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I've read
GWTW by Gavin Lambert
FUTURE NOIR (making of BLADE RUNNER)
some book about the making of SUPERMAN by a guy who was an actor in the Smallville scenes
Bob Balaban's diary about making CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Are there any other "making of..." books about movies that you can recommend?
So after reading all these lists, are there any you're going to try seeking out?
PSYCHO, SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, 2001, and maybe the STAR WARS. I'm not so much keen to look further into the Spielberg/Lucas films, which seem to have gotten the lion's share of entries here.
Also Final Cut, since I've been curious about it.
Too bad PNJ's book ain't in the libraries yet.
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Are there any other "making of..." books about movies that you can recommend?
The grand-daddy of all making-of books might very well be Lillian Ross' excellent "Picture", an account of the making of John Huston's THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE in 1950. It's definitely not a puff piece, though - it's a gimlet-eyed examination of the convoluted process of studio filmmaking.
This has been on my list, having seen it recommended in a reference book. It's not easy to find in the library, but I can get it. Maybe I'd better borrow it before it disappears! Thanks for the reminder.
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My book is in a lot of libraries, though I wish it were in more. (Being a paperback did not help it in this regard.) But I am sorry to hear that one particular library won't lend it out, flattering though this may be. Call me old fashioned, but I still think libraries should be in the book-lending business.
Sorry to confuse you, Mulan, but the true fact is that the two HUNTER books actually complement each other, or else I wouldn't recommend them both, (just as Jeff recommends my book to his readers). Read my book first, why don't you, and then read Jeff's. (They're both reasonably priced, I dare say.) And they're both chock full of goodies.
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Posted: |
Jul 25, 2010 - 1:11 AM
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By: |
mulan98
(Member)
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My book is in a lot of libraries, though I wish it were in more. (Being a paperback did not help it in this regard.) But I am sorry to hear that one particular library won't lend it out, flattering though this may be. Call me old fashioned, but I still think libraries should be in the book-lending business.
Sorry to confuse you, Mulan, but the true fact is that the two HUNTER books actually complement each other, or else I wouldn't recommend them both, (just as Jeff recommends my book to his readers). Read my book first, why don't you, and then read Jeff's. (They're both reasonably priced, I dare say.) And they're both chock full of goodies.
Understood Mr Jones. Will do and many thanks.
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Posted: |
Jul 25, 2010 - 8:35 AM
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By: |
ScottDS
(Member)
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As a Star Trek fan, I'm ashamed that I have never read Stephen E. Whitfield's "The Making of Star Trek." One day!
One great Trek making-of book is "The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens. It's still one of the best books of its kind I ever read... and long out of print. And on that note, I have to mention the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion" by Terry J. Erdmann. It blows the TNG and VGR companions out of the water.
Also:
-J.W. Rinzler's books on the making of Star Wars and the Indiana Jones films. I'm sure his upcoming book on the making of Empire will be just as good.
-The aforementioned Future Noir by Paul Sammon.
-The various books on the making of the Star Wars prequels, though I'm sure Lucas will release expanded, hardcover versions one day. In the latest Star Wars magazine, Rinzler said he'd like to revisit the Episode III book since the manuscript had to be turned in before the film was released.
-The making-of books for Serenity and Firefly (two volumes).
-There was a stream of great making-of books in the mid-90s, mostly by Cinefex writers like Jody Duncan - I remember ones for Jurassic Park, Congo, The Lost World, Alien: Resurrection, Starship Troopers... I imagine DVD and Blu-Ray features have rendered many of these obsolete, though they often included great photos and artwork not available elsewhere.
-When I was in elementary school (late 80s, early 90s), I remember picking up books on the making of Dick Tracy and Super Mario Bros. at the school book fair. I don't remember the SMB one but the Dick Tracy book was very good, even if I didn't know the technical terms and names like Vittorio Storaro and Richard Sylbert. 
-There was a book on James Cameron's Titanic that included an annotated version of the screenplay, chockfull of trivia and making-of info, including the deleted scenes which hadn't yet been made public (this was before the DVD).
-Making Ghostbusters by Don Shay, which I finally bought on eBay in 2006 after a two-year search.
-While it's more of a biography, I have to recommend "John Landis" by Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan. While the making of Animal House, The Blues Brothers, and An American Werewolf in London have been chronicled elsewhere, this book sheds some light on the making of films like Spies Like Us, Three Amigos, Into the Night, and Oscar. (And yes, Twilight Zone: The Movie is mentioned though I believe there were a couple of books written about it in the 80s.)
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I've read many of the books mentioned above, however one of my favorites is ME AND HITCH by Evan Hunter on his involvement in the writing of the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Published in 1997 by Faber and Faber, London.
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My book is in a lot of libraries, though I wish it were in more. (Being a paperback did not help it in this regard.) But I am sorry to hear that one particular library won't lend it out, flattering though this may be. Call me old fashioned, but I still think libraries should be in the book-lending business.
I found a copy in the UC Berkeley Library! I can't check out from them since I'm not a student, so I'll have to go there to read it.
This is cool! It'll be like going to The Thatcher Library in CITIZEN KANE!
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Just make sure it's not like going to the Santa Rosa library after closing hour to check that little newspaper article about your Uncle Charlie......
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I went to the library to do an elaborate interlibrary loan of a book I could only find in a far-flung city.
Then I found it is back in print:
Now I have to wait until the ONE local library I can get it from easily has it available to lend.
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Enlightened self interest compels me to cast aside modesty and mention the award-winning "Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER."
***
Now a copy is available to borrow from a different library. I'm requesting it now!
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I just read Nicholas Meyer's "A View from the Bridge" which features candid accounts of the making of all his films. He mentioned that his first published work, when he was a kid starting out in Paramount's publicity department, was also a making-of book, "The Love Story Story," which is about the making of . . . "Love Story" (1970).
You can get it cheap:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Story-Nicholas-Meyer/dp/B0006XS1CK
This is the first book I ever read that used the word "stichomythia".
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Does this count?
PROMETHEUS
THE ART OF THE FILM
By Mark Salisbury
Foreword by Ridley Scott
There's a bit of text and storyboards, but it's mostly photographs of the art from the film. While I like having it, for what it cost, I was very disappointed that my Canon printer can give me far clearer photographs than what we find in this "picture book."
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