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 Any book that attempts to reinforce the idea that film is, first and foremost, a visual medium has to be a good thing. 'Cinematic Storytelling' certainly does just that. Directors, writers, editors and cinematographers will all glean much of use from this book.
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions
ISBN: ISBN 1-932907-05-X
Published date: Current
Country of origin: US
Subject area: Visual Film Narrative for Directors
Talking pictures killed cinema. That's a wild exaggeration, of course. But it is true that the invention of sync sound recording changed forever the way that stories are told on film. Pre-sound film narrative was an almost entirely visual business, resorting only to title cards where necessary. Stories were told almost exclusively through the use of camera framing, lighting and editing.
In 1926, the arrival of sound changed all that. Suddenly the emphasis shifted towards the use of dialogue to tell the story. There's nothing wrong with that if it's done properly. But look at almost any early talkie and you'll see what could almost be a filmed stage play. They largely seem visually flat and boring and the dialogue does all the legwork. Obviously things have moved on somewhat from the early days, but the point about balancing visual and dialogue-based storytelling is as relevant today as it was then.
Jennifer Van Sijll's book 'Cinematic Storytelling' is all about the balance between the visual and the narrative. She uses numerous examples taken from a wide range of films to demonstrate various different aspects of storytelling. The list of techniques she covers is extensive.
Composition within the frame, use of lenses, camera position and motion, editing and lighting are covered, as you would expect. But she also details the use of props, wardrobe, locations and sound effects. Each of these is then subdivided into numerous different examples of each technique.
I like the layout of this book. It uses a wider-then-normal page size, giving the book a pleasing appropriate "widescreen" look. Every film example used is illustrated with screen grabs printed alongside the original script extract from the same scene.
All changes made between the script and what finally appeared on screen are also noted.
Any book that attempts to reinforce the idea that film is, first and foremost, a visual medium has to be a good thing. 'Cinematic Storytelling' certainly does just that. Directors, writers, editors and cinematographers will all glean much of use from this book.
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