Digital Filmmaking Bibliography

There are many books on filmmaking. This bibliography provide a starting point for a journey of reading and doing. Reading these books, along with those listed in the Cinematic Storytelling Bibliography, along with shooting and editing as much as you can, and you’ll be further along the path of the filmmaker. I’ve been making films since 1989 and I still like to read about the process, tools, and techniques of filmmaking, which is in constant flux. There’s always something new to try, or something old to re-apply in a different way. The learning never ends. Filmmaking is like writing, proficiency and literacy comes trough reading and writing, making and viewing.

Starting Points

• The Digital Filmmaking Handbook by Ben Long and Sonja Schenk
  This book provides a very readable, accessible introduction to digital filmmaking. An excellent starting point. It’s quite the toss-up which is the better introduction, this book or the Billups book.
• Digital Moviemaking, 2nd Edition by Scott Billups
  This book provides a solid introduction to digital filmmaking written by an industry trailblazer. It’s quite the toss-up which is the better introduction, this book or the Long and Schenk book.

Documentary

• Directing the Documentary (5th edition) Michael Rabiger
• Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and Videos by Alan Rosenthal
• Documentary Storytelling: Creative Nonfiction on Screen by Sheila Curran Bernard

Sound

• Producing Great Sound for Digital Video by Jay Rose
• Audio Postproduction for Digital Video by Jay Rose

Cinematography

• Cinematography: Theory & Practice by Blain Brown
• Matters of Light & Depth by Ross Lowell
• The Five C’s of Cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli

Directing

• Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics (3rd Ed.) Michael Rabiger
• Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television by Judith Weston
• Exploring Storyboarding by Wendy Tumminello
• The Visual Story: Seeing the Structure of Film, TV and New Media by Bruce Block
• Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
• On Directing by David Mamet
• Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen by Steven Katz

Producing

• What a Producer Does: The Art of Moviemaking (Not the Business) by Buck Houghton
• Before You Shoot by Helen Garvey

Editing

• Editing Techniques with Final Cut Pro (2nd Ed.) by Michael Wohl (while it’s dated at this point, it still presents a good introduction to Final Cut mixed with discussion of editing technique, available used at good prices), for technical hand-on learning, the Apple Training Series books are good.
• Avid Editing: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users (2nd Ed.) by Sam Kauffmann
• In the Blink of an Eye (2nd Ed.) by Walter Murch

Writing

• See the Cinematic Storytelling Bibliography for a list of books related to writing for film

Reference Page