Customer Reviews

Making a Winning Short: How to Write, Direct, Edit, and Produce a Short Film

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There are precious few books available which deal with the writing and production of shorts, which is odd considering the grown explosion the form has gone through the last few years, so I almost hate to be critical of what information is available. That said, this 1994 guide is in desperate need of updating, as it does not deal with short films in the digital medium. Now that digital video has made it even easier to produce a short--not to mention that it's opened up the possibilities of what can be accomplished on film on a budget--the process of making a short needs to be addressed in the current context. In addition, with the number of internet sites specializing in shorts, and the practice of most film festivals of accepting digital submissions, the possibilities of making and distributing a short have far outgrown what this book covers. Please, Mr. Levy--give us a new edition of this fine guide!

Edmond Levy in one book has given me a basic outline of what I would need to construct a film from start to finish.

The beginning touches on screenwriting techniques, then moves into some pre-production necessities. From there he briefly touches on production and then a short chapter on post-production (editing) and distribution.

This is a survey book and is in no means somthing to take as the "end all say all." But if you are curious or have some very general questions about the topic, then this is the book for you.

This is just another "how to make a film book". We are taken step by step through all the processes and given insight into the technicalities. However, it feels like you've heard it all before. Good for the begginer.

This book does an excellent job on the basics: how to write a treatment, develop a script thru the process of story outline and character profiles, the use of storyboards, the basics of directing and editing and on and on. It's all basic, yes, but a good starting point for the beginning filmmaker. The emphasis is the short, independent filmmaker where most of us started and most future great filmmakers will also. I use it for a course I teach for the American Film Institute called Movie Camp and in the basic moviemaking course I teach at Montgomery College. The students seem to find it very valuable.