Busy week : Reviews: Books, DVDs, ETC.

I'll be posting Part IV later on The Big Picture by Edward Jay Epstein. Meanwhile, I finished Hype and Glory by William Goldman. It's a good look into the behind the scenes on film festivals, in this case, specifically Cannes Film Festival. Though dated, I doubt much has changed in regards to judging for the festival.

I watched 10 epidodes (on 3 DVDs) of IFC's "FILM SCHOOL" which covered NYU students making their 10 minute shorts and all the problems they encounter, and how they overcome many of them. It's good for anyone trying to make a short for a film festival. My only real peeve was they did not include the entire 10-minute films that these people finished. It would have been enjoyable to watch them in complete after seeing the work put into them.

I 'I.L.L.'ed a book I read 19 years ago, that I could remember neither the author of, nor the title to, but since I remembered the storyline, I managed to discover it. I use the library to read it again, and see if it was as good as I remember it to be. If so, I'll get a copy, if not, I'll save a few dollars.

I am now on disk 3 of EDISON: The Invention of the Movies. I also managed to get this one at the local library. I had it on my wishlist, which I can now remove. It does have several things I'll note when I get done. For those who are interested, It's 4 Disks, costs about $80, and is available from Kino Video. I figure, to make a film above average, I should make it understandable without dialog or sound, those should only enhance it. Therefore, I'm researching quite a bit of the silent era. Also, some of their low-budget techniques could still be used today.

More later, hope you all are well.
-H.F.