8 Essential Books on Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg may just be the greatest film maker of all time. With the monster success of Jaws coming when Spielberg was still in his 20’s, the pressure was on to show the ‘fish film’ was no fluke. He did. Jaws was the launch pad that allowed the maestro to explore space, the future, the past and the darkest chapters of human history. There is so much to learn form this remarkable story teller and below is our list of essential reading to help truly understand the man and the mind that changed cinema forever.
Steven Spielberg: A Biography, Second Edition
This new edition adds four chapters to Spielberg's life story, chronicling his extraordinarily active and creative period from 1997 to the present, a period in which he has balanced his executive duties as one of the partners in the film studio DreamWorks SKG with a remarkable string of films as a director. Spielberg's ambitious recent work--including Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, A. I. Artifucial Intelligence, Minority Report, The Terminal and Munich--has continually expanded his range both stylistically and in terms of adventurous, often controversial, subject matter.
Shoot Like Spielberg: The Visual Secrets of Action, Wonder and Emotional Adventure
Spielberg makes his audience feel something, whether he’s shooting a kids’ adventure, a dramatic chase, or the darkest war scene. The auteur always employs a core set of techniques that make each shot crystal clear and evoke the most intense emotions from the audience. This book shows you how. From tension to tearjerker, these moves will make your scenes memorable enough to be talked about for years to come.
Steven Spielberg: Crazy for Movies
Based on interviews with the director and his family, this intimate portrait of genius at work takes readers behind the scenes for a peek at the movie-obsessed creator of E.T., Schindler's List, Jaws, and other masterpieces.
Children in the Films of Steven Spielberg (Children and Youth in Popular Culture)
To say that children matter in Steven Spielberg's films is an understatement. Think of the possessed Stevie in Something Evil (TV), Baby Langston in The Sugarland Express, the alien-abducted Barry in Close Encounters, Elliott and his unearthly alter-ego in E.T, the war-damaged Jim in Empire of the Sun, the little girl in the red coat in Schindler’s List, the mecha child in A.I., the kidnapped boy in Minority Report, and the eponymous boy hero of The Adventures of Tintin. (There are many other instances across his oeuvre). Contradicting his reputation as a purveyor of ‘popcorn’ entertainment, Spielberg’s vision of children/childhood is complex.
Steven Spielberg: A Retrospective
With a foreword by Spielberg himself! From the irresistible fantasy of E.T. to the gritty realism of Saving Private Ryan, the films of Steven Spielberg have captured the imagination of the world. Renowned critic Richard Schickel now gives us the definitive illustrated monograph on this Oscar-winning Hollywood icon, whose long and glittering career few directors have equaled.
Steven Spielberg: Interviews, Revised and Updated
More than four decades after the premiere of his first film, Steven Spielberg (b. 1946) continues to be a household name whose influence on popular culture extends far beyond the movie screen. Now in his seventies, Spielberg shows no intention of retiring from directing or even slowing down. Since the publication of Steven Spielberg: Interviews in 2000, the filmmaker has crafted some of the most complex movies of his extensive career.
The Films of Steven Spielberg
Director Steven Spielberg is more of an auteur than given recognition for. "The Films of Steven Spielberg" highlights the maturation of a filmmaker with movies that reflect the director's own life, fascinations, and obsessions. Spielberg’s upbringing and foray into the 1970s Hollywood business structure show us the origin of themes that are consistently present in Spielberg’s films such as fatherhood, World War II and his collaboration with composer John Williams.
Directed by Steven Spielberg: Poetics of the Contemporary Hollywood Blockbuster
Although the blockbuster is the most popular and commercially successful type of filmmaking, it has yet to be studied seriously from a formalist standpoint. This is in opposition to classical Hollywood cinema and International Art cinema, whose form has been analyzed and deconstructed in great detail. Directed By Steven Spielberg fills this gap by examining the distinctive form of the blockbuster.