Book Review: Digital Filmmaking 101

#Digitalfilmmaking101 #AnEssentailGuidetoProducingLowBudgetMovies #Filmmaking

Welcome back to the West Side Bohemian!

I want to start a new segment where I can post about books that I have read recently, and my opinion on them.

The book I want to talk about today is called Digital Filmmaking 101: An Essential Guide to Producing Low Budget Movies.

So, how did this book go? What are the contents of this book? Is it worth the read?

Well, I'll start by saying that this book is outdated and was written back in 2001, however, I feel like the fundamentals are all still relevant to this day.

The book talks a lot about budgeting and how to get your hands on a camera for filming, but the prices and sections where it talks about money are outdated. The prices of cameras and equipment have changed over the years, as well as there being better technology available to us. Nowadays, anyone with a phone or a simple DSLR can shoot a movie, but, back when the book was written, things worked a little bit differently.

Despite all of this, the books goes through chapter by chapter and offers great advice on how to get your own movie started. It talks about how to get a script, a cast, a schedule, and even a little bit about post production.

What I liked about this book was that it felt like something that I, as a college film student, could use to better my own creative endeavors.

There was a lot of information on how to film, and how to film on a budget and in a short amount of time. It talked about a lot of things that aren't integral to a film, and a lot of things that are, and how to decide what you can do with your budget and your resources.

It also briefly touches on how to make sure your ideas and script are securely yours through means of copyright and other methods, and how to find a good cast in small town America. I personally found the cast part extremely helpful as a student who will have to work with the actors in a relatively small city.

Also, this book is nice because it expects that you'll have a low-budget, and doesn't have the expectation that you'll have millions of dollars to spend on a movie. It's practical and realistic.

Ultimately, I would recommend this book to anyone trying to get into film.

Below is the link to one place where you can buy the book because I am pretty sure it's out of print at this point.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/digital-filmmaking-101-an-essential-guide-to-producing-low-budget-movies_john-gaspard_dale-newton/709574/item/6447464/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA_JWOBhDRARIsANymNOYcbFm6x0rOLXBaRAUQoIohNalJAz74UtEvNDZ10aKwOHxTc9ovjyIaAtHXEALw_wcB#idiq=6447464&edition=3473796