The only published writing by the great French flimmaker, Robert Bresson.

Now in paperback, a collection of interviews with a French cinematic titan—covering subjects such as adaptation, the effects of capitalism on art, and the importance of intuition—selected from a period of four decades. Robert Bresson, the director of such cinematic masterpieces as Pickpocket, A Man Escaped, Mouchette, and L’Argent, was one of the most influential directors in the history of French film, as well as one of the most stubbornly individual: He insisted on the use of nonprofessional actors; he shunned the “advances” of Cinerama and CinemaScope (and the work of most of his predecessors and peers); and he minced no words about the damaging influence of capitalism and the studio system on the still-developing—in his view—art of film. Bresson on Bresson collects the most significant interviews that Bresson gave (carefully editing them before they were released) over the course of his forty-year career to reveal both the internal consistency and the consistently exploratory character of his body of work. Successive chapters are dedicated to each of his fourteen films, as well as to the question of literary adaptation, the nature of the soundtrack, and to Bresson’s one book, the great aphoristic treatise Notes on the Cinematograph. Throughout, his close and careful consideration of his own films and of the art of film is punctuated by such telling mantras as “Sound...invented silence in cinema,” “It’s the film that...gives life to the characters—not the characters that give life to the film,” and (echoing the Bible) “Every idle word shall be counted.” Bresson’s integrity and originality earned him the admiration of younger directors from Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette to Olivier Assayas. And though Bresson’s movies are marked everywhere by an air of intense deliberation, these interviews show that they were no less inspired by a near-religious belief in the value of intuition, not only that of the creator but that of the audience, which he claims to deeply respect: “It’s always ready to feel before it understands. And that’s how it should be.”

The French film director Robert Bresson was one of the great artists of the twentieth century and among the most radical, original, and radiant stylists of any time. He worked with nonprofessional actors—models, as he called them—and deployed a starkly limited but hypnotic array of sounds and images to produce such classic works as A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, Diary of a Country Priest, and Lancelot of the Lake. From the beginning to the end of his career, Bresson dedicated himself to making movies in which nothing is superfluous and everything is always at stake. Notes on the Cinematograph distills the essence of Bresson’s theory and practice as a filmmaker and artist. He discusses the fundamental differences between theater and film; parses the deep grammar of silence, music, and noise; and affirms the mysterious power of the image to unlock the human soul. This book, indispensable for admirers of this great director and for ­students of the cinema, will also prove an inspiration, much like Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, for anyone who responds to the claims of the imagination at its most searching and rigorous.

Cinematography is the art and craft of visualizing and recording the moving image. The cinematographer therefore has to use their technical and creative skills to photographically capture the mood of the film and the vision of the director. Done properly, they add the magic and depth to a film, giving it a defining edge. This practical book explains the principles behind cinematography, as well as the skills of the cinematographer. Having described the equipment, it looks at how to interpret the script and advises on how to find a visual style. Written by a respected cinematographer, it also explains the roles of the camera crew and the importance of working as a team. Fully illustrated with 128 colour photographs.

Introduction to Cinematography offers a practical, stage-by-stage guide to the creative and technical foundations of cinematography. Building from a skills-based approach focused on professional practice, cinematographer and author Tania Hoser provides a step-by-step introduction for both cinematographers and camera assistants to the techniques, processes, and procedures of working with cameras, lenses, and light. She provides hands-on insight into negotiating with production constraints and understanding the essentials of the image workflow from shot to distribution, on projects of any scope and budget. Richly illustrated, the book incorporates exercises and sample scripts throughout, exploring light, color, movement, ‘blocking’, and pacing scenes. The principles and techniques of shaping and controlling light are applied to working with natural light, film lamps, and, as with all areas of cinematography, to low budget alternatives. This makes Introduction to Cinematography the perfect newcomer’s guide to learning the skills of cinematography that enables seamless progression from exercises through to full feature shoots. Assessment rubrics provide a framework to measure progress as the reader’s ability to visually interpret scripts and enhance the director’s vision develops. The book also teaches readers: To understand and develop the combination of skills and creativity involved in cinematography; Photographic principles and how they are applied to control focus exposure, motion blur, and image sharpness; To identify the roles and skills of each member of the camera department, and how and when each are required during a shoot; The order and process of lighting on all scales of productions and the use and application of the four main types of lamps; How to use waveforms, false color, and zebras for monitoring light levels, and meters for guiding exposure choices; The principles of the color wheel, color palettes, and the psychological effects of color choices; How to shoot for different types of fiction and nonfiction/documentary films and how to apply these skills to other genres of TV and film production; Strategies for both starting and progressing your career within cinematography and the camera department. **Winner of 'Best new Textbook in Humanities and Media Arts' in the Taylor and Francis Editorial Awards 2018**

Comprehensive. Detailed. Practical. Set Lighting Technician's Handbook, Fourth Edition, is a friendly, hands-on manual covering the day-to-day practices, equipment, and tricks of the trade essential to anyone doing motion picture lighting, including the lamp operator, rigging crew, gaffer, best boy, or director of photography. This handbook offers a wealth of practical technical information, useful techniques, as well as aesthetic discussions. The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook focuses on what is important when working on-set: trouble-shooting, teamwork, set protocol, and safety. It describes tricks and techniques for operating a vast array of lighting equipment including LEDs, xenons, camera synchronous strobes, black lights, underwater units, lighting effects units, and many others. Since its first edition, this handy on-set reference continues to be widely adopted as a training and reference manual by union training programs as well as top university film production programs. New to the fourth edition: * Detailed information on LED technology and gear * Harmonized with union safety and training procedures * All the latest and greatest DMX gadgets, including remote control systems * Many new and useful lights and how to use them and troubleshoot them. * New additions to the arsenal of electrical distribution equipment that make our sets safer and easier to power. * More rigging tricks and techniques. * the same friendly, easy to read style that has made this book so popular.