The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap

If you are a beginner trying to make a movie (a REAL movie) with a DV camcorder shooting in 24p (for the most part), and a PC computer of some sort, this book is damn near perfect to get you going, and keep you going. The author obviously knows what he's talking about, and anyone who has actually worked at Industrial Light and Magic immediately has my attention! You don't get hired by ILM if you aren't a pro. This book delivers exactly what it says it will: How to make Killer action movies on the cheap using DV. This isn't some book on "movie theory". This is a well written, often funny, practical reference manual. STU demonstrates time and time again that he knows EXACTLY what he is talking about, then he shows you how to do it. (Cheap!) I learned so much reading this book that I didn't realize how much I didn't know before I read it, and now that I have read it, I know exactly what books to buy to nail all of the topics covered in this book. I now know what I should be studying and WHY. There are sections in this book that can only come from in depth knowledge and I am pretty sure there are things in this book that you will NOT find elsewhere. This isn't the book that will teach you everything, but it will teach you everything you NEED to know about DV film making. Period. As a starting point this book will blow past what you thought was possible with DV into real "movie studio" territory, but Stu shows you how to do it on a meager budget - for example there is a design for a $14 "GhettoCam" made of a 2x4 piece of wood and two wooden dowels that mimics the effect of a SteadyCam that would cost you thousands of dollars. Strangely enough, bean bags and bags of sand are a great way to mount your camera at an angle and preserve the shot, and I had no idea that you could use a skateboard for a "slider shot". To be honest, I didn't know what a "slider shot" was, but I do now! (And I know when to and how to shoot one.) For a beginner in DV film making (like me) this book is worth its weight in platinum, and now that I have finished my first read, I know that I will be coming back to this book over and over again until I know every part of it by heart. Yes, this book does focus on Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects, but honestly after reading this book, and after buying Final Cut Studio 3.0, I am actually making the switch to Adobe just based on my reading of this book. But that's not what's important. Even if you don't have After Effects, the concepts and practical solutions in the book are the most important part. What is important is that this book gives literally hundreds of tips, tricks, real life examples with lots of nice color pictures to see exactly what the author is talking about, and then he backs all this up with a slew of DVD content, including some much needed Excel files that you can really use to do what this author is talking about. Stu covers everything from the pre-production, to the actual shoot, to post production (including essentials such as color correction, scene matching, work flow, and how to maximize DV resolution and reduce quality loss in the production pipeline as well as an exact list of what to do in order to "master" your movie). Stu also solidly covers visual effects and stunts, how to create them, (and do that cheaply!) etc. Oh, did I forget the whole chapter on guns and how to make realistic gun fights using airsoft gun replicas, sound libraries and After Effects? OK, so what's the downside? The ONLY downside in this book has to do with audio. If you are looking for a book about recording and producing audio for film, this book is NOT the one you want. However, for everything else (and that is a LOT of "else"), just buy this book. This book rocks!

This little book is amazing. It has lots of great information presented in a direct and appealing way. Despite the action movie slant, nearly all of the tips tricks and material work for any kind of shooting. There is a dearth of material on DV cameras and shooting out there, especially online, and it is difficult for me to figure out the useful stuff from people selling something. Magazines don't want to offend any manufacturers to their reviews aren't much different from the ads. Stu tells it from the point of view of a guy who has not only done it, but included it in a DVD that comes with the book. The tone of the book is light and conversational. At the beginning of the chapter on lighting he says, "You may have noticed a giant ball of burning gas hovering in the sky. This thing is handy for so many reasons." I like the irreverence. The DVD - Has spreadsheet tools for variety of useful tasks like frame rate conversions, AOV finder, overcrank calculator. His own short film is included - plus commentary. Real After Effects projects, some set up for you to simply drop in your own footage. The After Effects projects alone are worth the price of the book! I've used AE quite a bit, and if you haven't you might find it a little intimidating. Fortunately Stu provides step-by-step instructions with screen captures if you want to try it out. There's a whole camera chapter as a PDF on the DVD as well, presumably because this is the fastest changing part of the DV world. Throughout the book Stu provides a steady list of examples of well known movie scenes, techniques, and reference along with their DVD chapters. I wish copyright laws would allow him to include some of those examples on his DVD. I'm often disappointed by these kind of how-to books, but this one was a wonderful surprise. Even the physical design of the book is well thought out. The rounded edges and small size make this perfect for tossing in a camera or laptop bag.

In the interest of full disclosure Stu and I are both members of [...] a filmmaking forum. While I don't think we've had any major interaction (if any at all) I felt I should mention that. But I cannot speak more highly of this book. I wish I had it earlier. The thing to keep in mind about this book is it's an advanced book. He's not playing around here. Let's put it like this, Stu's the kind of guy that doesn't rent a helicopter for a scene he simply pulls out a 3D program and makes it, then pops it into the scene and low and behold he has a helicopter shooting high powered ammo at characters in the film and it looks good. I know he said it was 3D, but seeing it on screen you wouldn't have known it. Then he does a scene with a fake gun. It's a toy, (literally a green toy gun). But the crowd sees people running and a guy with a green gun running after him and they react just like if the guy had a real gun. When Stu digitally replaces the fake gun with a real one the scene looks incredible! Before you buy this book you should have a Mac or PC, with a nice amount of RAM because you will be using After Effects. This is like an After Effects manual specifically for action films, plus it has basic shooting tips for making action films that come off as really advanced, but when he breaks it down it makes all the sense in the world. And remember, he's still talking about doing this at the low-budget level so he's not spending millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Finally, the writing isn't overly techy. If you've done digital filmmaking for awhile you can follow along. The book is down to earth and he explains what he's talking about. So if you're ready to move up from basic low budget action flicks to some really bad assed movie making, This is the book for you. I can honestly say I'll be using some things from here in my next film. If you buy my book, buy Stu's along with it. You wont be sorry. -Nathyn Brendan Masters

I have to admit that I have never liked the sort of "Action Movies" that this book was written about. Most of them are not worth the resources that were wasted to make them and that is why I could not give this book five stars. But the author does an excellent job of illustrating many of his techniques using his own short film "The Last Birthday Card". (Nevermind the twisted plot or lame excuse for a moral at the end of the story.) The techniques discussed in this worthy volume can be applied to many other types of movies. I had just purchased Adobe After Effects 7.0 and I was very pleased to find that the author had a great deal to say about how this powerful package can be used in the production of professional-quality sequences. Stu has a nice writing style and the book is an easy read for those who like to understand how things work.

Amazon did its usual stellar job of getting me the book. Unfortunately the DVD that comes with the book is incomplete. I am not having any luck getting in touch with the publisher (Peach Pit) via the method they suggest (sending an email). There is quite a bit of important printed info, as well as software that should be on the DVD. Update: Amazon to the rescue! They sent me a new book with a complete DVD. Amazon gets 5 stars for fabulous customer service. On to the Book - It is excellent. It covers the basics of making a low budget action movie in good detail. The author spends quite a bit of time describing methods as well as why the methods are important. He also spends time describing things that can be ignored and why. One of my favorite chapters is on how to select a camera. Rather than cover which model to buy, the book covers what features are important and why. He then ties these features to making a film in later chapters in the book. Brilliant practical advice. The book also includes a fair number of tools that can be used in making a film including simple spreadsheets for common calculations, as well as more complex tools for use with visual effects programs. If you by just one book about making films, this should be it. Buy it from Amazon, their service is second to none!

I don't plan on making any low-budget action epics, but this book is a delight anyway. Stu Maschwitz knows his business, writes well and has a highly developed sense of humor. As a bonus, he also provides a list of most of the best action movies made over the past several decades. Be forwarned: if you intend to make full use of the numerous examples in the book and on the accompanying DVD, you will need a copy of Adobe After Effects. Even though I don't intend to be making any action movies, I really appreciated Maschwitz's insights into how to make such movies on low budgets. There's lots of insights into movie making in general in this book and the knowledge can't help but make you a better videographer even if all you shoot are your kids and family picnics. His dissection of classic action sequences from films like "La Femme Nikita" are more than worth the price of the book. For the serious hobby videographer, the chapters on color and color correction are also very worthwhile. Overall, an excellent book for anyone interested in video in general, making low-budget action movies or simply gaining a greater appreciation of what goes into making a good action movie. A lot of fun between two covers. Jerry

I originally bought this book in 2010 as I was gearing up to shoot my third feature film. Though I had made two movies previously, this one had stuff in the script that I had no idea how I was going to pull off. I somehow came across this book online and purchased it. I read it in a day and it blew my mind! While it is a how-to guide, it also just inspires creative thinking about difficult shots. I've since made it required reading for myself before every shoot I do. The movie that I made after reading this for the first time is an action film, and it now has almost 2 million views on YouTube and we shot it for $2000. I couldn't have done it without the information contained in this book. While I no longer use After Effects (which the book strongly promotes), much of the logic and information is STILL applicable today and is easy to transfer over to something like DaVinci Resolve - which is currently the software of choice for indie filmmakers in 2024.

Do you have Adobe After Effects? If not, I wouldn't purchase this unless you are just an armchair filmmaker because this book's techniques are based on that program. I wish I had Adobe After Effects and this book would be useful, not just entertaining.

Is really an good guide about video shooting and to obtain an cinematic look of your home movies. I dont give 5 stars because the guide seems to be an little bit old in some chapters: some thinks are referred to DV video and not to HD video.

I feel as though I should be using the video-review option Amazon provides for this book, sadly though this book focuses almost entirely on action films (as the title obviously states)... if you're looking for information about the camera to use, how to set up your shots etc this isn't the book. It is however a great resource for creative ways to stretch your budget further. One of the things the author has provided that's particularly helpful are references to hollywood films that provide excellent examples of the stuff the book teaches. It is difficult to make a list of pros and cons but it boils down to this: if you want a book to help you make cheap practical and special effects and optimise your budget it's great, possibly unbeatable... if you want tips on being a film-maker you may want to look elsewhere.

Wenn man vom Irrglauben, Filme machen könne man wirklich, also so richtig billig machen, runter ist, ist dieses Buch sein Geld durchaus wert. Es gibt viele Tipps und sinnvolle Ratschläge. Es spart nicht mit schauerlichen Tatsachen, aber weiß auch aufzubauen. Gute Tipps, wertvolle How-Tos und ein erfrischender Schwung Originalität - die DVD bietet dazu noch vielerlei Extras und eine Studie über Maschwitz' eigenen Low-Budget Film "The last Birthday Card" (der ganze Film ist natürlich auch enthalten). Aber Vorsicht: die verwendete Software kostet locker mehrere tausend Euro, und auch das Standard Equipment wie Kamera und Ton ist keine für 300€; es richtet sich alles schon in gewisser Weise an einen professionellen Rahmen. Aber das auch sehr gut. Ich habe das Buch über den MarketPlace gekauft, da ist es wesentlich billiger als wenn man es so über deutsche Läden bezieht!

Les croquis sont faciles à comprendre et de nombreuses idées sont communiquées par l’auteur.

Selbst für Menschen aus der Filmbranche ist "DV Rebel's Guide" ein absolutes must-have. Die Kapitel sind klar umrissen, und jede Seite glüht nicht nur vor Fachwissen, sondern vor allem vor Inspiration und Enthusiasmus. Stu Maschwitz' Buch ist jedoch gerade deswegen Wertvoll, weil es neben dem Fachwissen eine (titelgebende) rebellische Arbeitsweise an den Tag legt, die mit Kreativität, nicht mit Geld einen Film erfolgreich machen will. Die anbeiliegende DVD ist ebenfalls randvoll mit nützlichen Utensilien. Und trotz allem ist es kein "My way or no way" Buch, der Autor erklärt alles nur als seine Art, die Dinge anzupacken. Fazit: Traditionalisten sollten die Finger von dem Buch lassen, allen anderen sei es wärmstens Empfohlen.