Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know

by Jennifer Van Sijll

What the industry's most succcessful writers and directors have in common is that they have mastered the cinematic conventions specific to the medium.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Writing, Art, Design, Media Tie In, Photography

257 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Rachel]

The book title sums up this book perfectly. As much as I thought it was a "good book", the examples given were not ones I enjoyed reading and seeing pictures of. Now I know (in detail) how parts of Pulp Fiction and Psycho were carefully crafted to help the audience feel intensity and terror. The book was written well; as I read and looked at the frames, I could easily play out every detailed scene in my mind. Educational? Yes. Helpful to me as a beginning cinematographer? Definitely. Do I recommend it to curious friends? Not really. As a younger person who doesn't often watch "icky" movies, I was... disturbed.

[Michael Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Cinematic Storytelling, a textbook on cinematics for movie scriptwriters and directors, an interesting overview of techniques I knew little about. In 17 main chapters and 100 techniques, Jennifer Van Sijll structures an answer the main question of How to render a story for the maximum effect on its viewer?

OVERALL, useful material from which I learned much, but with very limited presentation of choices and analysis of the main subject.

Answering the main question turns out to be a set of techniques that use video and audio (the main bits); composing frames of space, time, shapes, and colors; setting and moving cameras and actors, props, and even locations; and directing transitions between all these elements. (Van Sijll addresses these in a different structure.)

Each technique is covered through an example, often accompanied by visuals and/or script excerpts, and a textual explanation (rarely above 500 words) that focuses on a description, one or several film examples, an analysis of the dramatic value of the technique, and sometimes notes on how the technique was communicated by the scriptwriter to the director.

The book is in general very good for the starter in the field, and has good movie examples that I'm sure you have spectated already. There are also negatives. The treatment of each element should have been more thorough, including alternatives and more analysis, even if that meant that text would need to use smaller font. There is no combined audio-video element; there is no discussion about synesthesia (stimulation of one type of human-body sensor leads to stimulation in others). Culture would of course be shallowly covered, due to space, but what is currently in is way too little. The technical details of cameras and others are also not covered.

[Carlos Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a good primer for novice film geeks wanting to better their ability to "read" film and is also a good practical, but very general intro into camera work for budding directors. It was well organized and the format of explanation on the left-hand page and extracted static shots on the right (with corresponding script excerpt) worked incredibly well and proved both intuitive and effective. This is fertile ground for launching into more heady discussions of film analysis and will surely work to peak that interest. It gives the reader a great tool box to start with and an incredible list of films whose artistic and technical ingenuity persevere despite their being well, old and proves they indeed are not outdated. My only qualm is with the misspellings which don't really cause any confusion but undermine the both the quality and seriousness of the publisher, and by extension the work. The consistent misspelling "dialog" though i'm hoping is some sort of intellectual distinction or affectation (the way theater majors and pretentious artsy folk in general tend to spell theater as "theatre" or how a word's foreign origin is never translated but kept as it is, popular in philosophy and literary criticism).

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would be a lot better if the frame grabs were in colour (especially for the sections dedicated to colour usage!) All in all a pretty great reference tool for creating and recognising the visual techniques in cinema, both on the screen and on the page.

[Eduardo Sisti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro que parece muito técnico, mas que consegue desenvolver princípios da narrativa cinematográfica de forma clara, simples e ricamente ilustrada. Recomendo fortemente para quem busca aproveitar um pouco melhor o que o cinema é capaz de nos provocar.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to learn about making movies without going to film school, get this book. But, for those of us who have already learned these strategies over and over again.... you can skip this one.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

useful for the chick (or guy if that's your gig) just starting out ... a neat reference for "the rules" (so now i can break 'em)

[Gulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading about the technicalities of film beyond the level covered in this book would probably have caused my eyes to glaze and roll backwards. Instead, I came away more informed and prepared for more acute film critiques.

“Cinematic Storytelling” is, both physically and conceptually, a wide-angle approach to the art of film: focused enough to provide genuine insight for aspiring directors, editors, writers, and critics alike yet broad enough to get core concepts down without drowning the reader in a torrent of technicalities. For instance, I can confidently say that after reading I understand tools like the use of Organic and Geometric contrast in a scene to emote lifestyle friction however, I do not know how to apply that intended dramatic detail effectively; that would likely require expertise, time shooting, time editing, and personal storytelling creativity.

[Helena B · Rating 4 out of 5]

O livro nos convida a pensar um filme como um todo, independente da nossa função na obra e entender que cada parte desta arte coletiva tem o seu valor e sua necessidade. Não é uma receita de bolo. Não o leia acreditando que aprenderá as tais 100 convenções ditas na capa. É um livro para te dar o conhecimento, um ponto de partida para entendermos porque os realizadores escolheram o que vemos na tela. Apoiado em exemplos de diversas obras, te coloca a pensar. Importante para quem pretende ingressar na área audiovisual.

[Amin369 · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب سبک و مفیدی هست ۱۰۰ نکته و توضیح از نمای دوربین تا اجزای صحنه و لباس به همراه مثال و عکس که البته اگه بدونید قرار نیست چیز عجیبی یا نکته طلایی دریافت کنید. قبل از خوندن فیلمایی مثل تلما لوییز بارتون فینک همشهری کین محله چینی و... رو ببینید که مثال و اسپویل از این فیلم ها زیاد داره. ترجمه یه جاهایی مخصوصا تو بعضی از اصطلاحات گنگ میزنه و استفاده بیش از حد از ویرگول مدام سکته میندازه توی خوندن. امیدوارم ترجمه های دیگه آقای ارژنگ این ویرگول بازی های یون فوسه وار رو نداشته باشه. نمره به کتاب سه و نیم ولی چون نداره چهار میدم.
مراقب هم باشیم و همدیگه رو تنها نزاریم.

[T.A. Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a professional previz artist, which if you are unfamiliar with that term, it means we plan out the cinematography for big budget VFX shots. This book helped me get started in my career with it's in-depth look at cinematic language and philosophy, providing excellent examples of each point it makes.

[Owen Hollander · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really really great book on filmmaking basics for beginners. I would recommend it to anyone starting film school or their own individual pursuits. The information is pretty rudimentary, so I didn’t really learn too many new principles, but there is a lot of value here.

[Roberta Chai (Lady with so many stories) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. A perfect read.

[rumbledethumps · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of some basic cinematic techniques, helpful in understanding what directors and screenwriters might be doing in film that we laypeople might not fully appreciate.

[Marva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful insight

Simply put insight into the reasons behind filmmaking choices. Some I already knew, but quite a bit that I didn't...even though I'd used the techniques many times!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the camera sees

Removes some of the mystery behind what the
viewer sees, and why.shows how imagery works cinematically to put you in the criteria.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference and recommendation from ImagineFX.

[José Miguel Tomasena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy ilustrativo, práctico y util. Del guion a la puesta en cámara

[NEILTON SILVA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ótima leitura. Muito bom para quem faz cinema.

[Marco Gemaque · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like movies

[Michel Joia · Rating 5 out of 5]

incrível demais!!
Já li alguns livro sobre cinema e esse foi um dos melhores. Muito bem explicado.

[Glenn Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

More for directors and film editors than screenwriters

There are some interesting lessons for screenwriters, but not enough to give this book a strong recommendation.

There is a lot of discussion about shots, angles, and transitions. Those are generally viewed now as outside the role of the screenwriter. I did appreciate how the examples occasionally demonstrated how clever screenwriters can express these through context without direct reference.

It was equally disappointing to see how many examples were not in the script at all.

My biggest disappointment was how a dozen or so films were used over and over. It would be unfair to imply that's the only examples. But a few get overworked. The book would have been improved by moving other examples more central.

[Zee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was quite neatly organized, but not very thorough, in my opinion. It enumerated the basic elements of the film language,showed some examples but did not go into too much detail.
I would have appreciated the chapters longer instead of just listing in the end films which could be also examples of a particular element without any further analysis. Also since it is a book on film language the images could have been really of better quality and size or in colour.
Cinematic Storytelling would make a suitable basic reading for students starting to discover film.

[Mark Dubovec · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to the different techniques movies use to tell a story visually along with their dramatic values, the book is a quick read and good for reference. The examples range from "Citizen Kane" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" to "Fargo" and "Kill Bill." I would have preferred if the screenshots from the colored movies weren't in black and white, especially in the section that discusses the importance of color.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

For an aspiring filmmaker (who didn't go to film school), this book is priceless -- it describes not only what several different styles of shots are, it also tells you the psychological reasons many of them are used (and how they reinforce the storytelling).

If you're really well versed in film, then I'm a major film junkie -- and overall, I found it to be a massively informative read.

[Andreas Climent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoying this book. Great overview of different cinematic compositions and storytelling techniques with a lot of examples from well known movies.

So far I've learned how different screen directions affect the viewer psychologically, how to use different cutting speeds to achieve different feelings and a bunch of other things.

[The Doctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the 3 treasures I found on the British Film Museum (I love getting lost in London). The deconstruction of the power of moving images, thru method and stepping on the shoulders of masters. If you look closely enough you may learn a thing or two about cinematography as well.

[Bianca Beyrouti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently revisited this book three years after having it assigned to me in an introductory screenwriting class. While the writing is a little dry and elementary for my taste, the breadth of film elements and examples used makes this a great refresher for aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers.

[Nix Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a real eye-opener! I really had no concept as to how hard movie-making must be until I read this. I think it made me want to watch a lot more old movies and also watch more Tarantino. Who doesn't love Tarantino?

[Hannah]

I'm always wary when teachers assign their own books in class, but this one is a good book to read. Occasionally the writing was not great, but the format and outline of the book is incredibly useful as a primer or for reference. Overall, pretty great.