First Time Director: How to Make Your Breakthrough Movie [Paperback]

Gil Bettman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2003

This book explains in precise, easy to understand language everything the novice director needs to know before taking on his or her first professional assignment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" Betttman’s voluminous tome on directing, is the real deal. A must-read for any serious aspiring director." -- INDIE SLATE MAGAZINE

Product Details

• Paperback: 385 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (October 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941188779
• ISBN-13: 978-0941188777
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #322,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gil Bettman is a director and an Associate Professor in the Dodge College at Chapman University. He studied creative writing with Robert Lowell at Harvard, and, in 1970, was awarded the Harvard Prize for literary excellence. Bettman has directed three feature films: "Crystal Heart", "Never Too Young to Die", and "Night Vision", as well as multiple episodes of the television series "Fall Guy" and "Knight Rider". He also directed numerous rock videos for a variety of artists including Chicago and Sammy Hagar. He recently completed "The Long Road to Cabo", a feature documentary for Hagar. More information about Gil Bettman is available under "faculty" at www.ftv.chapman.edu/faculty/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was an Assistant Director for over 10 years, January 30, 2006

By 

burned out AD (los angeles, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Time Director: How to Make Your Breakthrough Movie (Paperback)

If you don't know what an AD is, it's the guy/gal that many a novice has mistaken for the director, since the AD is usually the one shouting "Quiet on the set!" and "Roll sound/camera!"

So I picked up FTD expecting more of the mishmash and anecdotes you get from writers who have not spent much, if any, time on a set. Not so. Despite the "sleep with your producer" line (which I too found bizarre beyond belief and is the only reason for 4 stars instead of 5), FTD is probably the best book I've ever read on the actual mechanics of making your first movie as a director. I don't know the author and I don't know the publisher, but what I do know is this stuff is coming from a guy who's been there in the trenches, sweating blood and tears to make a movie. Bettman's advice is better and more on point than anything I ever got at USC film school, and is matched only by the advice I got from--and eventually gave to-- the directors I've worked with.

So buy it if you're looking for the nuts and bolts of directing your first feature, ignore the sleep with the producer line, and I think you'll find it worth your hard-earned cash.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Director's View: From the Trenches..., May 4, 2006

By 

David Worth "Director / DP" (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First Time Director: How to Make Your Breakthrough Movie (Paperback)

My name is David Worth and I've been a professional Director / DP in the film industry for nearly 30 years. I've Directed features with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Roy Scheider and Dennis Hopper, as well as being the Director Of Photography on features with Clint Eastwood, Bruce Campbell and the late Shelly Winters.

Like most of the reviewers remarked, Mr. Bettman's book: First Time Director: How To Make Your Breakthrough Movie, is "...essential... inspiring... invaluable...". Mr. Bettman writes about the basic "nuts & bolts" of "in the trenches" Directing by someone who has obvilously been there. I believe that his book is an absolute MUST for any one aspiring to be a Director or a woking professional in the film industry and that it should be part of the required reading for every Film School, Course or Program on the planet.

Anyone not getting the "tongue in cheek" and "gallows humor" of some of Mr. Bettman's remarks simply hasn't been there,"in the trenches" tying to make a film with never enough time or money. The mantra "the Master becomes the Coverage" is the hallmark of someone who not only understands the process, but also has the chops of a world of experience behind them. Mr. Bettman's book comes from the heart and soul of a Filmmaker and a Professor of Cinema, the forward by Mr. Zemeckes is simply the icing on the cake and in my humble opinion, "The Good Filmmaking Seal Of Approval"!!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book deserves a good reader to absorb its essence, August 9, 2006

By 

Anuj Nair (India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Time Director: How to Make Your Breakthrough Movie (Paperback)

There are way too many books on directing and most of them cover the basics well but very rarely we come across a book that takes us to the next level which is the real time world of film making and the constraints. This book constantly keeps us rooted to reality despite explaining the art of showbiz. The book beautifuly covers the design of a moving master with four tasks, objectives for actors, directing method actors, improvisation, script breakdown, team building and casting. Gil Bettman's approach makes us think about the simple things of film making that we tend to put away into our closets once we finish film school. The book not only is a great refresher which brings back wonderful memories of my own film school experience but also is a lesson in Cinema's most important skill; namely man management or also known as people skills. Bettman's witty and humorous comments make the book a great read not just for the knowledge gains but also as a window into the hollywood system of film making which is exciting and rivetting. It is a must read for all.