Lauren Muskovac James Babanikos RTV 4595c September 17, 2012 Making Movies Book Report As Sidney Lumet

describes in his book Making Movies, with multiple people working on a movie there are always different ideas and personalities colliding. Along with this, there are outside obstacles and influences such as the budget or time constraints that the director has to consider. This book shows that a filmmaker needs to know how to deal with everyone involved in the production as well as make creative decisions to support the theme throughout the movie. 1. The most surprising fact for me was Lighting is the most time consuming (and therefore most expensive) part of movie making (p. 25). I always thought the actual filming of the movie would be the most time consuming and expensive. But knowing this about lighting is an important fact as a filmmaker because this can cause limitations during production. The budget may be tight; therefore a filmmaker may need to make sacrifices in lighting. A scene that requires complicated lighting may have to be changed to a more simplistic one. There may not be enough time for relighting a scene, so camera movement and angles may be limited. Lumet says that relighting is necessary whenever the angle of the camera changes more than 15 degrees. When there are limits on money and time, a filmmaker needs to plan lighting accordingly to make sure the production runs as efficiently as possible. 2. Another boundary a filmmaker must know about is working with actors. Actors are extremely emotional and each take while shooting is draining. Their best performances tend to be in the first few takes. A crew working and performing well is important in order to

capture the actors best takes. Any little mistake by a crew member can make the footage that contains an actors best take useless. Personal problems also affect an actors performance. Lumet talks about one instance with Marlon Brando while filming The Fugitive Kind. Brando told Lumet that he was having personal problems after he failed to remember a line multiple times. Realizing there was a direct link between Brandos issues and the troublesome line, Lumet took this into consideration and worked with the problem. Although it took 34 takes to capture a good take, it was done and may have prevented the problem from building up to the next day of shooting. Being a filmmaker requires you to work with people and deal with their problems. Filmmakers need to know that actors are delicate and each performance is emotionally draining for them. (p. 73) 3. Lumet explains there are multiple ways that he used in deciding on a style of a movie. He says sometimes its a process of elimination (p. 54). Sometimes Lumet would simply know the style after just reading the script. This was the easiest way of deciding a style. The third way was the style emerges from a constant reiteration of the theme (p. 57). Lumet would often discuss the film to others involved in the movie, and the style would eventually present itself. This is good advice for a filmmaker because there is not just one designated way to decide on a style. Choosing a style is a vital part of making a movie and picking one style opposed to another changes a film entirely. Different directors may have other techniques to decide a style, but Lumet has expressed ways in which any filmmaker can relate to. To Lumet Good style is unseen style. It is a style that is felt (p. 52). I believe this is a good point because a films style should feel natural and express the theme of a movie without forcing it.

4. An important element of filmmaking is editing. Lumet says that there are two essential components of editing: juxtapositioning images and creating tempo (p. 157). While editing a shot, the filmmaker needs to consider the shot before it and the shot after it. Using juxtapositioning is important because of this. Having an extreme close up will have a greater impact if it a wide shot comes before it. A famous scene I know of uses juxtapositioning very well to have a greater effect on the audience. In The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola, there is a very well known sequence in which the film cuts between the baptism of Michael Corleones nephew and violent murders which were ordered by him as well. This is a good example of justapositioning images in editing which makes the scene more powerful and reveals more about the character. Creating tempo is another important element of editing. Having more cuts increases the tempo. But Lumet tells an interesting fact that its the change in tempo that we feel, not the tempo itself (p. 161). Using tempo sets a tone to a film. For example, an action film would have a fast tempo that increases in speed, which makes the movie more exciting. As a filmmaker, it is important to know that each cut has a purpose and adds to the film overall. 5. Good camera work is essential in movie making. Lumet says it should augment and reveal the theme as fully as the actors and directors do (p. 93). He explains that the camera operator has more of a task than just making pretty pictures. The camera work conveys the style of the film through the use of filters, lenses, movement, or other elements. In one of Lumets films called Daniel, Andrzej Bartowiak used different filters to tell more about the multiple characters. By using a filter that made everything have a bluish tint, made the atmosphere feel cold and lifeless. This adds the mood to the film and reflects the mindset of

each character. Overall, camera work supports the theme and further reveals certain aspects of the story. 6. As with good camera work, lighting plays an important part in supporting the theme. Light is directly connected to what a movie is about. I thought it was interesting how Lumet used different lighting to convey each character. He explains that in Long Days Journey Into Night, he used a gentle front light on the female character while the light on the male characters became as the movie progressed. This shows a distinction between the female and male characters, showing the contrasting qualities between them. I never knew that lighting was planned to this extent to emphasize the differences in characters or to show part of the theme. This is important to know as a filmmaker so that all aspects of a film can be used to support the theme. (p. 90) 7. An interesting part of film history I did not know was how the studio system was set up in the 1930s and 1940s. A persons role in a film was more defined then. A director would just be in charge of actual directing and may have had no role in pre-production or postproduction. The same was true for the editor; the chief editor was just simply assigned to cutting together a film and did not have much input during production like one would have now. I found this to be surprising because I feel like most films now are a group effort. The writer, director, editor, and others would always have some power in each stage of the production of a movie now. However, in the 1930s or 1940s a director could have a specific vision but the film could turn out entirely different from that since the editor is separated. A director did not have as much power over the final product as he does now. When thinking about a film, I tend to believe the director is the main person behind a movie. However, with

how the studio system worked then, an editor seems to have the most power on the final cut of a film. (p. 149) 8. When Lumet explains all the different components needed and the amount of people involved in a production on a day of shooting on location, I was amazed. He says that even a small production for one day needs one grip truck, one electric truck, one prop truck, one generator truck, one makeup and hair truck, and two campersthree station wagons a bus [for extras] a honey wagon for a total of 12 trucks (p. 133). And for all these vehicles, up to 30 people may be needed. I never realized the amount of manpower and vehicles a production needs for only one day. And these numbers do not include the rigging crew or the shooting crew and probably others. A filmmaker needs to be knowledgeable of all aspects of the production and aware of all necessary equipment and people to create a movie. 9. Lumet also says when choosing locations try to find places that are closest to what you want to end up with (p. 97). Even though this is not always possible, this helps evolve a color palette for the movie (p. 98). Color is an important element in a film and this is one technique in developing a color scheme. It is another element, like camera work or lighting, that can contribute to the movies theme overall. In the movie Daniel, Lumet used different filters to get a bluish or amber glow to help portray the different characters. All other colors used in props or locations had to be compatible with these shots as well. Filmmakers have to be aware of the multiple colors used in their movies. Different colors produce a specific feel and choosing the wrong one can create the wrong effect. 10. Another important decision, largely based on budget, is choosing whether to shoot on a set or location. Lumet says some general rules are to shoot on set if more than two days are needed and if wild walls are necessary, than that also means to shoot in a studio. This is an

important factor to take into consideration as a filmmaker because getting a desired shot may not be possible if shooting on set, and the same can be said with shooting on location. This is another barrier in making movies in which a director has to be flexible. The budget may not call for shooting on location, as may be planned originally, so the filmmaker has to adjust and make the scene look as realistic as possible in a set. A filmmaker needs to take into account his possibilities if one does not work. Shooting on location can also have other problems, as it is not a controlled environment like a studio. Weather, time of day, events in the area, among other things can make shooting on location impossible (p. 100). Making a movie is complex. Filmmakers need have to balance different ideas and people while overcoming obstacles that make the job more difficult. They need to have vision for the film and use elements such as lighting and color to convey the theme. A director needs to be aware of everything going on from pre-production to post-production. Making Movies by Sidney Lumet allowed me to have a detailed look into what a filmmaker does and needs to know about a film production.