Showing titles in Film & TV

Every aspect of screenwriting is covered with an authority and credibility never seen in any book to come before. Told with honesty, humor, and vulnerability from the real-world perspective of a working, professional screenwriter, Kill the Dog reveals the secrets of what it takes to have a successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter.

Written during the formative years of motion pictures, How to Write Photoplays (Third Edition) by Embrie Zuver is a practical, no-nonsense guide to storytelling in the silent-film era—when images carried meaning, structure was everything, and writers learned to think in reels rather than words.

The enormously puzzling TV series The Prisoner has developed a rapt cult following, and has often been described as "surreal" or "Kafkaesque." Alex Cox watched all the episodes of The Prisoner on their first broadcast, at the ripe old age of thirteen. In I Am (Not) a Number, Cox believes he provides the answers to all the questions which have engrossed and confounded viewers.

The complete soundtracks of the seventh series of the evergreen comedy show – plus Christmas specials Debuting in 1981, Only Fools and Horses ran for more than two decades, clocking up 64 episodes and 16 Christmas specials. It drew record-breaking audiences, winning multiple BAFTAs and, in...

The complete soundtracks of the first two series of the iconic comedy show, plus Christmas specials Often voted Britain’s best-loved sitcom, Only Fools and Horses ran on BBC One from 1981 to 2003, spanning seven series and 16 Christmas specials. Created and written by John Sullivan, the show...

The complete soundtracks of the third and fourth series of the award-winning comedy show – plus Christmas specials First broadcast in 1981, Only Fools and Horses soon became a firm favourite with viewers, running for 22 years and 64 episodes and attracting record-breaking audiences. It...

The complete soundtracks of the fifth and sixth series of the much-loved comedy show – plus Christmas specials From 1981 to 2003, Only Fools and Horses followed the lives of lovable south London wheeler-dealer Del Boy and his hapless but loyal younger brother Rodney – winning the nation’s...

The complete soundtracks of the last eight Christmas specials – plus The Only Fools and Horses Story documentary Running from 1981 to 2003, Only Fools and Horses grew into Britain’s most popular sitcom, with audiences of millions and a string of award wins. In 1996, more than 24 million...

At the age of 9, Romesh Ranganathan delivered his first ever stand-up set at a Pontin's Holiday Camp talent competition, smashing the only other competitor, a young girl playing the kazoo. The gig went so well that Romesh retired his comic genius for 22 years, hiding behind the guise of a maths teacher, before finally revealing himself again (no, not like that) at the tender age of 31. In 2010, Ranganathan staged his epic comeback gig to an almost silent room, and has since gone on to earn his place as the most in-demand overweight vegan Sri Lankan comedian in Britain.

Years before synchronized sound became the norm, projected moving images were shown to musical accompaniment, whether performed by a lone piano player or a hundred-piece orchestra. Today film music has become its own industry, indispensable to the marketability of movies around the world. Film Music: A Very Short Introduction is a compact, lucid, and thoroughly engaging overview written by one of the leading authorities on the subject.

In a fun and accessible way, Star Trek Psychology delves deep into the psyches of the show's well-known and beloved characters. The trailblazing franchise spans five TV series, 13 films, and countless novelizations. It celebrated, as no other form of entertainment had before, a world filled with space-traveling dreams and human diversity. In the process, it became one of the oldest and most popular sci-fi franchises of all time.

Young people starting out in television sometimes say to me: “I want to be you.” My stock reply is always: “Then you have to take the whole package.” And now, at last, the most important woman in the history of television journalism gives us that “whole package,” in her inspiring and...

Mel Brooks' own words telling all about the players, the filming, and studio antics during the production of this great comedy classic. The book is alive and teeming with hundreds of photos, original interviews, and hilarious commentary. Young Frankenstein was made with deep respect for the...

He's charismatic, talented and extremely sexy. His breathtaking performance as the latest James Bond won him legions of fans and proved that, as well as being an outstanding actor, he coud cut it as an action hero and redefine a cinematic icon to huge critical acclaim. Last year, he was thrust into the spotlight once more as he took the lead role in the hotly anticipated remake of Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Down and Dirty Pictures chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers and of the twin engines - the Sundance Film Festival and Miramax Films - that have powered them. Peter Biskind profiles the people who took the independent movement from obscurity to the Oscars, most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax an indie powerhouse.

Between 1934 and 1968, no Hollywood studio could make a movie without the permission of, and a seal of approval from, the Production Code Administration. Formed in 1930 but not enforced until 1934, the Production Code was Hollywood’s official censorship system. Screenplays, books, plays, costumes, and even story ideas and song lyrics had to be cleared by the Code before they could be filmed, and Code staffers watched at every stage of the production process to ensure compliance.

The Thin Man films are one of the most highly regarded and successful series of films from Hollywood's classic era. This book looks at the people who populated the films, including full chapter profiles of its stars, William Powell and Myrna Loy, whose chemistry together was a huge reason for the success of the films. As Nick and Nora Charles, they knocked the stereotypes of on-screen marriage out of the park and replaced the stiff and formal with fun and sexy.

For the past four decades, no film saga has touched the world in the way that Star Wars has, capturing the imaginations of filmgoers and filmmakers alike. Now, for the first time ever, Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, the best-selling authors of The Fifty-Year Mission, are telling the entire story of this blockbuster franchise from the very beginning in a single exhaustive volume.

A Companion to Martin Scorsese is a comprehensive collection of original essays assessing the career of one of America's most prominent contemporary filmmakers....

From the triumphant “Main Title” in Star Wars to the ominous bass line of Jaws, John Williams has penned some of the most unforgettable film scores—while netting more than fifty Academy Award nominations. This updated and revised edition of Emilio Audissino’s groundbreaking volume takes stock of Williams’s creative process and achievements in music composition, including the most recent sequels in the film franchises that made him famous. Audissino details his lasting impact and cements his legacy as one of the most important composers in movie history.