Filmmaking For Dummies®, 3rd Edition
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019952445
ISBN 978-1-119-61785-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-61786-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-61789-1 (ebk)
Welcome to the wonderful world of filmmaking — or as many now call it, moviemaking or digital filmmaking. Whether you love the escape of watching movies or the excitement, challenge, and magic of making a movie yourself, this book is an informative, entertaining guide to help you realize your dream. For the beginner, this book is your primer and reference guide to making a movie, whether it be an independent film, a short narrative, an insightful documentary, entertaining YouTube video, or just slick home movies. For the seasoned professional, this is a perfect refresher course (with many new ideas and tons of advanced technology) to review before starting your next big flick. My holiday release, Santa Stole Our Dog, was distributed by Universal Home Entertainment. Before I signed the contract with the studio, I reviewed the second edition of my book Filmmaking for Dummies, which reminded me of some great ideas and techniques and recapped some smart negotiating points when it came to signing contracts.
This book will inspire you to reach for your filmmaking goals — and it will be a great adventure along the way! Filmmaking For Dummies, 3rd Edition, comes out of my moviemaking experiences — both my successes and my mistakes — and is bursting with helpful information and secret tips to assist you in making your own successful movie.
This book has been completely updated from the second edition of Filmmaking For Dummies, which was written almost 11 years ago. The advancements in technology have really gone further than anyone could imagine. I’m actually writing this introduction from my spaceship quarters right now (okay, maybe not that advanced)! Movie cameras that used physical film stock are almost obsolete (at least in the independent filmmaking world). New technologies have made it affordable for almost anyone to shoot a movie now — even with your smartphone! Dollies, flying drones, and camera-stabilizing systems that used to cost tens of thousands of dollars are now at the disposal of the independent filmmaker for only a few hundred dollars or even less.
The first television show I directed was an episode of Tales from the Darkside entitled “The Bitterest Pill.” The show was about a crazy inventor who created a pill that gave him total recall. The premise of the episode was that knowledge is power. With Filmmaking For Dummies, 3rd Edition, you gain the knowledge and thus the power to make movies. Whether you’re a great filmmaker depends on how you apply the information and secrets you’ll find in this book. This third edition is jam-packed with all the information, techniques, and advancements in gadgets and software to help make your movie, along with tips and secrets — including how to tell a great story and working with actors — that you need to get started. This book that you hold in your hands (or are viewing on an electronic screen or in a futuristic hologram format) is your prescription for making your own movies — so read it and call your distributor in the morning!
I’ve written this book with over 40 years of hands-on experience (I started young, eager and naïve at the age of 10), so I have the experience and knowledge of everything I talk about in this book through trial and error. I can save you a lot of time, trouble, and money because I’ve been there before — this book helps make your first time on the set seem more like you’ve been there before, too.
This book contains valuable information on:
The new age of filmmaking includes the advent of high definition (HD) digital technology, so throughout this book, all creative elements apply, whether you’re shooting with film stock or with a digital camera that records onto digital files. Technically, shooting on film stock or recording to digital files is different, but the methods in creatively constructing a movie remain the same. As an independent filmmaker, digital has become the norm, because shooting on film stock is costly and because with film, the post-production stage is more involved and expensive. These days, it is now looked at as almost archaic to shoot film.
In writing this book, I made some assumptions about you:
This book can’t possibly cover every aspect of running a camera and putting together a movie. So if you don’t know the difference between a camera’s eyepiece and the lens, and which end to look through, pick up other books that are more specific to the technical aspects of filmmaking. You may also want to pick up other For Dummies books that complement this one, such as Digital Video For Dummies, by Keith Underdahl; Screenwriting For Dummies, by Laura Schellhardt; Breaking into Acting For Dummies (Garrison and Wang), and YouTube For Dummies (all published by Wiley). After you start making your own films, you may need to read these books: Stress Management For Dummies (Elkin) and High Blood Pressure For Dummies (Rubin). If you do really well, then check out, Retirement For Dummies!
This book uses icons to bring attention to things that you may find helpful or important.
This icon shares tips that can save you a lot of time and trouble.
This icon is a friendly reminder of things that you don’t want to forget about when making a movie.
This icon makes you aware of things that can negatively impact your movie, so be sure to heed the advice here.
Information that appears beside this icon is interesting, but nonessential. It shares filmmaking esoterica that, as a budding filmmaker or film buff, you’ll find interesting but don’t need to know. Consider these fun-but-skippable nuggets.
In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. No matter how well you understand filmmaking concepts, you’ll likely come across a few questions where you don’t have a clue. To get this material, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Filmmaking For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Unlike watching a film from beginning to end, you can open this book in the middle and dive right in to making your movie. Filmmaking For Dummies, 3rd Edition, is written in a nonlinear format, meaning you can start anywhere and read what you want to know in the order you want to know it. This means that you can start on any chapter in this book and move around from chapter to chapter in no particular order — and still understand how to make a movie. You can even read from back to front if you’re so inclined.
Part 1
IN THIS PART …
I help you put the world of filmmaking into perspective and set you on track for a cinematic adventure.
I introduce you to the different film genres so you can decide what kind of story you want to share with an audience.
I guide you through a crash course on the process of writing an original screenplay — or finding a commercial script and getting the rights to produce it.