This is How You Make a Movie

Learn film-making techniques through the movies you know and love with This Is How You Make a Movie!

Using key scenes from some of the best-loved movies of all time, Tim Grierson explores everything from cinematography to the secrets of talking to camera. Deep focus is explored through Citizen Kane, forced perspective through Elf, and slow motion through Reservoir Dogs. Examples from blockbusters (Wonder Woman) to Oscar-winners (Rocky), silent-era gems (Intolerance) to recent art-house treasures (American Honey), give readers a glimpse of cinema’s breadth and potential.

A fascinating read for film buffs who want to understand what goes on behind the camera, and above all an essential read for students and beginners in the industry.

With sections on acting, directing, lighting and camera, writing and editing, this book includes all the technical help you need to get your film career off the ground.

Including these directors, and more:

Steven Spielberg
Martin Scorsese
Mike Leigh
Sofia Coppola
Spike Lee
Barry Jenkins
Francis Ford Coppola
Steve McQueen
Tim Miller
Stanley Kubrick
Alfred Hitchcock
Barry Jenkins
Charlie Chaplin
Roman Polanski
Andrea Arnold
Tim Burton
Kenneth Branagh
Including these films, and more:
Atonement
If Beale Street Could Talk
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Deadpool
The Godfather
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Star Wars
Reservoir Dogs
The Shining
Birdman
Psycho
Goodfellas
Casino Royale
Inception
Free Solo
King Kong
Gone with the Wind
Reservoir Dogs
Rocky
Apocalypse Now
Moonlight

About the Author:

Tim Grierson is the senior U.S. film critic for Screen International and a contributing editor at MEL. He frequently appears in Rolling Stone and Vulture and is the vice president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. He is the author of seven books, including FilmCraft: Screenwriting and Martin Scorsese in Ten Scenes.