From one of America's most acclaimed directors comes a book that is both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on 40 years of experience on movies ranging from Long Day's Journey Into Night to The Verdict, Lumet explains the painstaking labor that results in two hours of screen magic.
Making Movies
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Amazon.com Review
It's well known that a vast number of people work on any given movie in roles as varied as writing scripts, choosing locations, dressing sets, costuming the players, lighting scenes, manipulating the camera, directing actors, editing film, working on sound, advertising the finished product, and screening it to an audience. Have you ever thought about how these components are collated? Or why the director is most often considered the author of a film? Wonder no more, because Sidney Lumet's Making Movies is a terrific journey through each stage of filmmaking that is overseen by the director. Lumet, the veteran director of Twelve Angry Men, The Pawnbroker, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, and many other fine movies, knows the ins and outs of American filmmaking as well as anyone. In this excellent, personable account, Lumet tells what he's learned about making movies in the course of the last 40 years. 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. As Herculean as the labors of film directing are, Lumet takes great pleasure in his work, almost guiltily admitting that the film director's job is "the best in the world."
From Publishers Weekly
Lumet, the acclaimed director of such films as Dog Day Afternoon and Network, presents an anecdotal insider's account of the key elements in filmmaking.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A friend recommended this book saying, "I'm not sure you want to learn about making movies, but this is a great project management book."
Well...I could see his point, but I didn't feel the same way about the book. There's a thin thread throughout about the way Lumet conducts his movie project, most evident in the book's best chapter (7) entitled "Shooting the Movie: At Last!" The pieces of the puzzle all fall together at that point, and you get a true sense of everyone's responsibilities and how Lumet plans and uses these resources. So yeah, that's project management.
But if you're going to buy this book, buy it because you're interested in how movies get made, starting right from how a script is chosen, through to the preview. From that perspective, it's a great book. Again, in the book's best chapter, you get a sense for just how draining - and unglamourous - it is to actually shoot the movie. Early pick-ups, lots of work with stand-ins to get the set (esp. lighting) right, multiple takes, late-night viewing of rushes. This is tough work, and Lumet describes it clear, concise language. And he pulls no punches as to where his frustrations lay in the process.
Roger Ebert's cover blurb states "I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them. This is the book." I'd say that's a very accurate summation of what you'll find here.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read 'Making Movies' for my 'Visual Communication' class, in which we examined visual sources that ranged from pictorial representations to actual films. I must admit, however, that the book was a real joy to read, and Lumet a master to know closely.
As the other reviewers have mentioned, Lumet's style makes it easy for everyone to understand and get a grasp of what it takes to shoot a movie, from reading a scenario, to bringing together a cast, from dealing with actors to trying to stay within the budget. The book's procession is designed in such a way, that your curiosity increases as you flip through the chapters. (You begin to wonder if the film's going to get ready in time.)
Lumet, as the director of many films, should be considered as a real master in the film industry. He has worked with important actors such as Sean Connery frequently, and succeeded in putting together remarkable films, like 'Twelve Angry Men'. He tells the audience exactly how he's felt and what he's thought during the making of the movies. He expresses the stress he's had when the actors did not show up on time, when the weather conditions changed dramatically or when the production company announced to cut off a significant portion of the film budget. He also depicts his delight when he's got astonishing performance from his actors and actresses, when the cameraman managed to do a better job than he had even planned. His telling of these remarks are inspiring, indeed.
'Making Movies' is a great source, although not necessarily a technical source, for all people either working or interested in the film world. A wonderful book to both read and have in shelf.
35 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Get this book if you want to know what a year-in-the-life of a powerhouse filmmaker is like. If you are a beginner with an indie, much of Lumet's experiences are not going to apply. They are simply going to make you want to work harder on your indie so that you can get where he got! However, Lumet does NOT deceive. He never promises you any how-to information. He simply calls his book "Making Movies", and that is exactly the subject matter to which he sticks. His honesty does not go unnoticed, although he maybe should have called the book, "Making MY Movies".
Most Recent Customer Reviews
You'll wanna make a picture
Holy cow what a great book! I figured this would be a dry step-by-step manual on who does what in the crew, but Lumet pumps the chapters full of attitude, to the point even with... Read more
Published 3 months ago by evan marlowe md
the correct title for this book is "Directing Movies"
While it was a decent read, this book is not about making movies. It is about directing movies. The author is a director, and that is what he knows. Read more
Published 4 months ago by DannyG
Sidney Lumet's legacy
Making Movies is a concise, conversational and insightful account of a masterful director's own technique. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Nick Parsons
Insightful & Must read for Film Students
I was assigned to read this book for a class I was taking in producing films, shortly after I begun reading it another highly respected professor of NYU also recommended I read it... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Cassandra R. Tannenbaum
A wonderful appetizer- but doesn't quite fill you up
Legendary director Sidney Lumet's "Making Movies" is a nice light introduction to filmmaking for fans that don't really want to get into a meatier education on how to make movies. Read more
Published 5 months ago by John Perkins
Don't buy unless you really want to MAKE MOVIES !
I'll make it very short,
you read this book, you start itching and like it's a drug you wanna grab your camera and kit and shoot the air! Read more
you read this book, you start itching and like it's a drug you wanna grab your camera and kit and shoot the air! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Assem A. Hendawi
An excellent hybrid of biography and film-making guide
Sidney Lumet, who unfortunately died just recently, wrote this book some years ago. Though I have read a number of books about film-making and biographies of directors this one is... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Pat The Lion
From the scrip to the screen with a great director
A great book about filmmaking by a successful director whose career spans decades of American Cinema and a lot of transformations : from the end of the Studio era to the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Samantha Halfon
Sidney Lumet
There are so many books on the art and craft of movie making, but, what sets this one part is its simplicity of language and approach in explaining what is a long, complex and... Read more
Published 14 months ago by E P Joseph
Making Movies
I am using this book in my classes at Colorado University. Lumet describes the process we need to be aware of in order to make a movie. Read more
Published 16 months ago by jim p
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The entrance to the Ukrainian National Home is on Second Avenue between Eight and Ninth streets in New York City. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Orient Express, Dog Day Afternoon, Prince of the City, Sean Connery, Angry Men, The Verdict, Boris Kaufman, Paul Newman, The Fugitive Kind, The Hill, The Pawnbroker, Danny Ciello, Henry Fonda, Mary Tyrone, Tony Walton, Andrzej Bartkowiak, Katharine Hepburn, Los Angeles, Peter Finch, Schindler's List, Dede Allen, Faye Dunaway, Margaret Booth, World War New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
The entrance to the Ukrainian National Home is on Second Avenue between Eight and Ninth streets in New York City. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Orient Express, Dog Day Afternoon, Prince of the City, Sean Connery, Angry Men, The Verdict, Boris Kaufman, Paul Newman, The Fugitive Kind, The Hill, The Pawnbroker, Danny Ciello, Henry Fonda, Mary Tyrone, Tony Walton, Andrzej Bartkowiak, Katharine Hepburn, Los Angeles, Peter Finch, Schindler's List, Dede Allen, Faye Dunaway, Margaret Booth, World War New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 16
books:
See all 16 books this book cites
70
books
cite this book:
See all 70 books citing this book
- The Long Day: The Story of a New York Working Girl. by Dorothy Rlchardson on 5 pages
- Fugitive Kind by Tennessee Williams on page 72, and page 81
- Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola on page 52
- Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) by Agatha Christie on page 11
- An American Tragedy (Signet Classics) by Theodore Dreiser on page 16
See all 16 books this book cites
- The Art of Watching Films by Joseph M. Boggs on 5 pages
- Sidney Lumet: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series) by Joanna E. Rapf on 5 pages
- Total Directing: Integrating Camera and Performance in Film and Television by Tom Kingdon on 4 pages
- Film Directing Fundamentals, Second Edition: See Your Film Before Shooting by Nicholas Proferes on page 49, Index (1), and Index (2)
- Screenwriting From The Heart by James Ryan on page 49, page 116, and Back Matter
See all 70 books citing this book
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