I'd like to know what are the must read "how to's" for an aspiring writer/director (preferably in e-book form). So far I have: save the car, the quick and dirty guide to DIY moviemaking,screenplay,and the DSLR cinematography guide.
Thanks in advance.
I'm not sure where you had heard that "Save the Car" and "DSLR Cinematography Guide" are the must-read how-tos. The first one is a 12-page PowerPoint, the second a bit more detailed e-Book. Both are created by people with fairly limited experience in filmmaking and are available as free downloads from their site owners. While most of information in them is correct, it is very, very limited. For aspiring writer/director without any prior background, these two alone would be almost worthless.
There are many sites out there that provide wealth of information on filmmaking. The most efficient way to quickly learn the basics, before beginning an online search for stuff, is to buy actual books. The "Filmmaking for Dummies" book (available as eBook on iTunes, or on Kindle) is a good starter, as is "Idiot's Guide to Independent Filmmaking" (also as eBook on iTunes and Kindle). For those who have an extremely short attention span and hate to read, I usually suggest "Moviemaking Course" Principle, Practice and Techniques" (by Chris Patmore; barely over 100 pages, virtually every one of them illustrated), which is only available as a physical book (no e-book yet). Once some very basic foundation is laid by these books, one can read more online:
http://www.wordplayer.com/ (on screenwriting)
http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showforum=35 (on lighting/shooting)
http://4filmmaking.com/ (heavily peppered with advertising, but still, a lot of useful info)
Also, if you really hate reading, plenty of filmmaking tips (of varying value) on YouTube. I do need to mention that the world has yet to see a filmmaker who doesn't love to read and write a lot. These two are fundamental prerequisites; a good filmmaker is, by definition, a storyteller. Even if all you want to do is make horror (or action) films, they are all still just stories that were initially written as a script. To write scripts well, one MUST have great passion for reading fiction. This is no less important for directors as it is for writers.
Go see Kal Bashir's videos and website: http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html
Ask lots of questions here: http://writingforums.org/
And film equip questions here: http://www.2-popforums.com/forums/
Everyone will have favorites. Just hang out at a few sites a while and you'll get it.
