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How films are made, and how to make them

For anyone who wants to understand film: how one gets made, what every department does, how stories are built, where it all came from, what each genre promises, and how to get in. Every idea is shown in a film we have reviewed, with the frame, our score and a way to put it on your shelf.

108 lessons in six strands. We publish a strand at a time, each lesson read by an editor before it goes up; the first, How a film gets made, is being written now. Until then, this is the plan.

Start hereTwelve lessons that stand alone

  1. 1How a film gets madeWhere films come fromWhere do film ideas come from and what does “in development” mean?Adaptation, The Player and Sunset Boulevard
  2. 8How a film gets madeA day on setWhat happens on a film set in a day?Day for Night, Hail, Caesar! and Living in Oblivion
  3. 9How a film gets madeThe crewWho is on a film crew and what does each department do?Day for Night, Singin’ in the Rain and Boogie Nights
  4. 15The craftThe frameWhat is aspect ratio and how is a film shot composed?The Grand Budapest Hotel, Lawrence of Arabia and First Cow
  5. 21The craftThe cutHow does film editing work?2001: A Space Odyssey, Lawrence of Arabia and Psycho
  6. 33The craftWhat screen acting isWhat makes screen acting different from stage acting?Persona, Nomadland and Marty
  7. 48StoryStructureWhat is three-act structure, and does it matter?Chinatown, Parasite and Casablanca
  8. 55StoryAdaptationHow are books adapted into films, and what changes?Jaws, The Shining and Little Women
  9. 58StoryThe writers’ roomWhat is a writers’ room and how does it work?Mad Men, The Bear and Succession
  10. 69The historyThe blockbusterWhat was the first blockbuster, and how did it change Hollywood?Jaws, Star Wars and Heaven’s Gate
  11. 95Getting inStarting as a runnerHow do you become a runner or production assistant?Swimming with Sharks and Living in Oblivion
  12. 105Getting inActingHow do you become an actor?Tootsie, Birdman and Mulholland Drive

How a film gets made14 lessons · being written

From an idea somebody owns to a cinema somebody fills: development, money, the crew, the shoot, the edit, the sale and the release, in the order they happen.

  1. 1Where films come fromWhere do film ideas come from and what does “in development” mean?
  2. 2DevelopmentWhat happens to a screenplay in development?
  3. 3Who paysHow are films financed?
  4. 4ProducersWhat does a film producer actually do?
  5. 5The directorWhat does a film director do?
  6. 6CastingHow does film casting work?
  7. 7Pre-productionWhat is pre-production on a film?
  8. 8A day on setWhat happens on a film set in a day?
  9. 9The crewWho is on a film crew and what does each department do?
  10. 10The editHow is a film edited, and why is it “made three times”?
  11. 11Sound, music and the mixHow is film sound made?
  12. 12Picture finishingWhat happens to a film after the edit is locked?
  13. 13Festivals, markets and salesHow do film festivals and markets work?
  14. 14ReleaseHow does a film get released, and why are some good films never seen?

The craft32 lessons · being written

What each department does and why it matters, shown shot by shot: the frame, the light, the cut, what you hear, the built world, the performance, the staging, the effects, the documentary.

Cinematography

  1. 15The frameWhat is aspect ratio and how is a film shot composed?
  2. 16LightHow is a film lit?
  3. 17Lenses and depthWhat does a lens do to a face?
  4. 18MovementWhy does the camera move, and how?
  5. 19ColourHow do films use colour?
  6. 20The DoP’s jobWhat does a cinematographer do and how do you become one?

Editing

  1. 21The cutHow does film editing work?
  2. 22Rhythm and timeHow does editing control pace and time?
  3. 23Cross-cuttingWhat is cross-cutting in film?
  4. 24The editor’s jobWhat does a film editor do and how do you become one?

Sound and music

  1. 25What you hearWhat is diegetic sound, and why does silence work?
  2. 26The scoreHow does a film score work?
  3. 27Dialogue, ADR and the mixWhat is ADR and why do films re-record dialogue?
  4. 28Sound jobsWhat do sound designers, mixers and composers do?

Production design and costume

  1. 29WorldsWhat does a production designer do?
  2. 30Costume as characterHow does costume design tell a story?
  3. 31Hair, make-up and prostheticsHow are film prosthetics and make-up made?
  4. 32Art department jobsHow do you get into the art department, costume, hair and make-up?

Performance

  1. 33What screen acting isWhat makes screen acting different from stage acting?
  2. 34Method, technique and the restWhat is method acting?
  3. 35Ensemble and comedyWhat is comic timing in film?
  4. 36The acting careerIs acting a job?

Directing

  1. 37Blocking and stagingWhat is blocking in film?
  2. 38Point of viewWhose film is it?
  3. 39ToneHow does a film tell you how to take it?
  4. 40The director’s route inWhat is a director hired for, and by whom?

Visual effects and animation

  1. 41Visual effectsHow are visual effects made, and why can’t you tell?
  2. 42AnimationHow is an animated film made?
  3. 43VFX and animation jobsHow do you get a job in VFX or animation?

Documentary

  1. 44What documentary isWhat is a documentary, and what are the ethics of making one?
  2. 45Documentary formsWhat are the kinds of documentary?
  3. 46Making a documentaryHow do you make a documentary?

Story16 lessons · being written

The screenplay and the series: what the page is for, how structure actually works, want and need, scenes, dialogue, endings, adaptation; then the writers’ room, the showrunner and the British way.

Screenwriting

  1. 47What a screenplay isWhat is a screenplay and how is it formatted?
  2. 48StructureWhat is three-act structure, and does it matter?
  3. 49Want and needWhat is character arc in a screenplay?
  4. 50ScenesHow do you write a film scene?
  5. 51DialogueHow do you write film dialogue?
  6. 52Unreliable tellingWhat is an unreliable narrator in film?
  7. 53Genre as a contractHow does genre work in screenwriting?
  8. 54EndingsHow do you end a film?
  9. 55AdaptationHow are books adapted into films, and what changes?
  10. 56RewritingHow does a screenplay get rewritten?

Television

  1. 57The series as a formWhat makes television writing different from film?
  2. 58The writers’ roomWhat is a writers’ room and how does it work?
  3. 59The showrunnerWhat does a showrunner do?
  4. 60The British wayHow is British television written and commissioned?
  5. 61FormatsWhat is a limited series, a procedural, an anthology?
  6. 62Writing for televisionHow do you become a television writer?

The history17 lessons · being written

From the Lumières to streaming in ten eras, then seven national cinemas, told with the films and with a view on what each era did to the ones that followed.

Eras

  1. 63Before the moviesWho invented film?
  2. 64The silentsHow did silent films tell stories?
  3. 65Sound and the studio systemWhat was the Hollywood studio system?
  4. 66After the warWhat were film noir and Italian neorealism?
  5. 67The new wavesWhat was the French New Wave (and the others)?
  6. 68New HollywoodWhat was New Hollywood?
  7. 69The blockbusterWhat was the first blockbuster, and how did it change Hollywood?
  8. 70The independentsWhat was American independent film in the 1990s?
  9. 71The franchise eraWhy is everything a franchise now?
  10. 72StreamingHow did streaming change film?

National cinemas

  1. 73JapanA short history of Japanese cinema
  2. 74IndiaWhat is Indian cinema beyond Bollywood?
  3. 75FranceA short history of French cinema
  4. 76KoreaWhy is Korean cinema so good right now?
  5. 77IranA short history of Iranian cinema
  6. 78Nigeria and the continentWhat is Nollywood, and what else is African cinema?
  7. 79BritainA short history of British cinema

Genres14 lessons · being written

Fourteen primers. What each genre promises, where it came from, how it changed, ten films that define it with our scores, the overrated ones named, and where to start.

  1. 80HorrorWhat is horror, and where should I start?
  2. 81ComedyWhat makes a film comedy work?
  3. 82The thrillerWhat is a thriller, and how does suspense work?
  4. 83Crime and the gangster filmWhy do we love gangster films?
  5. 84Science fictionWhat is science fiction cinema?
  6. 85FantasyWhat is fantasy cinema?
  7. 86The westernWhat is a western, and is it dead?
  8. 87The musicalWhy do people sing in musicals, and which ones work?
  9. 88Romance and the romantic comedyWhat makes a great romantic comedy?
  10. 89WarCan there be an anti-war film?
  11. 90ActionWhat makes a great action film?
  12. 91AnimationIs animation a genre?
  13. 92The documentaryWhat are the best documentaries to start with?
  14. 93The biopic and the historical filmWhy are biopics so often bad, and which ones are good?

Getting in15 lessons · being written

Routes, first jobs, money and the gaps between jobs, by role, for the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, without the institutional gloss.

  1. 94Is film school worth it?Is film school worth it?
  2. 95Starting as a runnerHow do you become a runner or production assistant?
  3. 96Trainee schemes and the bodiesWhat training schemes exist for film and television?
  4. 97Freelance lifeWhat is it like to work freelance in film?
  5. 98Becoming a directorHow do you become a film director?
  6. 99Becoming a writerHow do you become a screenwriter?
  7. 100Becoming a producerHow do you become a film producer?
  8. 101CameraHow do you get into the camera department?
  9. 102The edit suiteHow do you become a film editor?
  10. 103SoundHow do you get into film sound?
  11. 104Art, costume, hair and make-upHow do you get into production design, costume, hair and make-up?
  12. 105ActingHow do you become an actor?
  13. 106Below the line and beyondWhat film jobs do people not tell you about?
  14. 107Making your ownHow do you make a film with no money?
  15. 108The glossary of set languageWhat do film crews actually say on set?

A glossary of the set language and the craft terms, and an index of the roles, arrive with the first strand. In the meantime the guides answer the questions readers ask most, and Discover will answer yours.