Customer Reviews

Before You Shoot : A Guide to Low Budget Film and Video Production (3rd edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this expecting it to be full of simple, how-to information, but unfortunately such is not the case. Basically the book is a big, long list of "don't forget to..."s. She explains everything you will need to do to make a movie, but doesn't explain how to do any of it.

She explains what the duties of the producer are, what they need to keep in mind, what they need to make sure to do, what they need to be prepared for, but that's it. There really isn't any information on how-to *make* a movie (the actual process), but instead information on what needs to be arranged in the making of a movie. Mostly she says "you're going to have to do this.... to find out how to do that ask around or hire someone". I bought the book because I don't want to (and can't afford to) hire someone and there's really not that many people I can ask for help.

However, I'm not saying the book is worthless, it's just not a book for someone who wants to make their own movie. This is a book for prospective *producers*. A producer that arranges more than creates. If your interest is in writing, directing, or shooting your own film, then look somewhere else. This book is better for someone who isn't creating a movie at all but instead arranging for the creation of a movie (in other words, a producer).

Dan Bessie came to an SFSU Film Student Union, meeting in 1985, with his then fist ed. of this book. I still have my copy. I have been teaching production for the last 10 years (in LA) where everyone wants to direct. I tell them to read this book first. If you do your homework as outlined in this book (on your low or high budget film) you will be able to focus on getting the image on film. Production of a film or video project requiers skills that many people need to work on. This book helps to outline the steps that must first be taken. There is no better outline I have found.

My sister gave me this book in November of last year and I have to say as someone with ABSOLUTELY NO film experience I found "Before You Shoot" invaluable. Just learning things that would be considered basic to a seasoned filmmaker (like shooting ratios) made it possible to communicate with potential vendors and crew without sounding like as if I didn't have a clue. If one is starting from nothing this book is fabulous. Presently I am 2 months from the principal photography date for my first feature film.

I agree with the others reviewers that most of the information is is a checklist of don't forgets and filled with information that is "common: sense, but I still think that it is a very valuable book.

I am a film student and I have worked on an indy feature film and a commercial and I believe that both of those projects could have gone much better had the producers/directors had this information.

This book is perfect for the person who has no knowledge of film, but needs an overview of the process in order to get teir feet wet. The book also contains all the necessary forms for each phase of making a film.

This is a sorely underappreciated book. I've owned a copy for years, and it's provided wonderful ideas and sound advice for beginning movie-makers. It even goes into detail on such subjects as casting, choosing 16mm or 35mm film, finding props, and location shooting.

I highly recommend this one.

This book is not what I thought it would be. As I read, I came to the conclusion that most of what I was reading was common sense (which is never common) and anecdotal stories. Not what I was looking for....