The Art of Technique: An Aesthetic Approach to Film & Video Production. Douglass, John S. and Harnden, Glenn. Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon, 1996.

This book is an good handbook for how to create certain feelings/moods and dramatic effects using camera angles, movement, composition, editing, lighting, and symbols. I picked it especially for the lighting section, which covers both the basics we’ve already covered in class and how to light specifically for certain looks. It also has an excellent appendix on electricity.

Basics of Video Lighting. Lyver, Des and Swainson, Graham. New York: Focal Press, 1995.

I bought this book thinking it would help with how to light for specific looks, and be specifically geared towards video. It turned out to be really basic, and mainly cover what we learned in class. It covered three point lighting, electricity, and how to keep it all safe. I did find the section of degrees of shadows interesting.

Batman. Dir. Tim Burton, prod. Peter Guber, writ. Sam Hamm. Videocassette. Warner Bros. Home Video, 1889.

Batman Returns. Dir. Tim Burton, prod. Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi, writ. Daniel Waters. Videocassette. Warner Bros. Home Video, 1992.

Like Captain Chaotica: Taking a Bite Outta Swine, these films were both adapted from comic books, and are made in gothic industrial style. The city is dark, the costumes are dark, and all the characters are dark. Batman Returns is closer to the style I wish to emulate because of additional female characters, and a more modern gothic feel to Penguin’s circus cronies and of course the delicious Catwoman. Captain Chaotica may have a similar mask to hers.

"Captain Chaotica Comics." Written and published by Lorrain Johnson. 2001.

There are currently three issues out right now, and the film’s plot takes elements from two of them. The comic is in more of a fight after fight format than coherent plots, so we had to mix and match a little. Captain Chaotica also saves criminals from the proselytizing that goes on in prison, and beats up priests who tell petty criminals that they sin when they break the law. We felt this wasn’t really something we could accurately portray in 10 minutes.

The Noir Style. Silver, Alan and Ursini, James. New York: The Overlook Press, 1999.

This was mainly a coffee table book with big beautiful pictures from specific movies, and sections telling about them; who made them, who starred and anticdotes about the making. I want Captain Chaotica to use dramatic lighting. I mainly used it for both inspiration and to try to guess how certain scenes were lit after reading The Art of Technique and Basics of Video Lighting.

On Directing Film. Mamet, David. New York: Penguin Books, 1991.

I haven’t read this yet. I picked it up because it is a book on directing written at when this director had only directed two major films, and yet had a ton of experience writing screenplays. Since I wrote the screenplay and I will be directing I thought it would be helpful. Thumbing through it, Mamet seems to have a light hearted and easy follow writing style. He also seems to be of the Eisenstein school of montage and telling the story through cuts and images.

Tank Girl. Dir. Rachel Taladay, prod. Pen Densham, Richard Barton Lewis and John Watson, writ. Tedi Sarafian. Videocassette. United Artists, 1995.

This film was also adapted from a comic book, but the style of this film stays closer o the comic than Batman. Frames from the actual comic are frequently intercut into the film, as well as the titles and credits being in comic book style. Tank Girl is closer still to the type of film I intend to make in that its main character is an outrageous babe who is super hero-like in that she can handle anything. This film was a very good character study.

The Cell. Dir. Tarsem Singh, prod. Julio Caro and Eric McLead, writ. Mark Protosevich. Videocassette. New Line Cinema, 2000.

The acting and storyline in this film are really quite minimal, but the costumes and sets are so rich, it makes the film worth seeing over and over. Although Captain Chaotica will not be quite that rich, it is very good inspiration, especially with regards to neo-gothic style in costuming and make-up.

Thirty Frames per Second: The Visionary Art of the Music Video. Feiveman, Neil and Reiss, Steve. New York: Abrams, 2000.

There is a certain richness of visuals I see in a lot of music videos I would like to be present in Captain Chaotica, so I figured I should research music videos. This book went by director; telling little snippets about them and discussing the concepts behind there individual works. The few technical issues that were addressed were obvious if you’d seen the video. I needed something that went further into exactly how they got certain effects.

Xena: Warrior Princess. Various episodes. Prod. Michael McDonald and Chris Manheim. KTWB. 36986. Seattle, WA

Xena is a kick ass, super hero babe who often must fight authority to stand up for the underdog. It is a fantasy show, so the costumes and sets are very elaborate. I watched a couple of episodes mainly as character study though.