Writing Short Films is one of the bestselling university text books on writing short film screenplays. This updated and revised edition includes several new chapters.

Fully revised and updated practical and inspirational guide for students and independent film-makers, describing and explaining the whole process - from creating an original or adapted script, through producing, directing and editing, to finance and distribution.

Best known for his work with Neil Gaiman and his Harvey award-winning graphic novel Cages, comes this Blu-ray collection of Dave McKean's surreal short films collected in a behind the scenes 9 x 12 hardcover book! Dave McKean's short cinema on Blu-ray included in a hardcover book featuring photos, posters, stills, drawings, and more. A must-have for McKean fans! "Dave demands his characters agonize over the meaning of life but he forces us to take the roller-coaster ride as well . . . right to the heart of the creative process--his words and drawings cascading across the page in perfectly structured cacophony. Beautiful!"--Terry Gilliam Blu-Ray includes the following short films and documentaries from Dave McKean: Week Before - 23mins - Insipired by the music of Django Reinhardt, story about two neighbors, God, and The Devil. Neon - 27mins - This film is narrated by Velvet Underground founder John Cale and was first prize winner at Clermont-Ferrand (one of most prestigous short film festivals in the world). Whack! - 14mins - Based on Mr. Punch graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Displacements - 14mins - A combination of three short films featuring Michael Moorcock, Iain Sinclair, and Ed Dorn. Dawn - 9mins - Filmed after McKeans's work on the movie Mirrormask, this short film is based on the Dark Horse Comics graphic novel Pictures that Tick, and was accepted into Clermont-Ferrand Festival Iain Ballamy & Stian Carstensen - 3 1/2 minutes - A video short of jazz musicians Iain Ballamy & Stian Carstensen. Sonnet No. 138 - 1min - An animated version of one of Shakespeare's sonnets as part of a large project to turn all of them into short films, the project was canceled and all that remains is this short film. MTV-9/11 Reason - 1min - Reason was created to play on Sept. 11th 2002, a year after the terrorist attack in New York in 2001. McKean made this image as a illustration for a memorial book published by Dark Horse, and turned it into a film shortly after. MTV-World Aids Day - 1min - McKean's short film for MTV on World Aids Day. Visitors - 15mins - Created to be a video shown during live performances for the band Food, this film was shot at the Pacific coastline at Pebble Beach, Point Lobos, Big Sur, Pacific Grove, and at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. A short film for Adobe - 4mins - Short film to cover the making of an image, which was the cover of The Particle Tarot. Signal to Noise - 4mins - Based of his own Graphic Novel Signal to Noise. RAINDANCE 7 - 1min - Trailer/Advert for the Raindance Film Festival. KODAK: TAKE PICTURES FURTHER - 40Mins - Commissioned by Kodak to launch a new film stock, and consisted of a lavish book, featuring several photographer/ artists, and accompanying 'making of' films for each contributor. BUCKETHEAD -THE BALLAD OF BUCKETHEAD - 4.5 mins - Daves ode to the musician Buckethead Izzy - 3.5 Mins - Film dedicated to opera singer Izzy, featured on MTV's Classical Channel. Lowcraft - 1 minute - A music video made for the band Lowcraft, inspired by the artist Lorenzo Mattotti. The Old Monkey - 4 minutes - A performance by McKean of a song he wrote for jazz composer Iain Ballamy and poet Matthew Sweeney. 9 Lives: Sheepdip, Johnson and Dupree; 9 Lives: The Cathedral of Trees - 4 minutes - Two short films from a show by McKean called Nine Lives.

The advent of affordable filmmaking equipment and software, combined with the popularity of websites such as Youtube—which encourage the submission of user-created short films—add up to interest in making and viewing shorts being higher than ever. Experienced professionals are interviewed on all aspects of short film production process in this filmmakers' resource that covers screenwriting, casting, shooting formats, location scouting, soundtracks, computer effects, and how to get the final product distributed. Five award-winning short films from distributor Dazzle Films—including Being Bad and BAFTA-nominated Hotel Infinity—discussed as case studies in the book are featured on a bonus DVD, along with layouts for budget spreadsheets, release forms, contracts, and more.

What goes into the making of Hollywood's greatest motion pictures? Join the authors as they examine recent screenplays on their perilous journey from script to screen.

Where does a young filmmaker begin? With the right short-film concept and this book! The right short can be a filmmaker's "business card" in Hollywood. Here's the authoritative handbook by one of Hollywood's most connected insiders that offers a step-by-step guide through the entire creative process of shooting a short film, as well as expert advice from established filmmakers, and a final game plan for promoting and selling the film once it's in the can.Topics covered include: € Concept € Budget € Finding equipment € Assembling a crew € Casting € Arranging for location € Locating festivals and ancillary markets € Working with the unions € Film vs. digital video Plus:€ A list of film schools € Oscar-winning shorts and nominees € A selection of short-film festivals € Actual short-film budgets € Sample scripts and shooting schedules € A helpful short-film glossary

Anyone can make a short film, right? Just grab some friends and your handheld and you can do it in a weekend or two before being accepted to a slew of film festivals, right? Wrong. Roberta Munroe screened short film submissions at Sundance for five years, and is an award-winning short filmmaker in her own right. So she knows a thing or two about how not to make a short film. From the first draft of your script to casting, production, editing, and distribution, this is your one-stop primer for breaking into the business. Featuring interviews with many of today's most talented writers, producers, and directors, as well as revealing stories (e.g., what to do when the skinhead crack addict next door begins screaming obscenities as soon as you call "action") from the sets of her own short films, Roberta walks you through the minefield of mistakes that an aspiring filmmaker can make--so that you don't have to make them yourself.

While Pixar Animation Studios was creating beloved feature-length films such as Monsters Inc., Ratatouille, and WALLE, it was simultaneously testing animation and storytelling techniques in dozens of memorable short films. Andre and Wally B proved that computer animation was possible; Tin Toy laid the groundwork for what would become Toy Story; and Mike's New Car exposed Pixar's finely tuned funny bone. In The Art of Pixar Short Films, animation expert and short film devotee Amid Amidi shines a spotlight on these and many more memorable vignettes from the Pixar archive. Essays and interviews illuminate more than 250 full-color pastels, pencil sketches, storyboards, and final rendered frames that were the foundation of Pixar's creative process.

Legendary Web designer and author Hillman Curtis has always been fascinated by motion and movement. In 2001, inspired in part by the affordability and accessibility of digital video, he began to experiment with short digital films in an effort to reinvigorate his creative spirit and express himself both personally and professionally. The nine projects Hillman describes in this book, each between 60 seconds and 10 minutes long, draw from a wide variety of creative sources and take various forms—documentaries, music videos, a fictional short film, and a series of video portraits. Each one is unique, yet the goal is always the same: to capture in video the essence of his subject. Equal parts inspiration, instruction, and personal essay, Hillman Curtis on Creating Short Films for the Web offers an intimate look into the author’s personal filmmaking process: from the ideas and influences that drive the concept and theme of the piece, through the setup, shoot, and assembly of a rough cut, to the final edit. Hillman explains how his flexible, often spontaneous filmmaking style is guided by certain principles—the value of leaving room for serendipity, the freedom found within self-imposed limitations, the importance of collaborating with others, and the possibilities for discovery and revision when reacting to unforeseen accidents. Throughout the book, Hillman offers advice on filmmaking’s numerous elements, such as direction, sound, editing, and interviewing. Also included is a primer to help you get up and running with your own digital video projects—explaining the equipment you’ll need and providing an overview of the filmmaking process—and an appendix that guides you through building your own Flash video player. Hillman Curtis is the founder of hillmancurtis.com, a design studio specializing in Web site design, motion graphics, and digital video. Hillman’s clients include Yahoo!, Adobe, RollingStone.com, British Airways, MTV, and Intel. His expert and innovative design solutions have garnered him and his company numerous awards, including the Communication Arts Award of Excellence and the South by Southwest Conference “Best Use of Design” and “Best of Show.” Author of the bestselling Flash Web Design: The Art of Motion Graphics and MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer, Hillman lives in New York City with his family.

Short subject films have a long history in American cinemas. These could be anywhere from 2 to 40 minutes long and were used as a "filler" in a picture show that would include a cartoon, a newsreel, possibly a serial and a short before launching into the feature film. Shorts could tackle any topic of interest: an unusual travelogue, a comedy, musical revues, sports, nature or popular vaudeville acts. With the advent of sound-on-film in the mid-to-late 1920s, makers of earlier silent short subjects began experimenting with the short films, using them as a testing ground for the use of sound in feature movies. After the Second World War, and the rising popularity of television, short subject films became far too expensive to produce and they had mostly disappeared from the screens by the late 1950s. This encyclopedia offers comprehensive listings of American short subject films from the 1920s through the 1950s.