About the Book:

If you're getting just one book on directing, then Shot By Shot is the one. A must!

An instant classic since its debut in 1991, Shot By Shot and its famous blue cover is one of the most well-known books on directing in the business, and is a favourite of professional directors as an on-set quick reference guide. This international best-seller is packed with visual techniques for filmmakers and screenwriters to expand their stylistic knowledge. You'll find much helpful information on composing and framing the scene, arranging the actors, and positioning and moving the camera.

Shot By Shot is about visualizing — principally by Storyboarding (making sketches to illustrate the scenes and patterns of of movement) — what you want to show on the screen. It contains in-depth information on shot composition, staging sequences, pre-visualization, depth of frame, camera techniques, and much more. Shot By Shot also contains over 750 storyboards and illustrations, including never before published storyboards from Steven Spielberg's Empire Of The Sun, Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

What people say:

"I directed my first feature by reading the book Shot by Shot. I figured out, there's only six shots in the whole world. And if there's only six shots, it'll be really hard for me to f— it up." — Theodore Melfi, Director: Hidden Figures

"John Singleton has been my mentor as a director. John told me that if I wanted to direct, I should watch Martin Scorsese movies and read Shot by Shot." — Ice Cube

"Contains an encyclopedic wealth of information." — Millimeter Magazine

"There are a precious few ways to learn the subtleties of filmmaking and challenges of cinematography: watch great movies repeatedly; go to a great film school; read Steven D. Katz's Film Directing: Shot by Shot and, Cinematic Motion. The practical and pragmatic information is balanced by the insights of great filmmakers, Allen Daviau, Ralph Singleton and John Sayles. Cinematic Motion is the definitive workbook for both the aspiring as well as the accomplished filmmaker." — John McIntosh, Chair, Computer Art, School of Visual Arts, NYC

"While some of the information in [Shot by Shot and, Cinematic Motion] is beyond the scope of the amateur videographer — they were written for students of filmmaking — there is much here worth reading." — Popular Photography

About the Author:

Steven D. Katz is an award-winning filmmaker with over 25 years of experience in the fields of writing, directing, and editing. He is also the author of Shot by Shot, the now classic text on cinematic style and technique.