Whetmore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1994

Interviews screenwriters, producers, directors, actors, production designers, editors, and composers to give an overall impression of how a film is made.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Script consultant Seger and communications professor Whetmore provide an up-to-date look at the gradual process of moviemaking, using recent screenplays to illustrate their lessons. Brimming with the observations of top-drawer movie mavens like Peter Weir (Witness), David Puttnam (Midnight Express) and the late production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti (The Last Emperor), the book devotes chapters to each element of making films, from the idea to make the movie (which ideally, says Tootsie writer Larry Gelbart, is "something you absolutely have to do" once the idea enters your mind) to composing the music, which is done when the film is completed and must reflect its themes. Along the way, there are nice surprises, like the breakdowns on what an actor's research entails (e.g., Jack Nicholson expounds on taking on the "huge mountain" of Jimmy Hoffa in 1992's Hoffa) and the particulars of special effects, such as the pigeons that don't fly away when they're let out of a cage in A Beautiful Mind. Moreover, the book features a case study of the elements of that Oscar-winning Ron Howard film. Even critics will be interested to learn of the efforts involved in trying to present the complex subject of schizophrenia with intelligence and respect. While the book is aimed at nonveteran film practitioners, it's engrossing enough for any film buff who wants to know more than what Premiere can tell them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From School Library Journal

YA-Using recent motion-picture releases as examples, this book provides a blow-by-blow description of the filmmaking process, including how much control a producer exerts over a project, under what conditions the first scriptwriter should be fired, and how actors' improvisation often enhances a work. What emerges is a portrait of the fluidity of the filmmaking process, and a discussion of its shortcomings as well as its benefits from the viewpoints of the principals involved. This title shows that movies are truly a collaborative art form.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company; Owl Book ed edition (February 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805023038
• ISBN-13: 978-0805023039
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have an unusual background - since my degrees are in both drama and theology. I've combined the two through my work in the film industry since 1981, writing books on screenwriting, but have also been giving speeches about theology for the last ten years. My most recent book is called JESUS RODE A DONKEY, and is about Christian values from the perspective of the Democratic Party. That will be published in August, 2006.