Digital Filmmaking 101: An Essential Guide to Producing Low Budget Movies (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Celluloid will always be their first love, acknowledge the authors of Digital Filmmaking 101: An Essential Guide to Producing Low-Budget Movies. But after their second feature-length film, Beyond Bob, Dale Newton and John Gaspard recognized that they might never shoot in such an expensive medium again, "at least not when we were putting up the money." With chatty, postslacker humor and savvy one chapter is called "Special Effects (Please Pass the Construction Paper)" they guide the novice through each stage of using digital film: writing the script, drawing up a budget, getting funding, equipment, cast, crew, etc. Would-be indie filmmakers seeking practical, friendly advice will find this a handy reference.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

These guys don't seem to have missed a thing when it comes to how to make a digital movie for peanuts. It's a helpful and funny guide for beginners and professionals alike. --Jonathan Demme, Academy Award Winning Director, Silence of the Lambs

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (July 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941188337
• ISBN-13: 978-0941188333
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #500,100 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy This Book First, January 10, 2003

By	Bruce Boertje (Pella, IA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the book I've been looking for. If you are looking to make your first digital feature or short, this is the place to start. After purchasing 15-20 books on shooting film and video, this is the book I wish I had read first.

The book describes in plain terms (without being patronizing) what is needed to produce a digital feature. From finding scripts, to casting actors and crew, all the way through to post-production and distribution, this book will guide you all the way. It gives examples of special effects, breaking down your script and creating a shooting schedule, sample actor and location release forms, even inexpensive meal suggestions for feeding your cast and crew during production!

Dale Newton and John Gaspard know their craft. They've shot feature films in both film and video formats, and have many essential tips for the low/no budget filmmaker. The book is written with a sense of humor. The authors laugh at some of their mistakes while helping us avoid those same problems.

If you are a novice or budding filmmaker but need a little direction to get started, this is the book for you.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Live fast and dirty?, September 24, 2002

By A Customer

This is a pretty good book that tells you about how to make a movie without a lot of money. There's a lot of good nuts and bolts info. But if the thought of haggling and begging for everything doesn't strike you as very fun then you might want to look elsewhere. Also, DV film is changing so fast that there's a world of technical info that makes books like these obsolete the by the time they get published. (Props to the authors for noting this themselves)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be your "first buy", September 30, 2005

By	S. Williamson "stevewz2" (Sandy, OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I decided to go down the path of becoming an indepedent filmmaker, I knew I needed to read up on the subject. After reading various reviews, I decided to get Digital Filmmaking 101 by Dale Newton and John Gaspard. I'm SO glad I did. This book is amazing! It covers everything you need to know about independent digital filmmaking, all from the perspective of doing it on a shoe-string budget.

Although it doesn't go into great detail on any one subject, it covers every aspect to at least a general level, making this a great introductory text. I've read it cover to cover at least three times and have re-read specific chapters several more times on top of that.

Newton and Gaspard's writing style is humorous yet matter-of-fact and you always get the feeling they are in your corner. Most other books written by industry experts tend to have a "talking down to you" tone to them.