Lean Filmmaking is an explosion of creativity, turning conventional wisdom upside down to vigorously shake out obsolete ideas revered by the traditional film industry. Writing a script. Pitching to investors. Surviving development hell. Before even picking up a camera. All while juggling a family, a social life and a day job. No wonder making an independent feature film feels out of reach. Lean Filmmaking is different. It celebrates experimentation and inventiveness, while forging a sustainable artistic practice. It saves time, energy and money (but it's not just for low-budget or cheap ideas). It takes advantage of surprising - often counterintuitive - strategies to dramatically improve the filmmaking process, including:- Collaborating in non-hierarchical, cross-functional squads- Working in ongoing iterative Make-Show-Adjust Cycles- Validating assumptions with early fan feedbackIf you're ready to transition from shorts, series or online videos to creating independent feature films, go from idea to launch with the five-step Lean Filmmaking method.Get started immediately with tested techniques that will empower you to take action, bust through stumbling blocks and ignite your creativity. "Lean Filmmaking kickstarts an entire generation of new filmmaking voices, arming them with the tools and self-reliance to create original, important stories, then connecting them with the audience who especially craves them." -Perri Cummings and Paul Anthony Nelson, producers Trench"Lean Filmmaking revolutionizes how filmmakers work." -Melanie Rowland, producer Time ApartCheeky provocateurs and creative agitators, siblings Kylie Eddy and David Eddy have combined their filmmaking experience and agile coaching expertise to re-imagine the development, production and distribution of independent films in an uncertain world.leanfilmmaking.com

A refreshing new practical approach to documentary filmmaking, Get Close: Lean Team Documentary Filmmaking equips new and veteran filmmakers with the knowhow to make artistically rewarding documentaries for less money, less hassle, and less time. Author and veteran filmmaker Rustin Thompson shows that by stripping away, sidestepping, or reassessing the entrenched industry hurdles-long waits for funding, the unwieldy crews, the unnecessary gear, the gauntlet of film festivals, pitch forums, and distribution networks-filmmakers can move quickly from idea to execution to finished film. Throughout the book, Thompson demystifies and de-clutters the way docs are produced today, illustrating the use of a few simple and accessible tools and techniques while still engaging with the aesthetic possibilities of the medium, its creative opportunities and its satisfying rewards of giving back to the world. Using the essential lessons in Get Close, filmmakers will learn to eliminate physical and financial barriers between themselves and their subject matter, ultimately leading them to tell more artful, illuminating stories and find the joy in documentary filmmaking.

Five keys to creating authentic, distinctive work, whether you are a student, professional or simply love making films on your own For Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out, three professors at the renowned University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television interviewed fifteen outstanding filmmakers, then distilled their insights into the "Five I's" of creativity. Learn how to: • Uncover your unique creative voice (Introspection) • Work from real-life observations and experience (Inquiry) • Draw on your nonconscious wells of creativity (Intuition) • Strengthen your creative collaborations (Interaction) • Communicate at the deepest level with your audience (Impact) This comprehensive approach provides practical exercises that will enrich and transform your work, whether you are looking for a story idea, lighting a set, editing a scene or selecting a music cue. The participating filmmakers, who have collectively won or been nominated for 39 Oscars and 27 Emmys, are: Anthony Minghella, writer-director (The English Patient); Kimberly Peirce, writer-director (Boys Don't Cry); John Lasseter, writer-director-producer (Toy Story); John Wells, writer-producer (ER); Hanif Kureishi, writer (My Beautiful Laundrette); Pamela Douglas, writer (Between Mother and Daughter); Renee Tajima-Pe?a, director-producer (My America...or, Honk If You Love Buddha); Ismail Merchant, producer (The Remains of the Day); Jeannine Oppewall, production designer (L.A. Confidential); Conrad L. Hall, cinematographer (American Beauty); Kathy Baker, actor (Picket Fences); Walter Murch, sound designer-editor (Apocalypse Now); Lisa Fruchtman, editor (The Right Stuff); Kate Amend, editor (Into the Arms of Strangers); and James Newton Howard, composer (The Sixth Sense).

David Lean was one of a handful of movie-makers of international renown and, arguably, the most famous and successful of all British film directors. Emerging from a childhood of nearly Dickensian darkness, Lean found success as the director of the such classic films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago.Learn about the making of movies a s realized by a master, but also of the highly personal costs of genius. in color.

John Box had one of the most continuously productive design careers in British cinema, winning a record for Academy Awards and four BAFTAs. After learning his craft in the 1950s, he shot to fame with Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Directors from David Lean and Carol Reed to Norman Jewison and Michael Mann have valued his experience, as he brought `a vocabulary of life' to bear on the new challenges posed by each film. Whether creating Chaina in Wales for The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), revolutionary Russia in Spain for Dr. Zhivago (1965), or Dickensian London for Oliver! (1968), imagining the mythic past in First Knight (1995) or the future in Rollerball (1975). Box shaped screen worlds across five decades, helping to establish the traditions of British production design which continue today. His greatest wish was that his career should encourage others by example. Based on interviews with John Box and the co-operation of some of his key collaborators, this lavishly colour-illustrated book focuses on solutions to design problems and provides a unique insight into the production designer's role in the collaborative business of filmmaking. --Book Jacket.

Two-time Academy Award winner Sir David Lean (1908–1991) was one of the most prominent directors of the twentieth century, responsible for the classics The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and Doctor Zhivago (1965). British-born Lean asserted himself in Hollywood as a major filmmaker with his epic storytelling and panoramic visions of history, but he started out as a talented film editor and director in Great Britain. As a result, he brought an art-house mentality to blockbuster films. Combining elements of biography and film criticism, Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean uses screenplays and production histories to assess Lean’s body of work. Author Gene D. Phillips interviews actors who worked with Lean and directors who knew him, and their comments reveal new details about the director’s life and career. Phillips also explores Lean’s lesser-studied films, such as The Passionate Friends (1949), Hobson’s Choice (1954), and Summertime (1955). The result is an in-depth examination of the director in cultural, historical, and cinematic contexts. Lean’s approach to filmmaking was far different than that of many of his contemporaries. He chose his films carefully and, as a result, directed only sixteen films in a period of more than forty years. Those films, however, have become some of the landmarks of motion-picture history. Lean is best known for his epics, but Phillips also focuses on Lean’s successful adaptations of famous works of literature, including retellings of plays such as Brief Encounter (1945) and novels such as Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist (1948), and A Passage to India (1984). From expansive studies of war and strife to some of literature’s greatest high comedies and domestic dramas, Lean imbued all of his films with his unique creative vision. Few directors can match Lean’s ability to combine narrative sweep and psychological detail, and Phillips goes beyond Lean’s epics to reveal this unifying characteristic in the director’s body of work. Beyond the Epic is a vital assessment of a great director’s artistic process and his place in the film industry.

Think big, spend little! Everything you need to make your movie is in this complete resource kit. The Power Filmmaking Kit is a comprehensive, multimedia book and DVD package that empowers you to produce your own Hollywood-quality movie. Emmy-award winning director Jason Tomaric produced an independent film using only local resources for under $2,000 that not only got picked up for distribution, but is also used as a case study in top film schools. This book shows you how to do the same, regardless of your budget or location. You'll learn how to achieve professional quality on a microbudget, using the resources you have at hand. The book includes: * Coverage of the entire filmmaking process. It's all here, from writing, directing, and cinematography, to acting, editing, and distribution. * Step-by-step instructions, tips, diagrams, charts, and illustrations for how you can make a Hollywood-caliber movie on a next-to-nothing budget with little upfront money and access only to local resources. The DVD includes: * Time and Again, the profitable, award-winning, internationally distributed independent film made for under $2,000 * One hour of video tutorials unveiling how the movie was made...interviews and behind-the-scenes case studies on directing, production, and editing * Complete rough footage from a scene for editing practice * Forms, contracts, and more resources *The Producer's Notebook includes scripts, storyboards, schedules, call sheets, contracts, letters from the producer, camera logs and press kits from "Time and Again." See how the production was scheduled and organized, read the script, follow the storyboards and watch the production unfold from beginning to end. * Blank contracts and forms that you can print out to use on your own film

In this groundbreaking book Norman Hollyn outlines his 'Lean Forward Moment Method' of storytelling that applies to all aspects of the film-making process and media production. Whether you are an editor, producer, director, cinematographer or visual effects pro, this book will provide the essential techniques you need to create engaging content that emotionally connects with your audience. The core storytelling techniques in this book, apply equally to all levels and types of film and media projects: feature films, television documentaries, fiction, web-based video games, commercials, event films and much more. As an Associate Professor at the School of Cinematic Arts at USC and having worked on movie projects with such Hollywood greats at Alan J Pakula, Sidney Lumet and Francis Ford Coppola, Norman Hollyn is uniquely qualified to provide you with the conceptual and practical tools to tell your story effectively. After the initial formative chapters, Norman examines the filmmaking process in its three main areas - preproduction, production and postproduction. Within each area he describes how the Lean Forward method can help with every step of the creative process (setup, scene description, the script, production design, direction, cinematography, editing, opticals and special effects, music and sound). He then brings together the concepts he discusses by providing real world examples from a drama, an action film, a documentary and a commercial. "Norman Hollyn uses the ancient magic of alchemy to reveal the art of making a great film. Writing an outstanding primer on filmmaking, he provides an historical perspective from several iconic movies, revealing the innermost secrets of successful filmmakers. If you want to construct a film, you need this book!" - MARTIN COHEN, President of Post Production, Paramount Pictures. "Norman Hollyn's The Lean Forward Moment speaks volumes about the art and craft of filmmaking. His elegant explanations of editorial choices and creative decisions tell the full story. It is a serious work and it will be a resource for every emerging filmmaker" - IAN CALDERON, Director of Digital Initiatives, Sundance Institute. "Only a film editor, with a career of experience in the cockpit of the cutting room, could so clearly and completely explain how some storytelling efforts succeed and others fail. Fortunately, Norman Hollyn is such an editor, and he has given us the gift of explanation in the richly illustrated The Lean Forward Moment." - BILL KINDER, Editorial and Post Production Director.

With a new introduction, acclaimed director and screenwriter Paul Schrader revisits and updates his contemplation of slow cinema over the past fifty years. Unlike the style of psychological realism, which dominates film, the transcendental style expresses a spiritual state by means of austere camerawork, acting devoid of self-consciousness, and editing that avoids editorial comment. This seminal text analyzes the film style of three great directors—Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson, and Carl Dreyer—and posits a common dramatic language used by these artists from divergent cultures. The new edition updates Schrader’s theoretical framework and extends his theory to the works of Andrei Tarkovsky (Russia), Béla Tarr (Hungary), Theo Angelopoulos (Greece), and Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey), among others. This key work by one of our most searching directors and writers is widely cited and used in film and art classes. With evocative prose and nimble associations, Schrader consistently urges readers and viewers alike to keep exploring the world of the art film.

Interviews with the director of Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, A Passage to India, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and many other epic films