Film books

This is one of a series of reading lists I put together between 2002 and 2004 when I was starting out in interaction and experience design. Film has always been a neighbouring discipline, and this list is about the craft: directing, editing, sound, screenwriting, the architecture of the frame.
Bordwell & Thompson’s Film Art is the textbook every interaction designer should also read: how scenes work, how cuts work, how attention works. Tarkovsky’s Sculpting In Time and Kieslowski on Kieslowski are the directors’ own accounts of their thinking. Michel Chion’s Audio Vision is the essential book on sound-image relationships; I keep returning to it. Lumet’s Making Movies is the working director’s how-to.
The Amazon links below are what I had at the time, most will be dead now, but the ISBNs will find you a copy.

Film Art

David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson. Classic textbook, required reading.
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

Sculpting In Time

Andrey Tarkovsky.
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

Time Within Time

Andrey Tarkovsky.
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

Kieslowski on Kieslowski

Danusia Stok, Krzysztof Kieslowski. A thorough insight into Kieslowski’s process, thinking and ideology. Wonderful.
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

The Art and Science of Screenwriting

Philip Parker. Essential reading for screenwriting, not just the usual Hollywood basics.
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

Film Architecture

Dietrich Neumann.
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

Audio Vision

Michel Chion. Essential for anyone thinking about the interaction between audible and visible.
amazon.co.uk / amazon.com

Film books

Film Art

Sculpting In Time

Time Within Time

Kieslowski on Kieslowski

The Art and Science of Screenwriting

Film Architecture

Audio Vision

Directing: (Screencraft Series)

First Cut: Conversations with Film Editors

The Director’s Journey: The Creative Collaboration

Making Movies

Film Directing: Shot By Shot

Directing the Film

Making Movies Work: Thinking Like a Filmmaker