Independent Filmmaking

This book provides a short chapter (about 40 pages on the average) of all the technical major aspects of filmmaking (using film, not video). Chapter include every aspect of filmmaking and are more geared to technical issues than "artistic". Chapters are well written, succinct and informative. Excellent introduction for beginers to the art of filmmaking.

The strengths of this book, in my opinion, is the well rounded coverage of technical issues regarding film production. This is not one of those guides which convinces you that it can squeeze scriptwriting, production, casting, postproduction, distribution, and even film appreciation (by giving you a "favorite films" list at the end of the book). This book deals almost completely with technical terms and techniques, which is probably the only issue in filmmaking that can be sufficiently covered in one book. Ofcourse, you will need on hand training, but you can always get your hands on a good old 16mm soviet camera for around $150 or a super8 camera for next to nothing (I did). This books only faults: It's a bit old (1972) and visually it's a bit dull (though there are plenty of b & W pictures and charts). I enjoyed Lipton's rather intimate writing: it feels a lot more like an literal explaination than a textbook.