The Power of Film

by Howard Suber

Overview

America's most distinguished film professor provides the definitive A to Z course on the intricacies of film. Each entry in this remarkable book, which represents a lifetime of teaching film, has already inspired and educated several generations of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers and writers. This book examines the patterns and principles that make films popular and memorable, and will be useful both for those who want to create films and for those who just want to understand them better. Advance Review Quotes: "Howard Suber's understanding of film storytelling fills the pages of this wise, liberating book. Much of it is surprisingly contrary to what 'everyone knows.' A remarkable work." Francis Ford Coppola

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615930500
Publisher:	Wiese, Michael Productions
Publication date:	09/01/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	424
Sales rank:	188,754
File size:	712 KB

About the Author

For 53 years, Howard Suber taught generations of screenwriters, directors, producers, and film scholars at UCLA’s celebrated film school, and his former students are today creating films and television programs and teaching film studies throughout the world.
He created and for many years chaired UCLA’s current Film and Television Producers Program, which is focused on the realities of the modern film and television industries. He team-taught with, or brought into the Producers Program, many of the most important movie studio heads, agents, producers, lawyers, and executives in the industry. He also was one of the founders of The UCLA Film Archive and founded and chaired the Ph.D. program in film.

Editorial Reviews

Using a list of popular films as his guide, veteran UCLA film school teacher Suber attempts to discern patterns and principles that make each work memorable. His book is basically a series of rambling observations arranged alphabetically under such dubious headings as "Goofy," "Intentionality," and "Simultaneity." Suber acknowledges that the entries, each of which ranges from a couple of sentences to several pages in length, "may feel like the punch lines of jokes that I've forgotten to give you the setup for" (e.g., Hollywood is described as "a mythical kingdom that millions of people seek to enter but once they do, will never admit they're a part of"). Readers are likely to be disappointed by the lack of specific film references. Unfortunately, this book is neither provocative nor valuable as a film reference tool. Libraries needing something along these lines would be better off purchasing Pauline Kael's 5001 Nights at the Movies, an A-to-Z listing and evaluation of specific films that works as a unified vision of film history and criticism. Stephen Rees, Levittown P.L., PA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"Howard Suber's understanding of film storytelling fills the pages of this wise, liberating book. Much of its is surprisingly contrary to what everyone knows. A remarkable work."

Francis Ford Coppola

From the Publisher