Cheap Movie Tricks
How to Shoot a Short Film for Under $2,000
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Narrated by:
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Matt Weight
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By:
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Rickey Bird
About this listen
Want to know how to make a movie on a tight budget?
How to make a movie: Filmmaker Rickey Bird and screenwriter and novelist Al Guevara are on a mission to help indie moviemakers everywhere. Today’s indie film market is growing by leaps and bounds. At the same time, many aspiring filmmakers are running into their share of problems:
- Not enough money for crews
- Over budget and more than likely making the wrong movie
- Can’t get the attention of an indie studio
- Should have started with a short film to gain attention
Cheap Movie Tricks: Film school numbers aren’t down. They’re increasing, at more than 2,600 film-related courses worldwide. You probably didn’t even realize 48 percent of all film schools are in the US and UK. Thousands of aspiring filmmakers are literally learning how to use cheaper, widely available filmmaking technology, as well as the craft of making movies from books pulled from bookstore and library shelves. They’re totally DIY and the most creative people you will ever meet.
Rickey Bird’s Hectic Films is a Southern California enterprise that is building a filmmaking empire on a budget. His short films, feature films, micro docs, and tutorials have landed in some of the biggest American film festivals and have been seen online throughout the world. The result? Millions of views worth of exposure from films online, in festivals, and creative marketing literally on the street. His many projects have seen leading B-list actors like Hulk Hogan and Vernon Wells (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior), make-up artists from the TV show Grimm, and stuntmen from the Call of Duty games.
What you’ll learn from this audiobook:
- How planning and shooting a short film today can lead to a feature-length project tomorrow
- Everything you need to know about writing a movie project on a burger budget
- Tips on how to find locations and not get arrested
- Shooting tips galore for building exciting scenes
- Sound and film editing tips and all kinds of special effects wizardry, including puppetry
- Screenings, promotions, and juicy tips on film festival strategy
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- The Oral Biography
- By: Mitchell Zuckoff
- Narrated by: Robert Altman, Warren Beatty, Cher, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Altman - visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend - comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.
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Enthralling!
- By Wise & Careful Shopper on 10-17-10
By: Mitchell Zuckoff
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Made Men
- The Story of Goodfellas
- By: Glenn Kenny
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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When Goodfellas first hit the theaters in 1990, a classic was born. Few could anticipate the unparalleled influence it would have on pop culture, one that would inspire future filmmakers and redefine the gangster picture as we know it today. From the rush of grotesque violence in the opening scene to the iconic hilarity of Joe Pesci’s endlessly quoted “Funny how?” shtick, it’s little wonder the film is widely regarded as a mainstay in contemporary cinema.
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Mostly script-reading and pedantic film criticism
- By Buretto on 09-26-20
By: Glenn Kenny
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The View from the Bridge
- Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood
- By: Nicholas Meyer
- Narrated by: Nicholas Meyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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When Nicholas Meyer was asked to direct the troubled second Star Trek film, he was something less than a true believer. A best-selling author and successful director, he had never been a fan of the TV series. But as he began to ponder the appeal of Kirk, Spock, et al., he realized that their story was a classical nautical adventure yarn transplanted into space and - armed with that insight - set out on his mission: to revitalize Trek.
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Mostly good
- By David W Braddock on 06-07-21
By: Nicholas Meyer
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The Simpsons
- An Uncensored, Unauthorized History
- By: John Ortved
- Narrated by: John Allen Nelson, Justine Eyre
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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John Ortved's oral history is the first-ever look behind the scenes at the creation and day-to-day running of the television phenomenon known as The Simpsons, as told by many of the people who produce it.
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Great Content, Awful Reading
- By JH Easton on 03-13-11
By: John Ortved
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Significant Zero
- Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art and Soul in Video Games
- By: Walt Williams
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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When his satirical musings in a college newspaper got him discharged from the Air Force, it became clear to Walt Williams that his destiny in life was to be a writer - he just never thought he'd end up writing video games, let alone working on some of the most successful franchises in the industry - Bioshock, Civilization, Borderlands, and Mafia, among others. Williams pulls back the curtain on an astonishingly profitable industry that has put its stamp on pop culture and yet is little known to those outside its walls.
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it's a bad autobiography not what the title says
- By Chelsea on 11-22-17
By: Walt Williams
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Shock Value
- How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror
- By: Jason Zinoman
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Much has been written about the storied New Hollywood of the 1970s, but while Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola were making their first classic movies, a parallel universe of directors gave birth to the modern horror film - aggressive, raw, and utterly original. Based on unprecedented access to the genre's major players, New York Times critic Jason Zinoman's Shock Value delivers the first definitive account of horror's golden age.
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A good listen, but narrow in scope
- By Billy on 01-31-13
By: Jason Zinoman
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The Horror of It All
- One Moviegoer’s Love Affair with Masked Maniacs, Frightened Virgins, and the Living Dead…
- By: Adam Rockoff
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Horror of It All is a memoir from the front lines of the industry that dissects (and occasionally defends) the hugely popular phenomenon of scary movies. Author Adam Rockoff traces the highs and lows of the horror genre through the lens of his own obsessive fandom, born in the aisles of his local video store and nurtured with a steady diet of cable trash.
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Great book, if you were a teen in the 80's
- By Lila Fowler on 10-02-15
By: Adam Rockoff
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Caddyshack
- The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working-class kids and the white-collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs, and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn't start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn't have the word classic in mind as the cameras were rolling.
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Not Really About Caddyshack Until Hour 5
- By William M. on 07-01-18
By: Chris Nashawaty
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The Garner Files
- A Memoir
- By: James Garner, Jon Winokur
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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After suffering physical abuse at the hands of his stepmother, James Garner left home at fourteen. He became Oklahoma's first draftee of the Korean War and was awarded with two Purple Hearts before returning to the United States and settling in Los Angeles to become an actor. Working alongside some of the most renowned celebrities, including Julie Andrews, Marlon Brando, and Clint Eastwood, Garner became a star in his own right, despite struggles with stage fright and depression.
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What a disappointment.
- By Linda on 11-14-11
By: James Garner, and others
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The Making of Outlander: The Series
- The Official Guide to Seasons One & Two
- By: Tara Bennett
- Narrated by: Tiffany Morgan
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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It was only a matter of time before Diana Gabaldon's best-selling Outlander saga made the leap from book to hit TV series, and the millions of readers captivated by the epic romance of Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser have eagerly followed. Now the must-watch drama has inspired this must-have guide, which reveals that it takes a village (or perhaps a Scottish isle) to bring the breathtaking world of Outlander to life in front of our eyes.
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Better To Get The Book
- By Eugenia on 05-30-17
By: Tara Bennett
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Top of the Rock
- Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV
- By: Warren Littlefield, T. R. Pearson
- Narrated by: Bob Balaban
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Warren Littlefield was the NBC President of Entertainment who oversaw the Peacock Network’s rise from also-ran to a division that generated a billion dollars in profits. In this fast-paced and exceptionally entertaining oral history, Littlefield and NBC luminaries including Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Julianna Marguiles, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wylie, Debra Messing, Jack Welch, Jimmy Burrows, Helen Hunt, and Dick Wolf vividly recapture the incredible era of Must See TV.
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Nostalgic Look at NBC in the 90's
- By Jill on 10-10-12
By: Warren Littlefield, and others
What listeners say about Cheap Movie Tricks
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Christina
- 08-10-23
Great Information Poor Narration
This book has good info on movie making on a budget. Its hard to say whether its the writer's attempt at humor or the narrator'sdelivery, but it was a struggle to get thru it. There is a good amount of tips and info in there, it just takes some sifting to get thru.
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- R. Tray
- 06-27-22
Basic principles for making a short film
I can’t complain about the content. This book gives exactly what it says it’s going to give
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Overall
- Terry J.
- 12-21-19
It was a good book
I enjoyed this book I got some helpful tips not a fan of the "Jokes." in this boook but overall if you're an indie filmmaker like me you should give this book a listen to.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Phillip
- 06-06-23
awesome book to get you fired up to make a film
awesome book to get you fired up to make a film. short and to the point no wasting time.
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- David J
- 02-03-24
nothing new to the table
very generic information that you can Google. good for very beginner, but not anyone that has a little experience
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1 person found this helpful
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- johnny renton
- 06-22-18
A better title might be "Cheap Horror Movie Tricks
As I am learning how to be a better videography, with the plan be to film a show of my own, and doing so on a budget, I thought this book might offer some good tips and insights.
I didn't expect anything ground breaking and I knew going in that it wouldn't be fully applicable to me since what I will be making is largely unscripted. But even with those lowered expectations I was still a bit disappointed.There was some interesting tips and ideas. I wrote about a page worth of notes that I think will be useful, and some of the stories that were told were at least mildly interesting.
Overall I found the tone of the book to be a bit, well exactly the tone you would expect of a book with a VHS tape box as its cover. Its not bad, but it doesn't feel authoritative and insightful. It felt like a lot of the suggestions were genre specific, with a lot of mentions of zombie, horror and slasher flicks. If I had known a bit more about the authors background, then I might not have been so surprised by this.
I think for someone with a goal to create a short film for under $2000 then this book will be helpful. It won't be something you carry around everywhere. But it could be helpful. And in audiobook form, its ideal for commuting as its light, easy to digest, and at least gets your mind thinking about your own project, perhaps in a new light that could be useful.
If your not producing a short film, you can skip this book. If you are, there are certainly worse things you could spend your money on and it might offer just enough tips and ideas to be worthwhile.
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2 people found this helpful