Need "How to" Action DVD's

I

Indyreel

Well-known member
A while back I recall seeing something on "How to make action films" DVD.

Does anyone have a link?

Also, are they worth getting?

Thanks.
 
I doubt they are worth the money just based on the title. Go get "DV Rebble". It has a DVD with some goodies but it's all about making an action style film at DVX range prices.

Excellent book and info.
 
Actually, I have a copy of the book, and I thought "Action Film-Making" covered the bases quite well. I mean, you will have to do your own work, the book won't film it for you. But you get a decent overview of what to think about, what to consider, and MANY of tools you will need to film an action film.

Don't get me wrong, I have not read "DV Rebel", but I have heard great things about it. And I do intend to find a copy for my library. But for me, an action-film junkie, I had to read "Action Filmmaking" first.

If you don't mind me asking, Noiz2, had you read the book prior to giving your opinion?
 
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I recommend 'The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap' book - can't speak for any DVDs.
 
Doc Bernard said:
If you don't mind me asking, Noiz2, had you read the book prior to giving your opinion?
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No as I mentioned in my response. I didn't review the book I said "based on the title" I doubted it was worth the money.

It may be a fantastic resource and if you have it and it's worth getting then that trumps my impression of the title.

There have been many "How to qwewr" books over the years and I have bough too many of them. The title implies that with this book you have the knowledge, and experience has taught me that it really isn't possible to pack enough information in a book to totally cover something that complicated. The problem with the "How To" books has been that they tried to cover it all so they really didn't cover anything with enough detail to be useful.

If it picks a few things and covers them in some detail it could be useful, but then it's not really a "how to..." but a "how to do this part of...". That would be a good choice and a misleading title. The problem with light coverage for things like action films is people can get seriously hurt. The other general lack I would suspect in a book of this type is the role of the "boring" jobs. The large amount of rehearsal and choreography that needs to happen to make fight scenes safe. The amount of work done in post to help pull off some of the sequences. And the amount of safety measures that need to be in place for practical stunts.

But it might be very useful. You (OP) should definitely check out reviews etc.

I work professionally in film and tend to get irritated at "How To" books on filmmaking because they (all that I have read) tend to have huge holes in the info or imply things that just aren't true. And then you get young filmmakers acting on bad info and getting themselves into all kinds of messes. And it turns a lot of possibly good filmmakers off because their first film is such a disaster.

Of course I have also seen some of this BS taught in film schools so??? The DVD is a better buy!

One good word of advice though. Don't act based on a couple of online comments. Really check things out and you will be a lot better off.

It would be just as silly to not buy the book/DVD because I had a problem with the title as it would because Doc Bernard found it useful. We are both individuals that are not you. Of the two I would put more weight on
A) posters you know are reliable
B) ones that have some actual experience with the thing
C) people you know.

My opinion was a generalized reaction and not directed at a specific book/DVD but on the general quality of "How To.." type books. Doc's was based on reading the actual thing so that is certainly a better guide on this book/DVD. I can't tell from the other posts if it's a DVD or a book or both.
 
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clang said:
I recommend 'The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap' book - can't speak for any DVDs.
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Doc Bernard said:
Don't get me wrong, I have not read "DV Rebel", but I have heard great things about it. And I do intend to find a copy for my library. But for me, an action-film junkie, I had to read "Action Filmmaking" first.
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I recommend both. Action Filmmaking and The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap.

I'll be very honest and say I've read and reviewed Stu's book on Amazon and I highly recommend it as I'm using some of his techniques in my current "Epitaph" film project, but it's really next level stuff as his playing field is much greater than mine and he's worked with some of the big guys. He has some amazing info in there and it's a book I think ALL indie action filmmakers should have.

The difference is I come at it from the point of view of a person who has little money, but wants to make action movies. One reviewer said "Action Filmmaking is a book is for the novice "Do it yourself" filmmaker who wants to make their films, their way with whatever budget they happen to have." And while that was said in a not so positive review, this is indeed the essence of "Action Filmmaking". (Remember I started on $800, which was $500 from me and about $300 from my producer in the form of dinner for the actors and buying small lights from the hardware, ect).

And there are people using it now to make there movies. Doc Bernard over at Indie Arms, has it, Chris Temple who directed "Leap" and "Leap 2: Rise of Beast" has it and Jason Spinos (currently doing the drama "The Five Worst Days in the Life of Bartholomew Saxton") has it, all of whom belong to DVXUser and are doing projects or have done projects. And if you get Stu's book you'll see why it's so complementary. Plus he goes into After Effects and a lot of other things I don't. I was thinking about making a book more geared toward effects, but I'm only so good at that. So those would be my two suggestions, and both books are on sale right now on Amazon. Mine is also available on Amazon Kindle. My DVD material is only intended as supplemental stuff for those who've read the book. I'm really big on books. Click on my banner and you can see some of what I'm doing now.
 
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I though I would follow up a bit.

Some folks took my reaction to the title "How to Make Action Films" as a bad review of a certain book. As I mentioned it was just a reaction to a title.

Turns out it's not even the title!
"Action Filmmaking: The Guide to Producing Kick-Ass Microbudget Action Films" is the title and I would not have had the reaction I did with this title.

It seems to me that the title is a good description of the limited scope of the book and my impression of the real title is that it probably is a useful book.

Though I love the typo in the description on Amazon
"Think it's impossible to make that film you always wanted to make without mortgaging your life? Well it is, so what's keeping you from doing it? "

But it sounds like a book filled with practical info from someone who has learned it by doing it. That kind of book is almost always useful, even if it's just to show you some pitfalls so you can avoid them.

The How to" books I was griping about are almost never written by someone who has actually done what they are telling you to do.
 
Noiz2 said:
But it sounds like a book filled with practical info from someone who has learned it by doing it. That kind of book is almost always useful, even if it's just to show you some pitfalls so you can avoid them.
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Indeed. I think it's great for people just getting into the DIY indy filmmaking. You have to know about everything, because you might have to do all kinds of stuff.
 
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