The best parts of LESSONS FROM THE SET (subtitle: A DIY Filmmaking Guide to Your First Feature Film, from Script to Theaters) are personal stories, opinions, and recommendations that take readers behind-the-scenes of author Usher Morgan’s independent movie-making adventures. Covering the whole indie filmmaking ballgame, this thorough and imaginative self-help primer explores screenwriting, funding, pre-production casting, location scouting, plus important legal and insurance concerns. It also tackles production, post-production editing, and marketing once the project is done so that it will be able to find and touch its audience.
Opening with a James Cameron quote along the lines of Just Do It!, this lively resource brims with encouragement, letting the fledgling auteur know that accomplishing celluloid dreams is completely within the ordinary creative person’s grasp. Completing a short, documentary, or feature film outside of the studio system may be a process fraught with myriad decisions–along with unexpected problems that will need to be handled–but it is an endeavor that’s possible, even for filmmakers whose budgets hover around $0. Sage bits of advice are offered, including: to follow the 80/20 rule (keeping 20% of whatever money there is for production emergencies) when one does have an actual large or small filmmaking budget and/or critical post-production distribution costs such as festival fees; the pros and cons of working with SAG -vs- non-SAG actors; subjects like obtaining music, applying for “optional permits” in order to shoot free in locations such as New York City; acquiring a police presence when prop firearms are being used, tax credits, etc.
Copyrighted in 2019, however, an update might be warranted since it is possible a number of sources cited are by now obsolete. Amazon’s Media on Demand DVD service, which is referenced on several occasions for instance, announced in March 2021 that they were shuttering this facet of their media empire. There are also some potentially questionable (i.e. not particularly legal or ethical) recommendations, such as the author’s view that it’s okay to surreptitiously audio record other people’s private conversations on one’s phone without their knowledge or consent. Also questionable is the frequent referencing as laudable a number of Hollywood notables who have been explicitly accused of harmful treatment of women, including Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, Aaron Sorkin, Robert Rodriquez, etc..
While a bit outdated in some places, LESSONS FROM THE SET by Usher Morgan is a treasure trove of interesting, educational stories, as well as relevant information for those wishing to move the enterprise of indie-filmmaking from mere fantasy to tangible reality.
~C.S. Holmes for IndieReader