Jed Dannenbaum - Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out: Five Keys to the Art of Making Inspired Movies and Television

Praise for Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out

[An] intriguing book about the creative process of filmmaking The authors have divided the book into what they call the Five Is: Introspection, Inquiry, Intuition, Interaction and Impact. They also have interviewed several professionals on both sides of the camera to give their discussion an added dimension. The late Conrad Hall provided some essential and illuminating reflections on the creative process underlying his cinematography.

Larry Karaszewski, screenwriter ( Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon ), producer (Auto Focus)

This is a smart book on the filmmaking process. It stresses the importance of ideas instead of the usual How to Break into Hollywood or Write a Script in 48 Hours nonsense. Creative Filmmaking challenges you to think before you shoot.

International Documentary magazine

This uniquely humane book offers both neophyte and seasoned documentarians a refreshing opportunity to expand their perspectives on the power and purpose of the moving image.

William McDonald, Head of Production, UCLA Department of Film, Television and Digital Media

Dannenbaum, Hodge and Mayer have done the impossible. The authors have stunningly codified an elusive process media educators must attempt to articulate every day in every classroom. This practical, illuminating and inspiring book will become a foundation text in film schools around the world.

Victoria Riskin, screenwriter and President, Writers Guild of America, west

The authors have woven a rich collection of personal reflections from talented filmmakers into a valuable and thoroughly enjoyable guidebook through the creative process. Indispensable reading for students and professionals alike.

Emmy magazine

The [creative] aspect of filmmaking is handled quite nicely in this release. The authors, filmmakers themselves and instructors at the University of Southern Californias School of Cinema-Television, combine their own observations with insights from noted artists such as John Wells and Ismail Merchant. The result is not only an entertaining (and occasionally inspiring) book but a practical one as well.

Michelle Citron, filmmaker, author, Professor in the Department of Radio/Television/Film at Northwestern University and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts

Reading Creative Filmmaking reinspired my own teaching. Dannenbaum, Hodge and Mayer tackle the tricky issue of creativity with freshness and accessibility. Grounded in the experiences of successful film artists, their understanding of creativity brilliantly maps out the balance between intuition and intellect, the individual voice and the collective process. The exercises will energize your students films and free them from clichd thinking. This book is a must for anyone making films or teaching the filmmaking process.

Stacey Sher, producer ( Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich )

An essential tool for bringing out the artists in todays student filmmakers.

George Stoney, filmmaker and Paulette Goddard Professor of Film and Television at New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts

Creative Filmmaking is entirely fresh and different and welcomed. It has caused me to reconsider the content of a documentary course I have been conducting for NYU undergraduates for three decades.

Library Journal

[The authors] have involved more than a dozen practicing filmmakers as consultants, including director Anthony Minghella ( The English Patient ) and film editor Lisa Fruchtman ( Apocalypse Now ). The result is a rich and varied exploration of the specific creative techniques used by successful professionals, together with specific exercises for the reader.

James Hindman, Codirector and COO, American Film Institute

This is the only book I know of that relates the creative process to every key filmmaking role. Whether the reader is, or wants to be, a writer, director, producer, production designer, cinematographer, actor, editor, sound designer, composer, animator or documentary filmmaker, Creative Filmmaking offers insights and advice that should lead to work of greater freshness and individuality.

Michael Rabiger, filmmaker, author and former Chair of the Film/Video Department, Columbia College, Chicago

This is a very good and necessary book, a lantern taken into the darker corners of the creative process.

Dan Kleinman, Chair of the Film Division, Columbia University School of the Arts

The insights in this book are valuable for anyone interested in the art of filmmaking. The suggested exercises are a wonderful bonus for young filmmakers who want to get their creative juices flowing.

#xa0;

Five Keys to the Art of
Making Inspired
Movies and Television

Jed Dannenbaum,
Carroll Hodge and Doe Mayer

FIRESIDE
New York London Toronto Sydney

In remembrance of those who first sparked our creativity and our love for film: Jeds grandmother Peggy Haetten and his sister Maggy Dannenbaum Carrolls parents Gordon and Frances Hodge Does grandparents Arthur and Lillie Mayer

FIRESIDE
Rockefeller Center
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Copyright 2003 by Jed Dannenbaum, Carroll Hodge and Doe Mayer

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

F IRESIDE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.
www.SimonandSchuster.com

For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or business@simonandschuster.com

Designed by Chris Welch

Manufactured in the United States of America

Photo credits appear on page 203.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dannenbaum, Jed.

Creative filmmaking : from the inside out : five keys to the art of making inspired movies and television / Jed Dannenbaum, Carroll Hodge and Doe Mayer.

p. cm.

A fireside book.

Includes filmography.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Motion picturesProduction and direction. 2. TelevisionProduction and direction I. Hodge, Carroll. II. Mayer, Doe. III. Title.

PN1995.9.P7 D37 2003

791.430233dc21 2002190756

ISBN 0-7432-2319-5
ISBN: 978-1-451-60360-6

Over the five years that this book evolved, many people significantly aided and influenced its development. It is a pleasure now to have the opportunity to thank them for their help.

Elizabeth Daley, Dean of the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television and Executive Director of the Annenberg Center for Communication, provided vital financial and institutional support, as well as her personal encouragement and enthusiasm for the project.

Universal Studios provided research funding, under the auspices of Deborah Rosen. Our remarkable agent Barbara Lowenstein has not only represented the book with great effectiveness, but at a key early point encouraged us to structure it very differently, making it much better than it would have been, and more satisfying to write. We have also benefited from the knowledge, experience, good taste and collaborative spirit of Cherise Grant, our editor at Simon & Schuster. Thanks as well to Allyson Edelhertz, production editor Daniel Cuddy, interior design head Joy OMeara, art director Cherlynne Li, publicist Lisa Sciambra and all the others at Simon & Schuster whose expertise has served the book so well. Our own publicist, Caroline OConnell, has been resourceful, energetic and a delight to work with.