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Step-by-step guide to making a movie
Digital Film Making. By Mike Figgis.
Faber £8.99 order this book
MAKING a movie was once an elitist, prohibitively expensive activity that the average person could only dream of. Not any more, according to acclaimed film director Mike Figgis. The past decade has seen a radical change in the way people can make films, and this book has everything you need to know to join the revolution.
With the advent of affordable digital camera technology (mini-DV), we can all become commercially viable film-makers. In this short book, Mike Figgis guides us – in simple and definitive terms – through every step of the new film-making process. Nothing is left unexplained and no mysteries are left uncovered.
The book is a bold mission statement, rejecting the wildly expensive and creativity-sapping methods of Hollywood cinema.
As Figgis grew increasingly frustrated with Hollywood, he developed a more immediate, energetic style of film-making similar to but not as pretentious as the Dogme 95 movement started by Danish director Lars Von Trier.
With his mini-cameras and low-budget approach, Figgis can now shoot faster and more radically, at a fraction of the cost. Actors love the technique, and directors no longer have to wait five hours between takes while the lights and cameras are re-set. The only danger in advocating such an informal approach is that films might all start looking like dodgy home movies if this catches on.
The technology involved in digital film-making is constantly evolving, and even Figgis readily admits that by the time he had finished writing the book, he was already in danger of being out of date. And while he only hints at the huge importance of the internet and high definition to a new generation of film-makers, this book is nothing short of a revelation for the budding and seasoned director alike.
Figgis’s observations are not academic speculation, but practical techniques that he has personally perfected over the past decade. To anyone keen to get started in digital film-making, I would also recommend getting hold of his films Timecode, Hotel and Co/ma to see Figgis’ techniques in action.
So if you’ve ever fancied yourself as the next Spielberg, now is the perfect time to take the plunge.
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