Making a Winning Short: How to Write, Direct, Edit, and Produce a Short Film

by Edmond Levy

Overview

Making a Winning Short is the first book to give hands-on instruction on how to write, direct, edit, and produce a fictional short in film or video. Edmond Levy guides the beginning filmmaker step-by-step through the stages of making a short: writing the script (from developing the idea to fine-tuning the final draft), launching production, casting, and working with the actors, working with the crew, directing the camera, editing, and other aspects of post-production. He devotes a separate chapter to Hi-8 video and gives a list of short-film festivals, both domestic and international.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466880986
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	09/09/2014
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	308
File size:	401 KB

About the Author

Edmond Levy, three-time nominee and one-time Academy Award winner for short film, teaches short-film writing at Columbia University's School of General Studies.

Editorial Reviews

With 60 short films, three Academy Award nominations, one OscarR, and a position as a teacher of screenwriting at Columbia University to his credit, Levy is well qualified to instruct his readers in everything they need to know about the production of short films. He divides his manual into concise and straightforward chapters, the first of which is an analysis of the history and popularity of the short. Using examples from his own career, Levy then explains all aspects of creating a short film, from the development of the idea to what food and drink to provide for actors and crew. After Levy's easy-to-follow lessons are finished, he offers a list of film festivals that accept short films, titles of short films that he believes to be some of the finest examples of the genre, and a reading list. Levy has written a manual that will appeal to all students of film, from the video camera amateur to the student of cinematography. A worthy addition to all performing arts collections.-Lisa Johnston, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., Va.

Library Journal

Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, and Jim Jarmusch are among a score of new film directors who learned the craft of the art in film schools, making shorts. More than ever, students are writing, directing, editing, and producing at least one short film over the course of their studies. This guide to making shorts is written for both those students and the curious, self-motivated person who owns a video camera and is fascinated by the medium. Author Levy is a screenwriting teacher and a filmmaker. He obviously handles both with some dexterity, given the way he effortlessly jumps back and forth between the rules and the creation of cinema, leaving the reader well informed, although humbled. From a definition that lays out the subject in a way that the short film becomes a quest, Levy hits every point in the journey, including the idea, the treatment, dialogue, screenplay format, working with actors, directing the camera, and postproduction. Along the way, he lightens the force of so much exposition with interesting examples from features and student shorts that are like thought-provoking trailers. A comprehensive treatment.

Bonnie Smothers

"Levy's book is a complete road map for getting into the TV and movie industry with a calling-card film or video. It is also the perfect guide for someone with a home video camera who wants to tell a story."—Alan Ziegler, Chairman, Writing Program, School of General Studies, Columbia University

"The world of film education has been waiting for this book, which covers so many aspects of making a short—and does it so well. For one who tries to teach the short film, this book arrives like water in the desert."—Jorge Preloran, Professor, UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television

From the Publisher