Fundamentals of Film Making

Jane Barnwell is Senior Lecturer at London Metropolitan University. After graduating from Leeds University and the Northern School of Film and Television, she began her career at the BBC and has since worked extensively as a designer for film, television and theatre. Jane published a book entitled Production Design: Architects of the Screen in 2004 and was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant this year for her project London at Home. Jane continues to work in film production and has also branched into exhibition work.

I am very impressed with the quality and content of this publication. It provides a very comprehensive and accessible introductory text on the subject. Both the Fundamentals I have seen follow a pattern of beautifully designed pages, the text is very well considered and reflected in the design.

• How to get the most out of this book. Introduction. The team: Overview of the crew; Departments and job descriptions; Collaborating and working as a team. Scriptwriting: Treatments; Screenplay - format and layout; Narrative structures; Protagonists and antagonists; Adaptation; Genre; Loglines. Producing: Production planning for documentary and drama; Documentary proposals; Budgeting; Schedules; Locations; Equipment; Distribution and exhibition. Directing: Shot sizes - meaning and motivation; Camera movements - methods and meaning; Master shots, cutaways, inserts and reactions; Parallel action; Shooting scripts; Storyboards; Working with actors. Production design: Visualising and breaking down the script; Concepts - the look; Space; Light and colour; Period; Process; Special effects; Costume. Cinematography: Format; Picture composition and framing; Lighting; Colour; Lenses. Sound: Audio field production; Microphones; Post-production sound; Music; Sound effects. Post-production: Editing; Continuity; Manipulating time; Montage; Continuous shot. Making meaning: Documentary; Representation; Realism; Genre; Ideology; Auteur theory. Appendix: Essential viewing; Essential resources; Mini interviews. Index. Acknowledgements and credits.