Script consultant Seger and communications professor Whetmore provide an up-to-date look at the gradual process of moviemaking, using recent screenplays to illustrate their lessons. Brimming with the observations of top-drawer movie mavens like Peter Weir (Witness
), David Puttnam (Midnight Express
) and the late production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti (The Last Emperor
), the book devotes chapters to each element of making films, from the idea to make the movie (which ideally, says Tootsie
writer Larry Gelbart, is "something you absolutely have to do" once the idea enters your mind) to composing the music, which is done when the film is completed and must reflect itsthemes. Along the way, there are nice surprises, like the breakdowns on what an actor's research entails (e.g., Jack Nicholson expounds on taking on the "huge mountain" of Jimmy Hoffa in 1992's Hoffa
) and the particulars of special effects, such as the pigeons that don't fly away when they're let out of a cage in A Beautiful Mind
. Moreover, the book features a case study of the elements of that Oscar-winning Ron Howard film. Even critics will be interested to learn of the efforts involved in trying to present the complex subject of schizophrenia with intelligence and respect. While the book is aimed at nonveteran film practitioners, it's engrossing enough for any film buff who wants to know more than what Premiere
can tell them. (Dec. 15)
