Synopses & Reviews
In his own witty and straight-shooting style, Robert Rodriguez discloses all the strategies and innovative techniques he used to make
El Mariachi on the cheap including filming before noon so he wouldn't have to buy the actors lunch. You'll witness Rodriguez's whirlwind, "Mariachi-style" filmmaking, where creativity not money is used to solve problems. Culminating in his "Ten-Minute Film School," this book may render conventional film-school programs obsolete.
Rodriguez also offers an insider's view of the amazing courtship he enjoyed with Hollywood's A-list. It's an entertaining tour of Hollywood's deal-making machine as he navigates you through studio meetings, pitch sessions, and power lunches. Candidly divulging all the tactics and tempting lures the warring studios used to win him over, he admits that he barely escaped with his movie and his soul intact. Exploding the conventional wisdom that you need at least a million dollars to make a feature film, this nuts-and-bolts account features the full El Mariachi shooting script, postproduction tips, film festival anecdotes, and publicity blitz secrets. He demonstrates the countless ways to do for free what the pros spend thousands (or more) on without a second thought.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
Rebel Without a Crew is both one man's remarkable story and the essential guide for anyone who has a celluloid story to tell and the determination to see it through.
Synopsis
In
Rebel Without a Crew, famed independent screenwriter and director Robert Rodriguez (
Sin City, Sin City 2, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids) 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.
About the Author
Robert Rodriguez is an independent screenwriter and director of more than fifteen feature films. He pioneered the Mariachi-style” and One-man film crew” styles of filmmaking, and is the founder of the production company, Troublemaker Studios. Some of Rodriguez films include Sin City, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Faculty, Sharkboy and Lavagirl , Spy Kids , Planet Terror, and Machete. He has collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on From Dusk Till Dawn and Grindhouse.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Author's Note
The Idea
I Was a Human Lab Rat
Preproduction
Production
Postproduction
Highway to Hell
The Chase
Columbia Pictures
Postproduction, Take 2
Telluride and Toronto
Postproduction, Take 3
Sundancing
El Mariachi: The Release
Epilogue: The Curse of El Mariachi
Appendix 1: The Ten-Minute Film School
Appendix 2: El Mariachi, the Original Screenplay