The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook with CDROM [Paperback]

Chris Jones (Author), Genevieve Jolliffe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

The new edition of this best-selling book is the ultimate guide to low-budget movie making. Chris Jones and Genevieve Jolliffe provide a step-by-step guide to all aspects of production, from copyright law to casting agents, directions to stuns, cash sources to distribution. Case studies and a Producer's Toolkit with information on legal documentation, including blank forms and a complete budget breakdown make this an invaluable tool for any independent filmmaker.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the book is insightful and witty." -- Guerilla Filmmaker, Spring 2001

Product Details

• Paperback: 639 pages
• Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group; 2nd edition (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826447139
• ISBN-13: 978-0826447135
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,573,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Information but too UK centric for me., September 10, 2001

By 

turtlex "turtlex" (PA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook with CDROM (Paperback)

I'd have to agree with the previous reviewer that this is a PACKED volume of information. There is definitely a lot of information here.

Importantly, especially for the novice filmmaker, it is written in accessible language and with many photos/pictures to help illustrate points.

The format is not very "handbook"-like however. It's not set up with the ability to refer to a particular section and instantly find information. The format is actually INTERVIEWS with various people. That makes this an easy read but not really something I'd call a "handbook".

Also, where I tend to back off with my usefulness of this book - it is written with a very distinctive UK (Great Britian) slant. Most (though not all) of the interviews are with UK resident filmmakers, professionals and film business people. I found a lot of the information to be TOO MUCH about making films in the UK, and not generic enough for US application.

UK filmmakers or filmmaker hopefuls will find more in this book to relate to thier field than will a US filmmaker. BUT - again, even for those in the UK, the INTERVIEW format isn't very user-friendly. It's like reading a very long magazine interview with various film professionals.

Please note, also, that the featured CD contains .txt and .doc (MS Word) examples which are written for the UK (ie. they indicate "Engligh Court" and the money amounts are pounds). I'm not sure what it would take to make them US friendly, but thought I should mention this.

I wish everyone the best of luck in making their own film, that's a dream of mine and I encourage you to read as much information about filmmaking as you can, however - this would not be a book I'd suggest as your only reference, or for use as a "handbook".

I will note that, specifically, the charts and illustrations of various equipment were very helpful.

All The Best,
turtlex

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sifting the wheat from the chaff, April 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook with CDROM (Paperback)

In 1996 two inde film-makers (with three low/no budget feature films under their belts) put together a how-to volume which covered every possible aspect of the film-making war. As a result, The Guerilla Film-makers Handbook, was a revelation. It even prompted Human Traffic director Justin Kerrigan to call it "the only book in my shelf I wouldn't roach". This is the second coming. Jones and Jolliffe return - revised, updated and twice as fat. Because it completely sidesteps all of the usual tedious techie jargon and stays accessible from cover to cover, this should be at the top of everyone's pile,whether you're 12-years-old with a string of festival hits behind you, or still dreaming of the yellowbrick road to Hollywood fortune and fame. The book is packed with(639p) a complete breakdown of the filmmaking process. Flow-charts, illustrations, definitions and explanations of each nut and bolt along the way. At every stage experts - from casting agents to lawyers- drop in to offer advice. There are also loads of film case studdies including Lynne Ramsey's "Ratcatcher", Richard Stanley's "The Island of Dr. Moreau and the inevitable "Blair Witch Project". And if that's not enough for you, you also get a free toolkit CD-ROM which handily contains all the contract forms and documents you'll ever need, as well as some free screenwriting software. Buy this book! Don't borrow it! It's as good as it gets.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good guide to film making, October 12, 2003

By 

OverTheMoon ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook with CDROM (Paperback)

Basically this book is a three part book. The start of the book goes into the film making process, what it is about, why bother and how to get started. It gives you a general air of what is going on before a film starts shooting.

The middle part of the book is extremely technically useful. Don't be put-off by the fact that it is a British book, most of the standards are the same and the writer covers both US systems and UK systems. Anyway the value of this book is in that the writer interviews very important people that work in the filming process - actors, special effects, film lab, cameramen, editors, sound editors, legal agencies, projectionists, marketing people, producers, directors... etc.... and they all give very profesional tips on what you should do and what you should NOT do.

The third part of the book deals with CASE STUDIES and various filmmakers talk about their projects and what went right and what went wrong (My copy of the book is actually missing pages here. It looks like the printer left out about 30 pages and replaced these with pages that where already printed a few pages back before).

Overall this is a very good book with lots of information from the people that matter in this industry. There is a lot of information on what NOT to do when shooting your first film. Anybody who wants to get into to film making should not miss out on this writer/director's account of his experiences with film making. It is worth every penny, even though my book did have misprints.