Readings on Visual Effects, Animation & Film Making

Introduction

I welcome suggestions for further reading. (I always want to learn more about this.)
 
 

Film, Animation & VFX:

This is sort of the Bible for anyone wanting to understand the basics of lighting for film. It is not about how to light; rather, it is about the technology and logistics of lighting. Hence, it is a good introduction to the vocabulary, etc.

This might be the best book that I have read in 5 years. It is a great piece of scholarship that reads like an adventure novel. Marey was a brilliant researcher who deserves to be much better known. He made important contributions to the fields of cinemaphotography, medicine, kinesiology, the study of work, and photography. He made what is arguably the first motion capture system, and was an important influence on painters such as Duchamp and Degas. This is a must read for anyone interested in animation, film, or human factors.

An essential read for anyone wants to understand who does what in the film industry. Essentially, for every credit at the start and end of a film, they interview someone in that position and they relate what they do, how they got there, where it leads to, etc.

While apparently out of print, I have seen this book frequently in bookshops.

Sidney Lumet is a director. What he does here is walk you through the process of making a movie, from preproduction, through principal photography, post, and then opening. It is a simple read, and very informative.

This is one of my favorite books. It is an excellent description of the panning process that takes place in preproduction. Very good discussion of storyboarding and other previsualization techniques that enable complex shots to be executed efficiently in production.

This is an excellent little dictionary that gives a clear definition of most of the jargon that you will encounter in dealing with VFX. Absolutely trying to chase down.

Though not officially "out of print," this item is "out of stock indefinitely" at the publisher. If you would like to purchase this item, we recommend that you occasionally check this page to see if it's been reprinted.

This is a somewhat uneven book. The flow and continuity is not great, but it has some great information. It has an excellent discussion of the telecine process, and has some great flowcharts mapping out the entire production process. There is a little too much content of the "non-linear editing is great" testimonial type, but a very good book to have nevertheless.

This is a nice introduction to the whole issue of production design, art direction, set design, set decoration, props, etc. As well, it does a good job of showing how this work ties in to the larger context of the production. Good examples.