Making Movies
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Average rating4.7
“Invaluable.... I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them. This is the book.” —Roger Ebert, The New York Times Book Review Why does a director choose a particular script? What must they do in order to keep actors fresh and truthful through take after take of a single scene? How do you stage a shootout—involving more than one hundred extras and three colliding taxis—in the heart of New York’s diamond district? What does it take to keep the studio honchos happy? From the first rehearsal to the final screening, Making Movies is a master’s take, delivered with clarity, candor, and a wealth of anecdote. For in this book, Sidney Lumet, one of our most consistently acclaimed directors, gives us both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day’s Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict—and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino—Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic.
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First book I've read front to back in a hot minute. But anyways, a great read for anyone at any stage of their filmmaking journey.
Lumet is a great director and to read his voice and takes on the art form as he takes you through the filmmaking process is wonderful.
He doesn't talk down to you from a high pedestal, but rather this just felt like a conversation from a mentor.
Great first book of 2024!
The thing I like about this book is it sounds honest. There is admission of defeat as there is of victory. This master lays down what he knows; as much that can be done in a book this size and there is much to munch about hence. What I liked most and why I enjoyed this book so much is because I like Sidney Lumet's idea of film making. It's intelligent, its dramatic and everything is humanised through little concepts. I would recommend you read this book, especially if you make films.
Contains spoilers
A través de anécdotas, Lumet, nos acompaña a quienes soñamos con hacer películas durante todo su proceso creativo, contándonos sobre la magia de hacer cine, con muchísima sinceridad y honestidad que no esperaba, lejos del ego de cualquier otro director que haya leído hasta hoy. Da crédito a su equipo, asume su lugar como director, pero siempre habla de la importancia de las colaboraciones.
Si hay algo que me voy a llevar de este libro es la parte humana de Lumet, la parte en la que habla del director como un mediador, como un protector de su equipo (el momento en que consuela a su DF cuando la imagen tiene un fallo que al final termina siendo irreparable). Eso hace un director, no solo hace una película, cuida a las personas que trabajan en ella.
El final no me esperaba, el último capítulo hecha chispas. No puedo explicar lo hermoso que es leer a un director, que lejos de cualquier pretensión, sí le importa el cine.
