The Books You Bought Me

Every time you click on a book on this site and buy it from Amazon, I get a few cents. Enough of you have been doing this lately that those cents added up to a few bucks, and I went a-shoppin! So a heartfelt thanks, and here's a peek at what y'all bought me!

First up is an amazing book called If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die by Patti Bellantoni. This book is an inspirational dissertation on the symbolic use of color in film, drawing examples from movies like Gattaca, American Beauty, and The Wizard of Oz. I love this stuff. Bellantoni will give you a new appreciation of some of some of your favorite films, and remind you that the theme of your story holds a correct answer to any question about what color something should be.

Next is a book the scope of which I am still struggling to comprehend. It's called Behind the Seen, and it discusses how Walter Murch famously edited Cold Mountain using Final Cut Pro. But "discusses" doesn't cover it. This book uses interviews, anectodes, Murch's diary entries, photos, screen captures, and Viking ballads to provide a glimpse into the heart of a filmmaking effort that is beyond comprehensive. Did you necessarly need to know the sordid history of the production's agonizing decision to postpone upgrading from OS 9 to OS X? Probably not. But firsthand accounts of an industry pro struggling to nudge a megalithic software devloper to greatness ring errily true to me, and when you see how Murch reminds himself visually that his edits will be viewed on a thirteen foot tall screen, you will feel the depth of this book.

Of course, I'm just assuming that you already have Murch's seminal In the Blink of an Eye, but if you don't, please alleviate that situation immediatly, as I have done by adding it to the list at the right.

Comments

[kieran]

Don't forget Murch's other tome
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375413863/prolost-20" REL="nofollow">The Conversations, which remains one of the most inspiring books on the possibilities of editing.