Glyn Rants #1 – ‘good books about film’

Filmonik is all about films. Films are awesome. But sometimes, ( like, say, when you don’t have a good internet connection and/or you mobile device is out of batteries), you can entertain and educate yourself by reading books.

At Filmonik #10 we gave away a prize to filmmaker Daniel Mulvihill, who was the winner of Kevin’s monthly trivia contest. The prize happened to be a book, and that book was titled Making Movies by Sidney Lumet. The book in question also happens to be #1 on this list of 10 books that Directors Werner Herzog and Darren Aronofsky think you should read. (No Film School – Werner Herzog and Darren Aronofsky Think You Should Read These Ten Books) The list contains 11 books. Personally I’ve only read one of the books on this list. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind. It’s a hugely entertaining read, chronicling the rise of a new generation of filmmakers in the 1970’s. The book provides insight into the early careers of household names such as Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Betty, Brain De Palma, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg & Martin Scorsese. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls features on another list of 15 books recommended by the No Film School website. Film School on a Bookshelf: 15 Recommended Books for Aspiring (and Expert) Filmmakers Easy Riders, Raging Bulls also has an accompanying documentary – Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood – released in 2003, it’s also worth a look.

Another great book about Hollywood and the movie business is Bambi vs Godzilla by David Mamet. Filled with stories of the corrupt and ridiculous inner workings of Hollywood and featuring wonderfully crystallised ideas about what makes a great scene and a great story.

I have fond memories of reading The Big Lebowski: The Makingof a Coen Brothers Film by William Preston Robertson, Tricia Cooke,Joel & Ethan Coen as a youngster. As a massive Coen Brothers fan I found this book an inspiration, packed with a thorough roadmap of the journey a Coen Brother’s film takes from script to screen.

But one of my earliest and most vivid memories of books about movies, is when my cousin Peter showed me a book about Blade Runner. You see, when I was very young, (some) movies scared the absolute shit out of me. At the tender age of 4 I somehow managed to see Jaws for the first time. My mother was not pleased. The experience left me terrified of water. The toilet, the bath, the sink were all suddenly an opportunity for Jaws to jump out and feast upon me! At night, I would become convinced the carpet around my bed was water and that Jaws would dive out and eat me as I slept. Despite the terror Jaws had caused me, I kept going back for more. As I grew older, the thing that seemed to weaken the ability of movies to scare me was an understanding of how they were made. I always understood that movies aren’t real, but it wasn’t until I could step back and try to work how an effect was created, that I could begin to control my fear. So began my early fascination with movie making and in particular special effects.

My cousin Peter, who is more than a few years older than me, shared my passion for movie making. We both absolutely loved science fiction. Most of time, to him, I was probably just an annoying little cousin… but on this one fateful day he indulged me and excitedly showed me a new book he had gotten about the making of Blade Runner. It was beautiful. The book was page after glossy colour page detailing the work that went into creating this futuristic world which had enthralled me. Pete pointed out amazing matte paintings they used to create shots of cityscapes and the incredible concept designs, provided by Syd Mead. It was the coolest book I had ever seen. Despite all the details I can remember about reading the book with Peter that day, I can’t for the life of me remember the title… but my guess is  it was probably: Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon or Blade Runner Sketchbook by David Scroggy meanwhile, here’s a handy link to a site where you can view Blade Runner Sketchbook for free (legally!)

As a kid, when I saw Back to the Future, I didn’t want to be Marty, I wanted to be Doc. I wanted to invent things. Machines that did cool things, and looked cool while they were doing it. I wanted to explore the future. The people who worked on movies got to do that, and I thought that they had the best job in the whole wide world.

Have you read any of the books we talked about or any of the books listed by No Film School? Any other great books about filmmaking that you can suggest? Have you ever won a book in the Filmonik trivia? What was it, and did you enjoy it? Let us know in the comments.

Special thanks to Lucas Smale for providing many of the books mentioned and my cousin Peter Francis.