The Big Picture: Filmmaking Lessons from a Life on the Set

Great book, very informative.

"This is the best book on the nuts and bolts--and art--of filmmaking I've read. Tom Reilly is a consummate pro.....If this were a movie, I'd see it twice." --Eric Lax, author of Conversations with Woody AllenEric Lax is dead-on right. Author Tom Reilly, who has worked on more than 40 films as an assistant director and associate producer, has given film students and those of us who just love to watch films an invaluable guide as to how a film ends up on a screen. Just read the titles of some of his chapters:1. Learn the vocabulary of film. 2. Learn the language of the set. 3. Pick your ten best shots. 20. Face the realties of the budget. Even fifty million won't seem like enough. 37. Assume nothing. 41. The set has chemistry: Big egos...Big money....Big art. 45. Sweat the small stuff--routinely. and the last chapter 50. Always have a nice lunch.(Ya gotta read this chapter alone several times if you're "in the biz" or plan to be!) The chapters are all fast-paced and bring us right on the set with Tom. His spot on behind-the-camera descriptions of film industry folks just sweeps you along into his world.This should be a must read for all film school students. It is one of the few film books I've read that really brings the day-to-day details of making a picture (egos and union issues included!)to one's brain cells. The individual experiences really impart mental picture lessons that a student will never forget.I originally bought it for my daughter who is in film school, but I'm keeping it for my own 'film-buff' library and buying another copy for her, my budding film-industry-worker-to-be!

For those of you currently making films or planning to make them soon, this book is a VERY helpful list of pointers on how to approach the topics of filmmaking. Some tips tend to apply more toward million-dollar pictures, but almost all of the information in here can be applied to a low or no-budget film when you scale down the message. I've read too many filmmaking books to count and sometimes you feel you've read just about all there is to say. In this case, listening to a professional who isn't a major, known director gives a much different and valuable approach to filmmaking that you wouldn't normally get from a book written by your favorite director. Some books talk about how to get the great shots and cast the right mood but this book forces you to ask yourself how much will the shot really cost and can I do it a better way with a small budget. Sometimes, that's just as important.

A must-read for any aspiring screenwriter or filmmaker!

Tom covers so much in such a little book, it's truly a must read for anyone who'd like or needs to know more about filming before you begin the process.