I’ve got to be honest here. I was handed Robert Rodriguez’s book, “Rebel without a Crew” a couple years back by a friend who was determined we should find a way to make a film together. Or else he was trying to explain in his own subtle way that some other project could be equally innovative in its approach. Either way the book is responsible for at least part of my current thinking in regards to making films.
I find it interesting that a Hispanic director working it all out on the cheap in Texas has so much in common with the ideals of a frugal New Englander like myself. “Do it on the cheap,” seems to be a major motto from the book. The sense being that if you can’t, then you must find oddly desperate means by which to acquire said cash- though I can’t say I recommend the method Rodriguez uses for a couple of reasons I’ll state later. But to each man his own path, I suppose.
This methodology is key when confronting a problem many beginning filmmakers must overcome: equipment quality and access to it. A not to oft addressed issue in the “art” of film is the inherent class issues one must overcome in order to make them. Many of the best and brightest in the industry are second generation or come from well to do upbringings that allowed for the ownership and access to equipment of some quality from a very young age. Most of us do not have that. And while Rodriguez came from the same background as the majority- throughout the book it is clear that he has overcome this shortcoming by way of cleverness, dedication to craft and raw bleeding talent (literally in a couple of spots).
So he suggests we all do the same. Don’t make the mistakes so many film school students do. Handle the video camera. Make crap. Make mistakes. Because when you go to spend the real money, you don’t want to be doing those things. Of course when Rodriguez was doing this many of the things I have access to for cheap to free simply did not exist- decent non linear editing system for starters. Rodriguez talks about getting to use an AVID back when AVID by in large was still cutting negatives the old fashioned way. Before this he recalls trying to overcome the problems of copy generation inherent to the old VHS format- multiple mistakes simply weren’t allowed and the quality of his short films despite this barrier is impressive. Now of course much of this can be had on the cheap. An HD flip cam that loads to your computer via USB and captures on a drive rather than any media is available for $100 in some places. Hell any decent smart phone will have a video camera. Even Windows, not wanting to be outdone by their rival cult of personality- Apple, includes a movie maker with the OS these days.
Along with the usual business of how a script and shooting script get put together- or how Rodriguez puts them together anyway- there is the less than pleasant discussion of how he pays for the film. Mind you, he does this by subjecting himself to medical experimentation- something of a career in certain subsets of the population as he describes in great detail during this section of the book. There are two reasons I don’t recommend this course of action: 1) these things tend to pay less and less over time- blood donations cost the Red Cross nothing these days for example, 2) many of these opportunities- if you can believe it- are beginning to be shipped overseas- where participants are more willing and cheaper. So as appealing as Rodriguez makes it sound… decide for yourself I guess. I recommend Kevin Smith’s allusions to massive credit card debt as a method for funding a film as even less plausible. Stick with the rest of what Rodriguez suggests regarding stretching your dime and you’ll go far.
So much of the extra tidbits Rodriguez includes with his work are aimed at making filmmakers rather than dreamers out of his audience. The book is of course no exception to this rule as it concludes with a copy of the script for the film he writes about. And while this is common practice along with a few glorifying stories for many director commentaries these days- Rodriguez really gives the impression that by the telling of his own tale he might have opened a few doors for others by not discounting what novices might crave.
