$30 Film School (Paperback)

by Michael W. Dean (Author)
Key Phrases: independent artist, editing audio, selling your film, Los Angeles, Sound Forge, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The definitive book on micro-filmmaking with all of the passion and attention to detail that it deserves. -- Microfilmmaker Magazine, April 15, 2006

Product Description
Filmmaking is entering a new era. You don't need big bucks or big studio support to make great movies. Computers have made it possible to make great films with very little money. Mini-DV filmmaking is the new punk rock, the new folk music, the new medium in which anyone can tell his story. $30 Film School is an alternative to spending four years and a hundred-thousand dollars to learn the filmmaking trade. This book is a map for D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself ) art-specifically filmmaking. Guerrilla, no-budget, drive-by filmmaking, to be exact. This new edition has been completely updated to cover advancements in video and audio editing, with many new tips and tricks on shooting, producing, and distribution. The second edition also includes a companion DVD.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 2 edition (March 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598631896
• ISBN-13: 978-1598631890
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #252,943 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gets you off your posterior and making your art, August 4, 2006

By	D. LaFontaine "Rex Luscus" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just finished principal photography on my film project. I'm not going to go all gushy and say that this book is the only reason I was able to summon the inner strength that sustained me in my time of need, it's a bright shining beacon of inspirational integrity blah blah frickedy transparent sock puppet infomercial blah. Because that's not the case. Nope. If you're looking for something like that, you need more help than a printed page can provide.

However.

$30 Film School is a real tough love way to get your inner muse in motion. Other reviewers have gotten tangled up in the whether or not the technical information herein is relevant & useful. That's not really the point - as you either know or will soon find out, every single aspect of moviemaking is an infinite onion of complexity and you can lose yourself in specialization (in which case you should get a gig at a studio as a wardrobe person or set painter or whatever) or you can get enough of it into you so you can function and then just keep on moving.

The core to this book is deep punk, and as someone who once had the sides of his head shaved and the top painted blue, that DIY ethos was instilled in me on a genetic level. And the core question in $30 Film School is: "Whenever problems arise, as they surely will, you have to stop and ask yourself 'Am I going to allow this to prevent me from making my art?' "

So while the information contained in the book is all available elsewhere in greater depth (HDforindies, cinemaminima and other blogs), the message that is wrapped around that info is at once reassuring and challenging. You CAN do this. And if you can ... then there is no excuse for you NOT TO.

You will make mistakes. Dean has made many of those same mistakes; and he shows & tells the lessons you should learn from those mistakes so that you do not make them again (or if you do, at least do them in a new & interesting way)...

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Recommended, kind of general, abrasive writing style, May 31, 2006

By	Jake Miles "Jake" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This book kind of delivers what it promises. It does go into discussions of all aspects of indie film making (although it focuses way too much on docu's, the filmmakers specialty) However the book is best suited for those without much knowledge of film making. This is not a substitute for more detailed reading, and one would be hard pressed to make a film of any quality based solely on this text. I would not expect one book to cover everything involved in film making. I was put off by the attitude of the writer. He has a 'I'm anti-hollywood so I am cool' type writing style which gets a little old by page 100 and ends up talking too much about himself and not enough about the work. His hubris is also off-putting (This book takes the place of $20,000 worth of film school) Of course it doesn't. No single book could (but many books and experience can), and to suggest otherwise is not respecting the art or science of filmmaking. I would recommend this book highly to anyone who is just getting into film or video production, and would even recommend it to veteran filmmakers as it would be impossible to not pick up a few pointers on all the subjects covered. Also the included DVD contains some nice items. This book is perfect for the person who wants to make home movies with their friends, but should be viewed as a starting point only for any legitimate film.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Over All...worth a read, July 9, 2006

By	Rachel Seaman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First let me say there were a lot of good Movie Making 101 kind of tips in this book-which is what I wanted-so on that note it was very good and informative. Like others who have reviewed this book I agree that the author can be pretencious. However as he himself says through out the book-sometimes that is what is required to get your project taken seriously ie: if you don't promote/believe in yourself who else will?. I agree with that and wish I had some more of that drive in me. The times when it doesn't serve him well are, for example; when boasting that on the shelf over his desk are only books that HE wrote, CD's with music HE made and his OWN movies. The DVD that came with the second edition has samples of movies made by people who also read this or the earlier version of this book. Some are VERY professional and intimidating while others made me think "hell, I could do a movie better than this!" and therefore were quite encouraging. I don't know if that was the authors intention or not. My biggest complaint about this book is that far too many pages are devoted to raising money, producing, promoting and even touring (with your completed movie). For a beginner like me it didn't seem very relavent. If a person is making movies that require fund raising and promotion on that level, I'd imagine they don't need to read this "how to" book on movie making. Maybe I'm wrong? There is also quite a bit of time devoted with very specific instruction for the windows based movie/sound editing software that the Author reccomends-great unless you will not be using those programs-which is the case for me (see below for note on this) So in conculsion this book is worth reading and I gained knowledge that I'm sure will help me make better movies. Would I reccomend buying it at full price? ...(versus amazon) ... NO. However as the $18.95 Film School I fully endorse it! ----NOTE: When I bought this book I also bought "iMovie 6-The Missing Manual by David Pogue". It has much of the same generic Movie Making 101 information as this book but also (as the title suggests) instruction on how to get the most from iMovie software. So if you are going to be editing your sound/movie footage on a Mac using iMovie or Garage Band this book might be better suited for you. For me they were a great "one- two punch" and complimented each other very well.