Innocence of the Eye

Slavko Vorkapich was an artist, special effects artist, film theoretician, director, and montage specialist who is most noted for his montage work on many classic films, including Viva Villa, David Copperfield, San Francisco, The Good Earth, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He was also a highly original and influential filmmaking teacher.



The Innocence of the Eye, written by his friend, colleague and former student Ed Spiegel, is built on Vorkapich’s teachings—his filmic “vocabulary” of motion and image.


This engaging, well-written meditation on the essential expressive nature of movies is a profound yet practical guide to such basic filmmaking techniques as camera angles; image framing; camera and image motion and direction; editing styles; and image sequencing. Drawing on examples from both classics and contemporary films, the author shows how certain film techniques can shape an audience’s perception and empathy. This unique guide presents filmmaking principles that transcend periods, genres, and styles and address makers of all types of films—drama, documentaries, experimental films, music videos.


Ed Spiegel is a filmmaker—producer/writer/director/editor—whose work has been honored with numerous awards: He directed the Hellstrom sequences in the Oscar-winning documentary The Hellstrom Chronicle. He was editor and second-unit director on the Oscar-winning feature Salt of the Earth. He produced and directed Surrender at Appomatox, which won two Emmys, a Cine Award and other prizes; The Sounds and Sights of San Francisco, which won a Peabody Award; The Sounds and Sights of Chicago, which won an Emmy; and has written, produced, and directed many other award-winning films. He has taught at USC, Cal Arts and San Diego State University.