Making Movies: By Sidney Lumet

What better way to get insight about filmmaking from none other than a popular Golden Globe winning director who has a successful career span over 50 years? The book Making Movies by Sidney Lumet is one of the most in-depth books about the filmmaking process. He shows why fine directors need to have strong imaginations, extraordinary adaptability, and skill in many different fields. His enthusiasm for his life's work, particularly his love of actors, is evident on every page of this book.

He also talks about the relationship a director should have with their actor before and during the filmmaking process. You can tell by Lumet’s lucid and vivid descriptions of the role of a director how passionate he truly is about his art.
Lumet also states in the book that directing is what you make of it. Establishing a great rapport with your actors, the writer, production designer, DP, etc are all essential in making a great movie!

I read this book in film school, and there are A LOT of boring books out there about the film production process. This is certainly not one of them! It’s a great tool for anyone who wants to become a director, and its rare to get such in-depth insight from a filmmaker with a successful career of over 50 years! A MUST READ!

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Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting

For all you screenwriters out there....

This is a book worth checking out. Actually this is a book worth BUYING. This should be every screenwriter's Bible. it gives an in-depth look in not only screenwriting format, but the structure of screenwriting. From the basic principles of the 3-act structure, to the complexities of composition and scene analysis.

Every screenwriter should know the principles of anatgonism when writing a character, and the substance of writing a story and what makes it relevant. Mckee taught many students who are now working professionals in the entertainment biz. Many of his students have won Oscars, Golden Globe awards, WGA awards, and more. It's an impressive read and gives insight to every writer who wants to know how to properly form a screenplay.

These suggestions are not rules to writing. They are suggestions. Rules in writing are made to be broken. The Charlie Kaufmans and Quentin Tarantinos have proved that to be legtimate. However, as someone starting out on their first screenplay, this makes for a great guide.

Go here for details.

Directing Actors by Judith Weston

When I was in Film School, I honestly thought being a director was all technical. Things like camera placement, lighting, and blocking. However, directing is aesthetic, creative, and requires a deep interaction with your actors. The director should really leave all of the technical stuff out of the window and focus on creativity and learning "subtext".

Yea, I didn't even know that subtext was a word until I read this book.

Directing Actors by Judith Weston is an excellent read for those of you who are interested in being a great filmmaker. Judith teaches workshops for directors and actors in Los Angeles. Her students include winners and nominees of Academy Awards, Emmys, and film festivals. She has served as consultant on major film and television projects, and independent films too numerous to list.

Reading this book really changed my perspective as a filmmaker and made me realize that directing is really a relationship you build with your actors. It's not simply just telling them what to do and say.

Click here to purchase the book on Amazon.com

Rebel Without A Crew: Or How A 23 Year Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became A Hollywood Player

Yea, itz a long ass title but itz most certainly a good read.

This is a book written by Robert Rodriguez. You may have heard of him. He's directed films like From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, Sin City , or the upcoming...GrindHouse (oooooh yeeea)? Well before Rodriguez got famous he was a broke struggling filmmaker just like us and he was waiting for his big break.

The only problem was, he didn't have the budget to make a feature length movie.

So this guy, this genius we'd like to say, took it upon himself to make a feature length film to distribute to the Spanish video market. He got together his friends and family to help with the production and casting of a massive indie hit called El Mariachi. The film took 7K to make (which is peanuts) and became one of the most popular independent films of 1994. It won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature and gave Rodriguez an opportunity to meet a cool famous Hollywood director named Quentin Tarantino that would later become his producing partner.

In the book, Rodriguez talks about using flood lights from Home Depot for his lighting and when writing the script thinking of location ahead of time that he knew he could shoot a movie in. The guy was so broke that he even underwent lab experiments for extra money to fund his film! Crazy? Or Clever? Rodriguez is a man of many hats and did everything from shooting, to lighting, to scoring and editing.

It's a motivating read for all young filmmakers, especially if you are interested in shooting a feature. Click here to purchase the book from Amazon.

Happy Filmmaking!