Rebel Without a Crew
Named One of The Hollywood Reporter’s “100 Greatest Film Books of All Time” Famed independent screenwriter and director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids, Machete) discloses all the unique strategies and original techniques he used to make his remarkable debut film El Mariachi on a shoestring budget. This is both one man's remarkable story and an essential guide for anyone who has a celluloid story to tell and the dreams and determination to see it through. Part production diary, part how-to manual, Rodriguez unveils how he was able to make his influential first film on only a $7,000 budget. Also included is the appendix, "The Ten Minute Film Course,” a tell-all on how to save thousands of dollars on film school and teach yourself the ropes of film production, directing, and screenwriting. A perfect gift for the aspiring filmmaker.
Stats for nerds
6recommend
6mentions
6people
2007–2024years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Robert Rodriguez wrote a fun book about the making of his first feature film (El Mariachi) and how he saved up the money to finance it. On the strength of that he got a contract with Columbia Pictures.
- Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez. I'm a filmmaker and that book glorifies guerrilla filmmaking like no other. Really fun book by the guy who unfortunately didn't go on to make very many critical successes but did create the masterpiece of cinema that is Sharkboy and Lavagirl
- So long with "shoot your next movie on iPhone". I was hoping for Canon EOS, but it is $5.5k "cinema" one.
Gotta re-read Rodriguez' "Rebel without a crew" (and try to forget his way subpar episode of the next Disney Star Wars humiliation).
- My favorite things about creativity were Robert Rodriguez's book "Rebel Without a Crew" about making El Mariachi for $7,000. He is a total cheerleader for DOING THAT CREATIVE THING RIGHT NOW.
Also, Kevin Smith really hammered this home in one of his recent Q&As, but I can't remember which one. It was really encouraging and beautiful, though.
- EXACTLY! As a big movie fan, I also have that same theory. In fact I have read Robert Rodriguez's "Rebel Without a Crew" (from where the "10-minute Film School" comes from), and I see so many parallels between indie film-making and bootstrapping a company.
http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-without-Crew-23-Year-Old-Filmmak...
I would argue that with a movie you actually do iterate and evolve: That's during the editing process. I believe Scorcese once said that his key job as a director was not during filming per se, but during editing.
Also, a curiosity: Rodriguez is a major geek. He does his own special effects on his own studio in San Antonio.
- Rebel Without a Crew (Robert Rodriguez), The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho), Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
