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Jennifer Van Sijll
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Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know Paperback – Illustrated, August 1, 2005

by Jennifer Van Sijll (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 414 ratings
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What the industry's most succcessful writers and directors have in common is that they have mastered the cinematic conventions specific to the medium.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    257 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Michael Wiese Productions
  4. Publication date
    August 1, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    10.77 x 0.52 x 7.7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    193290705X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1932907056
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Michael Wiese Productions (August 1, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 257 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 193290705X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1932907056
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.68 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10.77 x 0.52 x 7.7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 414 ratings

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Jennifer Van Sijll

Jennifer Van Sijll

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
414 global ratings
Useful as a flip-through reference guide OR as a cover-to-cover read!
5 Stars
Useful as a flip-through reference guide OR as a cover-to-cover read!
One of the biggest challenges I face as a writer/director is switching between the two jobs. I find it really helpful to have books like this handy to pull me out of the world of Courier and into the world of cameras. Cinematic Storytelling is loaded not just with shot type but also examples of how they've been used in actually great movies (shoutout to Bound, one of the most under-seen films I love), movies that inspired me the first time I watched them. As for the examples I wasn't familiar with? Well, this book actually doubles as a recommendation list, doesn't it?It's the kind of book I find myself wishing I'd had from the very start of my creative career. Glad I have a copy now.
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Top reviews from the United States

Xcxcx96
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly informative
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024
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Definitely recommend for anyone wanting to use visuals to created, suspense, foreshadowing and metaphors in their writing. I found this extremely helpful.
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Sam Young
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative book, with brilliant film examples!
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2012
Verified Purchase
I am not all the way through my first reading of this book, but so far I am taking a lot from it! I have just recently taken into creating films and I wanted to learn as much as possible, but starting as a beginner through and through I didn't where to start, I have been reading this book and it sort of reads like a classroom text book (which is good, there's a lot of information packed in, not just pretty pictures) It has tons of real examples to follow along with it so you can really understand what ideas are being presented. I got the E-book (Kindle) version, and it reads/is translated really well into this format, the information is not missed the black and white pictures suffice on my Kindle-Touch, it's a great read, and a lot can be taken from it. If you're trying to learn more about the visual art of storytelling and screenwriting this is a good place to start.
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Jean
4.0 out of 5 stars Content - 5 stars with a warning
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2013
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The content of this book is especially good for high school beginners. Most filmmaking books are boring, hard to understand, and assume the reader has quite an extensive background in film before reading it. This one is really good for this purpose. However, the author chose to include screenplays that have inappropriate, offensive content. The most frustrating part is that the screenplays aren't really needed in order to understand the concepts because such a good job is done explaining them on the previous page. So I give it 5 stars for the excellent content, with that warning - especially for youth.

I also have to add that the binding of the book is very poor and the pages were falling out by the second week of school.
2 people found this helpful
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Stephanie DeWitt
5.0 out of 5 stars Needed this during my BA and MA.
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2023
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I’ve been training to learn storyboarding and my trainer recommended this book. If you are looking to get into film in any aspect, I highly recommend it!
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Aditi V
5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable book for novice editors
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2023
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If you know absolutely nothing about storytelling through video, buy this book and read it. As a person with zero background in filmmaking, I found this an extremely valuable resource in planning the types of shots I needed to take. I am grateful to the author for this book.
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Lawrence Maturo
5.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Expected, But I'm Sure Glad I Bought It
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2014
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Not at all what I expected. I was looking for a book on how to translate ideas into visual scenes, and this book isn't that. However, it covers lots of things I never would have thought about if I hadn't read it. Just one example that sticks out is the series Helix. I watched many episodes of it without noticing anything different about it until I read this book. Now I know it was mainly shot in shades of green, and the love interest of the main character, and there are two, would always wear red, so you instantly knew which one he was closest to at the moment. Without this book I would have never noticed that.

I had no idea that directors and editors looked at the sort of stuff this book talks about. Fascinating. It's like it opened up a whole new world to me.
15 people found this helpful
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Daniel Benson
3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed format. Wait for DVD!
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2007
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I certainly agree with the existing reviews regarding content, and have nothing to add in this regard.
HOWEVER, there are two problems:
1. The book measures 7 1/2" tall and 11" wide. This makes it hard to hold and fits poorly on the reference bookshelf where it belongs.
2. The book mentions an upcoming DVD. This would a MUCH better format than book.
This book tries to illustrate various cinimatographic points with still shots from exemplary movies. Sometimes these still shots cannot illustrate the point adequately, while a video clip would be TREMENDOUS at illustrating the point. (For example: various transitions: How in the heck can you illustrate transitions with still photos?!)
WAIT FOR THE DVD. It should be TREMENDOUS,and well worth the purchase.
19 people found this helpful
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M.Bowman
5.0 out of 5 stars Cinematic Storytelling
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2012
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This is a great book for anyone who wants to make movies, loves movies, or is just a fan of cinematography in general. It's format is easy to read and to understand. You get tips on how to get the most out of every shot, and with it examples from classic movies. If you have ever wanted to make independent films and want some good advice of how to get the most out of every shot then this book is for you. Even if you just want a book that will give you some insight into why some movies do what they do why they do, then this book is for you. Go get it!
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Pietro Gouveia
2.0 out of 5 stars Esperava mais
Reviewed in Brazil on April 8, 2020
Verified Purchase
O livro é interessante, mas decepciona. É uma coleção de instantâneos de vários filmes com breves anotações ao lado explicando algumas técnicas da cinematografia. Tudo muito superficial.
2 people found this helpful
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Alejandro Rodriguez
5.0 out of 5 stars Un libro escencial en tu biblioteca cinematografica
Reviewed in Mexico on July 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
Este libro tiene diversos ejemplos muy claros acerca de composición cinematografica usando peliculas clasicas y conocidas por cualquier persona interesada en el cine, si quieres dedicarte al cine, o incluso a la fotografia este libro presenta una gran cantidad de conocimiento en este sentido.
2 people found this helpful
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revanth
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book. printing and paper quality is good
Reviewed in India on October 9, 2017
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A great book .printing and paper quality is good .all in one book for aspiring film directors
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scott mckone
5.0 out of 5 stars To the point and 100 percent useful.
Reviewed in Canada on March 22, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book was a fast read due partly to the author's goal to teach and not entertain . There's a ton of useful ideas that can be used to improve filmprojects regardless of budget.
2 people found this helpful
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Pete
5.0 out of 5 stars Cinematic Storytelling
Reviewed in Germany on May 2, 2014
Verified Purchase
Schönes Buch zur Inspiration mit guten Beispielen, die bebildert dargestellt werden und einer guten Einführung. Die meisten Filme sollte man dennoch gesehen haben, aber wenn man dieses Buch kauft hat man dies wahrscheinlich sowieso getan. ( The Conversation, Fargo, Psycho, Citizen Kane, Barton Fink, ET und viele mehr)
Bindung ist bei mir sehr gut, besitze das Buch schon seit über einem Jahr und blättere immer wieder drin.
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