Making Movies

As has been abundantly stated by other reviewers, this is an interesting book for both movie lovers & movie makers. It is eminently readable, in a flowing, non-technical style that is surprisingly effective at delivering practical information about Lumet's filmmaking choices & philosophy through the decades of a legendary career. Many how-to manuals seem to put the cart before the horse. Refreshingly, rather than providing instruction in equipment-driven decision making [here's how you use this particular lens, camera, fill light, etc.], Lumet talks about his story-telling goals then how he worked with his team to identify the proper technology to achieve them, resulting in such stylistically varied successes as the hyper-real video & dialog quality of "Dog Day Afternoon" & the Rembrandt-esque look of "The Verdict". This book has a fly-on-the-wall quality that almost makes you feel like you are participating in a long dinner conversation where the filmmaker discusses his day, reliving his experiences, revisiting his ideas & choices, evaluating whether they worked or not, even racking on the unprofessional Teamster who made him late to rehearsal, then pillaged the craft services cart. Something that hasn't been stated by other reviewers is how remarkably humble the author comes off. Far from validating the "auteur" status that many would grant him, Lumet appears to have a sincere appreciation for the complex team effort that results in a major motion picture, rather than an inflated perception of the supremacy of the director's role. He is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the filmmaking process & manages to share that knowledge clearly & concisely. He has profound respect for the contributions of the players who typically get nothing but abuse: the studio execs, writers, post-production, the stars. Lumet even seems honestly enraptured by the emergent qualities that blossom from a group effort where "everyone is making the same movie", & he takes his responsibilities for vision, coordination & budgeting very seriously. This guy just comes off as the consummate professional & his book is a joy to read.

"Making Movies" is one of the best books on the nuts and bolts of film-making ever. It deserves the highest rating simply because it is both well presented and full of practical insights. Lumet is brilliant on the psychology of movie-making in the old days, for instance, when each producer had the power to order cuts at will. The director who knew this would deliberately leave some weak scenes in during early screenings so that the producers could order them removed and thus later claim to have "saved" the picture – if, that is, it turned out to be a hit. That said, Lumet's overall approach is not historical but topical, from selecting a writer to making the final cut. In Chapter Three, he raises a point I often try to impress upon my students: The way you tell a story should relate somehow to what that story is about. That gets to the whole question of the importance of style, which he terms "the most misused word since love." (pg. 49) Good, practical advice can be found on every page. Here's how he can tell if something is off when watching a scene during rushes: "If my concentration breaks, something is wrong." (pg. 141) This, I might add, applies equally well to reading as to watching – if our attention drifts, there may be something wrong with the book we are reading, or the text of the speech we are delivering. Here's something that may seem counter-intuitive: The audience's perception of the length of a film depends not on the tempo of the movie itself so much as the presence or absence of changes in tempo. The fewer the changes, even if the tempo is fast, the longer the movie will seem. Most melodramas accelerate speed towards the end. Inexperienced directors adopt an up-tempo from the start, then believe they have left themselves nowhere to go except even faster, thus exhausting the audience long before the final credits. Lumet candidly confesses he doesn't know what makes a hit, and doubts that anyone really does. It is certainly not the stars alone. He talks about those he has worked with (including Paul Newman and Al Pacino) without indulging in gossip, and when he has something negative to say, he does so without naming names. One movie of his, which he refuses to identify, suffered from the limited range of one of its stars. "On the second day of shooting, I began to realize that the leading actress lacked the tenderness her part called for. She simply didn't have it in her as an actress or a person. She was superb with anger; she had humor. But if she was asked to show the simplest affection for the person playing opposite her, a falseness crept into her acting that was readily apparent, particularly since her acting was otherwise so real and true…. Since the movie was fundamentally a love story, I knew that we were in trouble." (pp. 143-144) I wonder if the movie in question might not have been "The Morning After." The only hint he provides is that the film "had three very high-powered stars in it." "Morning After" featured Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges and Raul Julia. On the other hand, Fonda did receive an Oscar nomination for her performance here, so I can't be certain. Though most (but not all) of the examples are taken from movies he himself directed, the book is most definitely not a survey of his career. While "Murder on the Orient Express," for example, gets mentioned at least a dozen times, "Fail Safe" rates only a single one, early on. Incidentally, what he has to say about "Murder…" gives me a higher opinion of that movie than I ever had before; now I am tempted go back and take another look at it. The chapter on the "lens plot" in "12 Angry Men" – how he used differing lenses to create an increasing sense of claustrophobia – is justly famous. On the whole, Making Movies is an enlightening introduction to the craft, presented by an insider. If you are like me, you will be amazed at what you hadn't noticed in movies you thought you knew. For a longer version of this review, please go to hamiltonbeck dot wordpress dot com

Interesting. Out dated. Not much else to say.

Nicely written book and easy style to read. Drives home how difficult it is to make a movie. So many details and pressure to endure. Interesting how Sidney Lumet rehearsed for 2-3 weeks prior to shooting. The preparation paid off. The dialog and delivery would be refined. If he was pressed for time to get a take, everybody was well prepared. (He was the opposite of Fellini who in his later years especially would let the picture develop as he was shooting and sometimes even completely change dialogue after filming. The lip motion would not match up but he didn’t care.) Lumet stated that often an actor’s first take will be their best so he would tell them to hold back in the rehearsal to try to manage that. Brilliant how he used two cameras to film one long take. In film class we were watching and critiquing rushes and a classmate commented “That would make a pretty still photo.” Our instructor screamed “Every frame of your movie should be a pretty still photo!” In my mind I disagreed—it depends what you are trying to portray. An ugly scene will call for an ugly appearance, etc. In this book Lumet confirms: “Good camera work is not pretty pictures. It should augment and reveal the theme as fully as the actors and directors do.” I would add—few films or even scenes call for the “Thomas Kinkade” treatment. In Slingblade when Karl is revealing his past, the framing is uncomfortable, the lighting is odd, the music discordant, etc. Not “a pretty picture” but all of this adds emotion to the film.

I received Making Movies at around noon today, and am writing this a bit after six PM, having finished the entire book. Lumet was a man who loved movies, loved working on movies, and it shows in every word. He takes the reader through every stage of making a movie - pre to shooting to post and then some. Utterly captivating for a small-time filmmaker like myself, but even if you're just a fan, there is much to learn and be entertained by here. Highly recommended for anyone even remotely involved in filmmaking, and also recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about the tremendous work, passion, and resolve it takes to make a movie.

Insanely informative, amazing insight, and while the last few chapters felt a bit rushed in terms of speeding by the post production, the last few pages really brought it home.

A highly recommended book for filmmakers

A great book about filmmaking by a successful director whose career spans decades of American Cinema and a lot of transformations : from the end of the Studio era to the revolution of the New Hollywood and finally the arrival of new technologies and possibilities. Lumet does not talk about cinema theory, he explains how he works to share an insider's view of what it is that goes on on a movie set, in an editing room, in the mix room and at the Hollywood meeting with the studio's president. He shares his tricks and technics without making them "the" example to follow but in order to explain how films are done or can be done. His writing is simple and clear, his respect for writers, composers and actors is clear throughout (and welcome). His humor is also a plus when it comes to talking about the California guys. Care for movies ? Filmmaking ? Read this one. It will not replace your FinalCut Pro CookBook but you will get some precise tips and a global view on filmmaking from script to DVD.