How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 (And Not Go to Jail) [Paperback]

Bret Stern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2002

Right now, you're wondering, "Gee, what kind of information is in this cute yet stylish guide?" Sure, there are a bunch of other books that will take you through the filmmaking process, and if your name is Beaver Cleaver, you might be interested in them.

But you should know that filmmaking is a war, and this book will lead you through it like no other. These pages contain information learned from years spent in the filmmaking trenches.

Anyone with a credit card can rent a camera and buy film stock -- but who can:

• Rent a camera for two weeks and pay for only two days?
• Set the exposure on the camera without a light meter?
• Feed a crew of twenty with yesterday's chicken soup?

Not many.

You want more? Then turn the book over and crack her open.

Still here?

Fine -- we'll do it the hard way: This book will tell you how to shoot a sex scene, tell you what a stinger is. And if you need help writing your script, we'll give you some scenes to copy right into your screen-play -- and yes, we even provide the characters.

In short, everything you need to know about filmmaking in the real world is in this book. Everything. We'll even help you select the proper baseball cap so you can look like a big-time director.

Now start reading. Let's make film history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bret Stern started making feature films the day after college. He and some fanatical friends waited for the campus to empty out over Christmas break, and after taking the stuff in the school's equipment room, Bret and his crew spent seven days cranking out a feature film -- the only setbacks were the foreign students who raided the set for reading materials and the fake blood with chicken giblets that backed up the dorm's drainage system. After that there was only one alternative left -- to keep making movies. A brief stint as a location scout and then as Slaveboy at a New York commercial production company followed. Before getting fired Bret moved up from Slaveboy to Whipping Boy and then shot some commercials as Director of Photography. Once the hammer dropped, Bret had to decide which path to pursue, and although commercial work pays better, who could resist the opportunity to sleep in a cot in a bar for a week and take showers with a garden hose in the basement? What followed were the feature films Perfect Lies and Dark Tides (where Bret got to sleep on a real bed but he had to share it with his Assistant Director). After much abuse, he felt back into his role as DP, shooting and directing many commercials. Days after he had enough money for the down payment on a house (and faster than his wife could say "Hutch and China set"), Bret was at work on Road to Park City, which opened the 2000 Slamdance Film Festival and played in over fifteen others. What's next for Bret? After acquiring the grandfather clock for the house, it was time for the next feature -- a sci-fi extravaganza with a budget of $10,000, minus one cent.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060084677
• ISBN-13: 978-0060084677
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, but can't stand alone., December 8, 2004

By 

Brian E. Lewis "onouris" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 (And Not Go to Jail) (Paperback)

Ultimately, a Director is really a Manager whose employees are artists and technicians instead of clerks and accountants. S/he is all that stands between the lunatics and the asylum. A beginning filmmaker, then, is by definition terrified. S/he is seeking guidance. Naturally, s/he turns to Amazon.
This book offers something which is incredibly important to those setting out down the mine strewn road of film: encouragement. No one ever needed to be discouraged from filmmaking, that will take care of itself. This book is most valuable as evidence that you're not alone, and that as insane as this job is, you may just be up to it. It does this chiefly through an irreverent tone, maintained throughout the book.
But what about the technical advice? Well, this is mostly sound, but a lot of it is too general to be much good to someone who hasn't spent alot of time hanging around film sets and equipment. As far as his cost saving measures, they mostly boil down to "make a lot of friends" and "hand out around movie sets". That way you can get film remainders, finagle hard-to-get rentals, etc. All well and good if you live in an area with a lot of filmmaking going on, but this isn't always the case. Not a lot of detail on editing theory, how to set up and capture the shots you want, or how to effecitvely light for a certain scene. Okay, yeah, there are crew specialists to handle that stuff, but a director should know how to do them, and when you're an indie director shooting your own thing on your own resources, you can't count on getting a DP or a pro sound guy. Also, the irreverent tone can be a little annoying, as there are a few spots where you can't tell if he's joking or not. It also seems to obscure whether or not he knows the answer to a problem: is he kidding to be funny, or to hide a gap in knowledge? On the other hand, his advice on dealing with actors and the audition process was good.
Finally, a suggestion to all of you who are contemplating writing a book like this: if you're going to include a snippet of your original screenplay, make sure that you're Orson Welles. This author uses a few short excerpts from the screenplay he was shooting, and they're really not impressive. Come on, the guy made a movie about making a movie, and he's surprised that he can't get distribution? First lesson of filmmaking: the only people who care about the lives of filmmakers are other filmmakers. The old saw about "writing what you know" (terrible advice, in a way) is an exhortation to go out and live a little, not to hunker down and write about yourself.
Final analysis: This book does have some useful tips and handy information, and I would recommend it to people just starting out and who have no one to guide them. I would also recommend that they supplement it with more serious, techinically focused books. Despite what people say, film is a highly technical art; you can't grab any old camera, start filming, and have something watchable. And it takes more than one film to understand how to effectively structure a tale at feature length. Still, I did get something out of this book that others don't give: a laugh, and some encouragement. Good to read at the outset.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Advice About Filmmaking But Technology is Out of Date, April 26, 2006

By 

Mark D Burgh "Music, Writing, Art, Film, Hist... (Fort Smith, AR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 (And Not Go to Jail) (Paperback)

Bret Stern's book is funny, useful, and true, which makes it better than 90 percent of the filmmaking books out there. Stern breaks down the filmmaking process into small bits, all of which you can perform without spending a dime, and then, when money is involved, he shows you how you can somewhat legally avoid paying any. Unfunded or underfunded filmmaking is a dicey business, and Stern's book reads like it was written by a true junky. Fortunately for us, Stern's takes on everything but visual technology are dead on and never will out of date, at least until we can simulate actors on our home PC's (its coming, if not already here). Where Stern's book goes awry, for me, anyway, is that it hasn't been updated since 2002, and misses the DVX revolution. Every point of filmmaking has altered in favor of the ill-prepared since then. Running around with an ARRI SR3 or a BL required a platoon. Running around with a DVX-100a or, sigh, an HVX-200 requires a much smaller group. You still need a good script, and good lighting, all of which Stern discusses, and of course cheap food for the cast and crew. Stern supplies some nasty receipes which all have promise.

I hope that a revision is planned, since many people will dismiss this book. There is a lot to learn here, and a lot of good ideas. As Stern says, Skip the film technology parts.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very Funny Book but not always practical!, December 9, 2003

By 

"jumpingjehosifats" - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 (And Not Go to Jail) (Paperback)

This book WILL teach you how to make movies but I would suggest that it would be hard to follow the advice in this book without going over your $10,000!!

Bret offers advice on how to get people to work for free by offering film credits. But why not just do it all yourself aka. 1 man band Robert Rodriguez?

Also the rear blurb reads "Rent a camera for 2 weeks and pay for only 2 days..." but inside all you'll find is a way of scamming your rental house by renting for a week but picking it up the friday before (hoping they wont be open and wont charge you for the weekend) and then wanting to drop it off on the following Friday hoping to be told to bring it in monday. And then timing it so Monday is a holiday and you get it until Tuesday!! Thats 11 days and you'll sill have to pay for 5 if it works!!

So although a fun book to read a lot of it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt!! Do yourself a favour and read Robert Rodriguez's "Rebel Without a Crew" before you read any other film making book. If you still need advice and inspiration then get this book too!